Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore launched an in-person lobbying effort in Congress on Tuesday, aiming to fulfill President Biden’s vow to replace Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.
He will return to further press his case later this week, as more than 12,000 tons of steel and concrete from the wreckage still block the main shipping channel for the Port of Baltimore and strangle a key economic artery for the region.
“I’m going to Capitol Hill because I want to meet with them face-to-face and have them hear from me and the delegation directly as to why this is so important, not just to the state of Maryland, but why this is so important to the country,” Moore said in an interview.
“I want to be able to spend time with members of Congress to explain to them that in this moment, they have a responsibility — a patriotic responsibility — to make sure that we can get the bridge rebuilt,” he said.
Moore’s in-person lobbying is part of a multipronged effort that involves the Biden administration and all 10 members of the Maryland congressional delegation, including its lone Republican, Representative Andy Harris.
Funding could face obstacles from some congressional Republicans, even though such aid has been approved on a bipartisan basis in the past. The conservative Freedom Caucus to which Harris belongs, for example, conditioned federal aid on several factors, including cutting the federal budget elsewhere, limiting how the money could be spent, and tying it to the Biden administration’s policies on liquefied natural gas export terminals.
“Tragedy knows no partisanship,” Harris said during a rare appearance with the nine Democrats who represent Maryland with him. “It wasn’t a Republican tragedy, it wasn’t a Democrat tragedy. And the solution won’t be a partisan solution.”
The cost to rebuild the 1.6-mile span could exceed $1 billion, though leaders were reluctant to put a price tag on it Tuesday. And some members hope federal help will go even further.
The federal government already sent Maryland $60 million in emergency aid and repurposed an existing $8 million federal grant to aid economic recovery.
A massive container ship, the Dali, lost propulsion and veered into one of the bridge’s main supports two weeks ago. Six construction workers tasked with filling potholes were on the bridge when it collapsed about 1:30 a.m.
So far, the bodies of three victims — Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35; Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26; and Maynor Suazo Sandoval, 38 — have been recovered from the Patapsco River, authorities said. Three others are still missing, and federal and state leaders reiterated Tuesday that finding the bodies is the top priority.
The federal government, through the Army Corps of Engineers and Coast Guard, is paying for the recovery of the workers and to remove the jumbled steel and concrete superstructure of the bridge.
The steel trusses sitting atop the Dali weigh 5,000 tons, the equivalent of 12 fully fueled Air Force One jets, Lieutenant General Scott A. Spellmon, who is overseeing the Army Corps operation, said at Tuesday’s news conference. An additional 9,000 tons of steel and 3,000 tons of concrete are blocking the shipping channel, he said. In the past two weeks, 51 divers have been in the water to help.
The Army Corps of Engineers aims to open a “limited access” shipping channel to the Port of Baltimore by the end of the month that will accommodate 80 percent of the cargo that flows into the Port of Baltimore. Pilots who will operate ships cruising through the salvage area will be specially trained at a facility in Vicksburg, Miss., later this week, Spellmon said.
“We have to start moving more and heavier debris to find the missing workers and also to reopen this strategic port for the nation,” Spellmon said.
Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland convened the closed-door meeting Tuesday morning that included the governor, the delegation, and Biden administration officials from the Office of Management and Budget, Transportation Department, Coast Guard, and Army Corps of Engineers.
He said afterward that he will introduce legislation “very soon” aimed at covering the full cost of the bridge, though future appropriations will be needed to replenish the fund used for the bridge. Other members of the delegation suggested that Maryland could need additional federal resources to support workers who could lose their jobs or see their wages cut because of the bridge collapse.