Bergman Leads Letter to Office of Management and Budget Requesting Soo Locks Funding for Fiscal Year 2021

Washington, November 4, 2019
Congressman Jack Bergman led a bipartisan letter with thirty Members of Congress requesting continued funding for the Soo Locks project. Additional FY 2021 funding will be used to begin upstream channel deepening, as well as continued design work for the new chamber and upstream approach walls.

Rep. Bergman stated, “I’m grateful for the bipartisan support we’ve garnered for this project. Great Lakes Legislators have rallied around the need for a new Poe-sized Lock, and the Trump Administration and Army Corps have been incredible partners to see this project through. We won’t take anything for granted until this project is completed, and I’m proud to have such strong support behind the First District’s number one infrastructure priority.”

The Legislators wrote, “The Soo Locks, a single point of failure in a multi-billion dollar supply chain, is a critically important infrastructure project for the Great Lakes Region and the entire nation. From our military and maritime industries to our steel and automotive production, American manufacturing relies on the health of Soo Locks, which currently transits over 80 million tons of commodities each year. Aging infrastructure at the Locks leaves our supply chains vulnerable to any unplanned or unexpected outage of the Poe Lock.”

The letter in its entirety can be read HERE.

In March of 2019, President Trump included $75.3 million in his FY2020 budget to start construction at the Locks complex. This was a historical moment for the project, marking the first time a President has included a funding request for the construction of a new Poe-sized lock. Both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees included the $75.3 million funding in their FY2020 plans. 

In June of 2018, the U.S. Army Corps released the long-awaited Director's report which Congressman Bergman worked to expedite, fund and complete. This report reflected a realistic picture of the enormous value and benefit of the Soo Locks. Previous studies and analysis failed to take into account national security implications along with many economic realities.