Kaine Leads Virginia Delegation Letter Inviting DOT Secretary Buttigieg To Visit Port Of Virginia Supply Chain Operations

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine led Senator Mark R. Warner and Representatives Bobby Scott, Gerald Connolly, Don Beyer, A. Donald McEachin, Elaine Luria, Abigail Spanberger, and Jennifer Wexton in a letter to Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, inviting him to visit the Port of Virginia. In their letter, the lawmakers point to the success of past infrastructure investments that have allowed the Port to remain fluid in the face of our nation’s supply chain challenges and invite the Secretary to visit Hampton Roads to learn more about the Port’s best practices that can be applied to other ports across the nation as the Administration works to address these challenges.

“The Port has seen record volumes over the last fourteen months and is currently the fastest growing port on the East Coast. Forward-thinking infrastructure investments have provided the capacity needed to keep up with the surge in volumes without affecting service levels. Over the last five years, more than $800 million has been invested at the Port to add one million containers of annual capacity to its terminals. Furthermore, the Port’s operational model where the Authority serves as the single owner and operator allows additional flexibility to make changes as needed. Included in this is the Hampton Roads Chassis Pool (HRCPII), where investments have expanded and modernized the chassis fleet to ensure availability and reliability of equipment for motor carriers. We believe that there are best practices and lessons learned that can be applied to other ports as the Administration works to address supply chain challenges, and we would be pleased to facilitate a tour of operations at the Port of Virginia,” wrote the lawmakers.

“We hope that you will accept our invitation to tour the Port of Virginia to see how its efficient long-term investment model can be applied in other parts of the country as we implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, work toward offshore wind and clean energy goals, and achieve long-term solutions to address our supply chain challenges,” concluded the lawmakers.

Last Friday, Senator Kaine, Congresswoman Spanberger, and Congressman McEachin welcomed Secretary Buttigieg to Richmond and Henrico County to tour and discuss infrastructure projects coming to the Commonwealth thanks to the recently signed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Members of this delegation have been united in supporting key infrastructure priorities in the Commonwealth, including projects at the Port of Virginia. Earlier this month, they wrote to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director Shalanda Young and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor requesting at least $159 million in federal funding for the Norfolk Harbor Widening and Deepening project. In September, they wrote Secretary Buttigieg in support of the Port of Virginia's application to the Department of Transportation’s Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) for $20 million in federal funding to develop Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT) in Portsmouth, Virginia, as a hub for offshore wind development on the East Coast.

The full text of the letter can be found here and below:

Dear Secretary Buttigieg:

We are so pleased that you visited Richmond on December 3, 2021 to tour and discuss infrastructure in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As you discussed in public remarks, decades of underinvestment in our nation’s infrastructure, along with pressures caused by the pandemic, is contributing to dramatic delays in the supply chain. We appreciate the Administration’s efforts to address these challenges by making Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements funds available to reduce congestion at ports and through the appointment of a Port Envoy to the Supply Chain Disruptions task force. Following up on your visit to the Commonwealth, we write today to invite you to tour the Port of Virginia. The Port remains fluid in the face of our nation’s supply chain challenges, and we hope that seeing its operations in person will help to inform your policy decisions around the supply chain.

The Port of Virginia—one of the top ten largest ports in North America— is operated by the Virginia Port Authority, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth that owns and operates four general cargo facilities: Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Newport News Marine Terminal, and the Virginia Inland Port in Warren County. The Port leases Virginia International Gateway and Richmond Marine Terminal. The Port helps to create more than 400,000 jobs while generating $92 billion annually for the Commonwealth’s economy. This world-class operation directly contributes to Virginia being ranked “Best State for Business” the last three years. Despite delays in the supply chain in other parts of the country, the Port of Virginia remains fluid with no congestion at its berths or at gates where trucks carry goods inland. 

The Port has seen record volumes over the last fourteen months and is currently the fastest growing port on the East Coast. Forward-thinking infrastructure investments have provided the capacity needed to keep up with the surge in volumes without affecting service levels. Over the last five years, more than $800 million has been invested at the Port to add one million containers of annual capacity to its terminals. Furthermore, the Port’s operational model where the Authority serves as the single owner and operator allows additional flexibility to make changes as needed.  Included in this is the Hampton Roads Chassis Pool (HRCPII), where investments have expanded and modernized the chassis fleet to ensure availability and reliability of equipment for motor carriers. We believe that there are best practices and lessons learned that can be applied to other ports as the Administration works to address supply chain challenges, and we would be pleased to facilitate a tour of operations at the Port of Virginia.

The Port of Virginia will also serve a vital role in the Biden Administration’s goals of bringing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy to the grid by 2030. Because of the investments discussed above, Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT) is available as a hub for offshore wind development— including for manufacturing and shipping wind energy supplies. The terminal is currently under lease to three companies (Dominion, Siemens Gamesa, and Orsted) to support offshore wind projects off Virginia and elsewhere. Many of us joined a September letter to you in support of a current Port Infrastructure Development Program application requesting $20 million to support a $191 million project, which will allow PMT to not only serve the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project but also other offshore wind projects along the East Coast in support of this 30GW goal.

We hope that you will accept our invitation to tour the Port of Virginia to see how its efficient long-term investment model can be applied in other parts of the country as we implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, work toward offshore wind and clean energy goals, and achieve long-term solutions to address our supply chain challenges.

Sincerely,

###