We have made some progress: 

—­To further develop the nation’s waterways, my Administration began construction of a new 1,200 foot lock at the site of Lock and Dam 26 on the Mississippi River.  When opened in 1987, the new lock will have a capacity of 86 million tons per year, an 18 percent increase over the present system.  The U.S.  Army Corps of Engineers has also undertaken studies to assess the feasibility of expanding the Bonneville Locks.  Rehabilitation of John Day Lock was begun in 1980 and should be completed in 1982.  My Administration also supports the completion of the Upper Mississippi River Master Plan to determine the feasibility of constructing a second lock at Alton, Illinois.  These efforts will help alleviate delays in transporting corn, soybeans and other goods along the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.

—­The Department of Transportation’s new Small Community and Rural Transportation Policy will target federal assistance for passenger transportation, roads and highways, truck service, and railroad freight service to rural areas.  This policy implements and expands upon the earlier White House Initiative, “Improving Transportation in Rural America,” announced in June, 1979, and the President’s “Small Community and Rural Development Policy” announced in December, 1979.  The Congress should seek ways to balance rail branch line abandonment with the service needs of rural and farm communities, provide financial assistance to rail branch line rehabilitation where appropriate, assist shippers to adjust to rail branch line abandonment where it takes place, and help make it possible for trucking firms to serve light density markets with dependable and efficient trucking services.

MARITIME POLICY

During my Administration I have sought to ensure that the U.S. maritime industry will not have to function at an unfair competitive disadvantage in the international market.  As I indicated in my maritime policy statement to the Congress in July, 1979, the American merchant marine is vital to our Nation’s welfare, and Federal actions should promote rather than harm it.  In pursuit of this objective, I signed into law the Controlled Carrier Act of 1978, authorizing the Federal Maritime Commission to regulate certain rate cutting practices of some state-controlled carriers, and recently signed a bilateral maritime agreement with the People’s Republic of China that will expand the access of American ships to 20 specified Chinese ports, and set aside for American-flag ships a substantial share (at least one-third) of the cargo between our countries.  This agreement should officially foster expanded U.S. and Chinese shipping services linking the two countries, and will provide further momentum to the growth of Sino-American trade.

There is also a need to modernize and expand the dry bulk segment of our fleet.  Our heavy dependence on foreign carriage of U.S.-bulk cargoes deprives the U.S. economy of seafaring and shipbuilding jobs, adds to the balance-of-payments deficit, deprives the Government of substantial tax revenues, and leaves the United States dependent on foreign-flag shipping for a continued supply of raw materials to support the civil economy and war production in time of war.