‘It Was A Tragedy For Our Country’: Chris Van Hollen Responds To Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse
Prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) delivered testimony on the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing.
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Transcript
00:00Go right ahead, Chris.
00:06Thank you, Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Capito.
00:08Thank you both for remembering Senator Inhofe.
00:12Thank both of you for being great neighbors of Maryland, literally, Delaware to the east,
00:19West Virginia to our west.
00:22And thank you not only for being good geographic neighbors, but being good neighbors in spirit
00:27and working together.
00:30As Senator Cardin indicated, that we have a tradition in the country of considering
00:35every state a neighbor, whether or not they're geographically connected.
00:40I want to thank Senator Ricketts for being here and other members of the committee.
00:45That is the approach we've taken, that we're one country, and when one state has an emergency
00:51of this kind of impact and consequence, we're all neighbors, whether we're geographically
00:56connected or not, because we're all Americans.
00:59And I do encourage the committee to continue to work in that spirit.
01:04Senator Carper, I do have a little bone to pick with you, which is that yesterday, the
01:11state of Delaware, I think it was yesterday, made Orange Crush their official state cocktail.
01:18I just want to remember, my friend, that it was made famous, Orange Crush, on another
01:23part of the Eastern Shore, Ocean City.
01:27But Senator Cardin and I are willing to forgive this transgression by the state of Delaware
01:32since you're cooperating with us as a good neighbor on other issues.
01:35I don't know if that's a fair trade, but we'll see.
01:39Let me just say, with Senator Cardin here, he's been a great captain of Team Maryland.
01:47We've seen him at work here in response to the tragedy of the collapse of the Key Bridge.
01:54He's brought us together on a bipartisan basis.
01:57Every member of the Maryland delegation, including representatives from the Eastern Shore to
02:03Western Maryland, are backing the legislation that we've been introduced.
02:07And it's just the latest example of his leadership.
02:10So I do just want to take this opportunity before the committee that he has served on
02:15so honorably and well to thank my partner, Senator Cardin, for his leadership of the
02:21Maryland delegation, and we're seeing it in action right here.
02:26And we all, every one of us from Maryland, are sponsoring the Baltimore Bridge Relief Act.
02:33And I know I will cover some of the same things that have already been mentioned, but I do
02:37think these points are worth emphasizing.
02:39Because for 47 years, the Key Bridge in Baltimore has been an iconic and indelible part of our
02:48landscape and our psychiatry and psychology, I should say.
02:53It's also a vital transportation artery for the region.
02:58More than 34,000 travelers crossed it every single day.
03:03And as Senator Cardin has mentioned, the impact of its collapse is being felt dramatically
03:09in terms of congestion in the region.
03:11As the country has learned, it was also the gateway to the Port of Baltimore, which welcomes
03:161,800 ships every day and generates tens of thousands of jobs.
03:24I think the country learned that it is the busiest port in America for automobiles, light
03:30trucks, farm and construction machinery, imported forest products, aluminum, and sugar.
03:36$70 billion of economic activity per year.
03:41So its collapse shook the world.
03:44It was a tragedy for our country.
03:47And first and foremost, it was a human tragedy.
03:50We did lose those six individuals, six souls, that day who were working the overnight shift
03:56on Key Bridge.
03:58They each had loved ones who depended upon them.
04:02Four of them were fathers.
04:04And we've been working ever since to support those families, and we want to thank the committee
04:08and the country and, of course, in our state, all those who are working to do that.
04:13And then, as you mentioned, Senator Capito and Senator Carper, huge chunks of debris
04:19went into the channel, blocking the ships, putting 8,000 people out of work temporarily,
04:29impacting and harming small businesses and others who depend for their economic livelihood
04:35on the Port of Baltimore.
04:38And it deprived the region of that key transportation link, and this is why we're so urgently seeking
04:46support for the new bridge.
04:49What we have seen is that as the bridge fell apart, we came together as a delegation in
04:54the country.
04:55And I, too, want to thank all those who were recognized earlier, from the first responders
05:01who helped save additional lives to the unified command that quickly came together, both the
05:08federal officials and the state officials.
05:11President Biden did reach out personally to myself and Senator Cardin and the governor,
05:16Governor Moore and others, and quickly ordered the federal government to use all parts of
05:22our power to support Baltimore and Maryland in this hour of need.
05:30I do also want to mention specifically the folks at the Army Corps.
05:35General Spellman, thank you for your efforts in terms of clearing the channel in such fast
05:41time.
05:42And Colonel Esty Pinchasen has been mentioned.
05:45I also want to thank her.
05:46She's retiring from this particular spot, going on to another one.
05:50But I want to recognize her efforts as well.
05:55Secretary Wietefeld is here, and he's been working very closely with Secretary Buttigieg,
05:59and I want to thank them.
06:01As you know, we were enrolled in the emergency relief program, and as Senator Capito mentioned,
06:08and Senator Carper, you're well aware, as other committees, we now have about 38 states
06:12that are subscribed to that program, and we all have a common interest in making sure
06:17that it is fully replenished.
06:19That covers 90% of the costs, but Senator Cardin and I introduced the legislation we
06:25did with our delegation because it has been a tradition in the United States of America
06:30of providing 100% support for states that have undergone this kind of tragedy.
06:38We have been there for other states during their times of need, and we really hope every
06:42state represented in the Senate will be with us right now.
06:46I want to, in closing, just emphasize a point that Senator Cardin made, and it's written
06:51into the bill.
06:52It was already current law, but we made it very explicit that the federal government
06:56will receive, and I quote, any compensation for damages or insurance proceeds, including
07:01interest recovered by a state, a political subdivision of a state, or a toll authority
07:08for repair, including reconstruction of the bridge.
07:12Colleagues, the emergency supplemental that the President submitted, of course, includes
07:17emergency help for replacing the key bridge.
07:21It also, as you've mentioned, includes funds to help other states from Hawaii to the far
07:28west to the south that have been impacted by these huge disasters, where one state is
07:36simply just not capable of meeting all of the costs, which is why we came together as
07:43a country in the past, to help those states in need.
07:46It's Maryland today, maybe Hawaii today, it could, of course, be any other state tomorrow,
07:52and we thank you for all your efforts to make sure that we continue that tradition.
07:58Senator Bernal, thank you.
08:00Thanks to both of you for your service on this committee in the past and certainly today.
08:07With that in mind, I'm going to excuse, well, excuse both of you, and I'm going to ask Shailen
08:12Bott to come forward as our first witness, our next witness, and Shailen, if you'll have
08:21a seat.
08:22There we go, and our other witnesses as well.