Maryland Congressman Andy Harris Mourns Workers Who Died In Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

5 months ago

In House floor remarks on Wednesday, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) spoke about the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.

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00:00Mr. Speaker, I would like to, at this particular point in time, yield to another gentleman

00:05from Maryland, Mr. Harris, a senior member also of the Appropriations Committee and a

00:12member whose eastern shore of Maryland is his entire district and the entire coastline

00:19and who has always worked diligently on behalf of issues affecting the Bay.

00:26Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding time to me.

00:29Today, I rise, as fellow members of my delegation have, to speak regarding the collapse of the

00:34Francis Scott Key Bridge and especially to honor the memory of the hardworking men who

00:39lost their lives the morning the bridge collapsed.

00:44These hardworking men were fellow Marylanders, husbands, fathers, brothers, and friends,

00:51and their passing serves as a solemn reminder to cherish our own lives and the lives of

00:56those we love deeply.

00:59Mr. Speaker, the Maryland Congressional Delegation stands united as we mourn those lost and extend

01:05our heartfelt condolences to their grieving families.

01:09I also want to take a moment to recognize Maryland's brave first responders whose heroic

01:14actions saved lives the morning the Key Bridge collapsed.

01:19Once that May Day call was issued from the approaching ship, Maryland's Transportation

01:23Authority police acted quickly and in less than two minutes stopped traffic from coming

01:28over the bridge.

01:30There's no doubt those immediate actions saved lives and averted an even greater tragedy.

01:37We want to thank those officers who protect us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even

01:43in the middle of the night while most of us sleep, as was the case that day.

01:50Mr. Speaker, the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the closure of the Port of

01:53Baltimore has caused serious economic consequences for our state's economy.

01:59The Baltimore Port is the largest U.S. port for handling farm and construction machinery,

02:03handles agricultural products.

02:05It's also a large export facility for American coal.

02:09Fifteen thousand jobs directly depend on the Port of Baltimore, and I want to especially

02:16thank the Army Corps of Engineers for their quick and tireless work to get the channel

02:21cleared so that the port can reopen as soon as possible.

02:25As we continue to work on the cleanup phase of the bridge collapse, it's important that

02:29we seek maximum liability from those foreign companies who owned and operated the ship

02:34that crashed into the bridge.

02:36As I have long said, American taxpayers in both Maryland and across the country should

02:41not be held responsible to pay for the cost to rebuild the bridge if indeed there was

02:45negligence on the part of those foreign-owned shipping companies.

02:51Mr. Speaker, in closing, tragedy knows no partisanship.

02:55The Key Bridge Collapse wasn't a Republican tragedy, it wasn't a Democrat tragedy, and

03:00the solution to clearing the channel, reopening the port, and building the bridge back even

03:04better than it was before won't be a partisan solution, it'll be a bipartisan one.

03:11As we navigate the necessary legislation going forward, we all commit in the delegation to

03:16working in a bipartisan way to cut through federal red tape, clear that channel, open

03:20that port, and construct an even better, safer bridge so that our fellow Marylanders,

03:27Maryland's economy, and those affected by this tragedy will come back stronger, safer,

03:33and united.

03:34And I yield back.

Maryland Congressman Andy Harris Mourns Workers Who Died In Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

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