(WASHINGTON) — The Chamber of Marine Commerce has awarded its 2023 Champion of the Great Lakes award to U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, in honor of her ongoing commitment to enhancing sustainable economic growth through investment and support for domestic marine shipping.
Kaptur has spent her entire career focusing attention on the need for the U.S. government to invest more resources into the Great Lakes region, and highlighting that marine shipping is critical to both the U.S. and Canadian economies. She has also been committed to doing more to help address the supply chain issues both countries face through investment and industry engagement.
A brief selection of career highlights include:
• Her ongoing service as a co-chair of the Bipartisan House Great Lakes Task Force, through which she encouraged investment in environmental protection and industry enhancement in the Great Lakes region. Thanks in part to her advocacy and leadership, over the past seven years Congress has invested over $2.2 billion through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in more than 2,900 projects in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. These projects have restored more than 150,000 acres of fish and wildlife habitat.
• Her support for the historic $370 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which was aimed in part at investing in green technologies and infrastructure enhancement within the marine shipping industry.
• Her personal engagement in special initiatives to strengthen trade and infrastructure regionally, including agreements to support intermodal shipping and enhance security at ports.
“On behalf of more than 100 member organizations that comprise the bi-national Chamber of Marine Commerce, I want to thank Rep. Kaptur for many years leadership, engagement and dedicated advocacy to support the safe and sustainable development of domestic marine shipping,” said Bruce Burrows, president and CEO of the chamber. “She has done much to emphasize that marine shipping is the cornerstone of dependable supply chain that grows the North American economy, and we are grateful.”
– Chamber of Marine Commerce
