“This is not a Baltimore catastrophe, not a Maryland catastrophe. This is a national economic catastrophe,” Moore said Sunday during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“This port is one of the busiest, most active ports inside of the country,” Moore added. “And so this is not just going to have an impact on Maryland. This is going to impact the farmer in Kentucky. This is going to impact the auto dealer in Ohio. This is going to impact the restaurant owner in Tennessee.”
The Biden administration has already shuttled millions in emergency funding to assist the state’s efforts to free up the Port of Baltimore, after a cargo ship collided with the bridge early Tuesday morning, causing the bridge to crumble on top of the vessel. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration approved $60 million in “quick release” emergency funds Thursday to help with initial costs for debris removal, demolition, detours, emergency repairs and work to begin designing and building a new bridge.
President Joe Biden last week promised to “move heaven and earth” to reopen the port and said it was his intention that the federal government would cover the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge. But funding the immense infrastructure project will likely require approval from Congress, and some congressional spending hawks have already expressed skepticism at the prospect.
Moore emphasized Sunday that the problem is bigger than Baltimore.
“The reason that we need people to move in a bipartisan basis and move in a fast basis is not because we need you to do Maryland a favor. Maryland needs no favors,” Moore said.
“We need to make sure that we’re actually moving quickly to get the American economy going again because the Port of Baltimore is instrumental in our larger economic growth.”