THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice President
For Immediate Release
November 19, 2013
REMARKS BY
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
AT THE PANAMA CANAL
Panama Canal, Panama
photos by Juliette Passer
4:15 P.M. EST
VICE
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Mr. President, distinguished guests, and to the 9,500
workers who are expanding this Canal, on behalf of the United States of
America, thank you. Thank you for what you're doing.
I've
been traveling up and down the East Coast of the United States and into the
heart of the Midwest of our country and down to the Gulf of Mexico, telling the
American people that something big is happening here in Panama that will have a
profound effect on the economy of the United States of America. By the
widening and deepening of the Panama Canal, you're making not only a major
investment, Mr. President, in your company's future -- your country's future,
but in my country's future. You're providing a service not only to the
Panamanian people but the United States, the hemisphere and the entire
world.
I
came here today from the Port of Houston in the state of Texas. In 1956,
the world's first container ship, the Ideal X, sailed into the Port of
Houston. Instead of sacks and crates and boxes carried neatly in the hull
of the ship, on top of that ship were stacked containers on its deck. In
an instant, the shipping costs for a ton of cargo were reduced by 97
percent. It changed global commerce.
What
you're doing here today, and what my colleagues and I are witnessing, is going
to change global commerce. It's shifting once again. A new
generation of massive vessels, known as post-Panamax ships, are able to carry
twice or even three times as many containers as what has come before.
These ships are wider, longer, and their drafts are deeper.
I
just looked at "the old Canal." It can accommodate a
106-foot-wide ship. The Canal being built here will accommodate
160-foot-wide ships. The arrival of these new ships presents an
opportunity for countries to transport goods more cheaply than ever
before. But it's also a challenge for all of us in the rest of the world
to modernize to accommodate the infrastructure that you're building here, Mr.
President.
People
use the phrase all the time, "it's a global economy." I'm not
sure they fully understand that exactly, it is a global economy.
Seventy-five percent of all the commerce in the world as I speak is floating
somewhere in the ocean as I speak, containing 75 percent of the world's
commerce. And what you're doing here in Panama is a next level -- is taking
commerce to a brand-new level.
That’s
exactly what Panama is doing right now. The Canal has two lanes that
cannot handle these post-Panamax ships -- but not for long. By the end of
2015, these massive new locks will open and be able to accommodate ships with
50-foot drafts, not 39.5; 1,200-feet long, not 965-feet long; 160-feet wide,
not 106-feet wide. The Panama Canal Authority estimates that it will
double the amount of cargo -- double the amount of cargo -- that passes through
this Canal now by the year 2015.
And
I'm here with my colleagues -- the Mayor of Atlanta, the Mayor of Baltimore,
the Mayor of Philadelphia, and, ladies and gentlemen, the Senator from the
state of a little old port called Savannah in the state of Georgia, and the Mayor
from that state, and our Secretary of Transportation -- because it affects --
it will affect drastically, what's happening here, their communities, their
people. And it's going to require us to invest in 21st infrastructure
like you're doing.
And
I'm here because I believe that the cutting-edge Panama Canal and the
investments that it inspires and the trade that it will make possible can be
part of the story of the economic continued revival of the United States of
America and the hemisphere.
It's
no secret that in 2008, the United States and the world went through a heck of
a difficult time -- the greatest recession in our history short of a
depression. But we fought our way back. U.S. businesses have
created 7.8 million new jobs in the last 44 months. Manufacturing is
coming back to the United States. We've created 500,000 new manufacturing
jobs. Our auto manufacturers have created an additional 325,000
jobs. We now produce more natural gas than any country on Earth.
And for the first time, we've imported less oil than we have consumed -- than
we produce in the United States.
The
reason I bother to say this is that the next phase here, the next phase is to
take advantage of what this new commerce will do. We know in America
these representatives, Democrat and Republican, know in my home state, my
states, they understand that manufacturers locate where they can cheaply,
efficiently and economically get their cargo to a worldwide market.
We
still have a way to go in the United States, but we've made significant
progress. Our companies are competing, exporting to every country, every
corner of the world. And we're once again an engine of economic growth
with the potential to create a next generation of good-paying jobs, as the jobs
you're providing here are, Mr. President.
You've
weathered that worldwide recession in part because of this bold commitment you
and your people have made. And we're ready for the new Panama Canal to
contribute to our economic renewal as well. And your project is
profoundly in the interest of my country. Two-thirds of everything that
passes through the Panama Canal is either coming from or going to the United
States of America. So when the Canal doubles its capacity, the United
States has a potential to expand exports at a considerably lower cost and
considerably higher volume.
So
if we make the right investments at home, we will allow the United States ports
to handle larger ships coming through this modernized Canal. When exports
can carry two to three times more in each container ship, that saves
business. That saves money. That saves shipping costs. That
saves fuel. And it makes manufacturers and farmers in America more
competitive.
For
example, one-third of the U.S. grain and soybean exports travel through your
canal. By one estimate, each bushel will be about 35 percent -- 35 cents
cheaper because of this Canal, making American farmers even more
competitive.
Building
up our ports to handle the increased cargo will also create jobs for
longshoreman, construction workers, engineers and others, dredging ports,
widening docks, building new storage, also having intermodal changes in our
railroads, in our Interstate Highway System.
So
I'm here with a simple, Mr. President, but heartfelt message to the people of
Panama: Thank you. Thank you for having the courage to embark on
this significant adventure here.
After
telling so many others about the new and improved Panama Canal that's emerging,
I decided, and my colleagues, that we've got to come down and see it for
ourselves. Instead of preaching to the choir, we wanted to be with the
choir. We wanted to make sure we saw it. And I brought with me our
Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx; Georgia Senator -- one of the leading
members of the United States Senate -- Johnny Isakson, representing the Port of
Savannah, which, I might add, is responsible for more than $67 billion in
economic activity and supports 350,000 full-time and part-time jobs across the
state of Georgia, including in the city of Atlanta, it's largest city.
The
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is here with me today as well, because it affects the
standard of living in his city. Florida Congresswoman Debbie
Wasserman-Schultz, she represents ports bringing more than 400,000 jobs to
Floridians. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, where her port
sends $22 billion in U.S. goods around the world with the label "Made In
America" on them. And Mayor Michael Nutter of my adopted hometown --
more than 2 million tons a year of containerized cargo pass through the Port of
Philadelphia. All of that, all of them have the ability to profoundly
expand employment and income for their states.
So,
Mr. President, you may be surprised to learn that you have fans far afield.
You found out today, in Baltimore, Maryland; and Atlanta, Georgia; and
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; in South Florida. Today -- I hope I don’t get
you in trouble, Mr. President, but today, as we left our bilateral meeting, we
then had an expanded meeting with my colleagues. And I turned around as
we were leaving and I wondered where the President was -- the President was
surrounded by each of my colleagues bidding for him -- please come to
Philadelphia, please come to Baltimore, please come to Atlanta. (Laughter.)
I’m serious.
So I just want to say to the people of Panama, this is a very important thing
for the United States. This new and improved Canal will also benefit
Panama, to state the obvious, bringing an economic windfall in the form of greater
revenue. It will help Panama remain an indispensable part of the global
economy.
And
as the energy production throughout the Americas grows, Panama is going to play
a critical role in bridging energy supplies in the Atlantic with a growing demand
in the Pacific. This is good business. This is good for
Panama. And it’s clear that the world of opportunity is available to
those willing to make the necessary investments to compete in the 21st
century.
Panama
is making that investment, and the United States has to do the same now.
We’re ready. When the United States passed what we call in the States the
Recovery Act, it included $48 billion in new infrastructure -- the largest
public works project in America since the construction of the Interstate
Highway System. Each port, though, has different needs. There are
different places. Bridges need to be made higher. Wharfs need to be
made longer. Berths need to be made wider. Water needs to be
dredged. Communities across our country are working to address these
problems, and through federal grants, we’re working to modernize state and
public funding.
That $48 billion the federal government supplied generated well over $150
billion in private investment and state investment. The $10 billion [sic]
we invested in one of the ports generated in that port another $80
million.
So,
folks, look, this is about the totality of how our infrastructure
connects. As Secretary Foxx says, it’s about the first mile and the last
mile of infrastructure that gets American exports from the factory floor to the
decks of ships. For example, it’s about how a rail line in Ohio connects
shipping to the Port of Baltimore. That’s why we put in $50 million in
investment and it generated multifold in that in terms of being able to have
access to the ports.
For
the first time in history, you can picture from Canada to the tip of Argentina
a hemisphere that is democratic, middle-class, secure, as the leading engine of
economic growth in the world in the 21st century. And Panama will play a
critical part in that.
So, Mr. President, it’s not what we can do for you -- what you’re doing for us
and what we can do with you. The historic expansion of the Canal that is
underway shows how strong Panama is and the pure self-interest of the United
States of America. You’re a powerful symbol of Panama’s success, Mr.
President, and it’s a reminder that our futures, the United States and Panama
and this hemisphere, are inextricably linked.
Your
work on this Canal strengthens my country. We owe you. We thank
you. May God bless you all. And may God protect our troops.
Thank you all very much. (Applause.)
END
4:35 P.M. EST
