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E-mail Update -- January 14, 2005 -- Volume 5, Number 1

Coalition Briefs Nw Congressional Staff:
On Wednesday, January 5, 2005, several Coalition members representing labor,
business, agriculture, ports, and the marine industry met with Northwest
Congressional staff members to provide a briefing on the importance of
Columbia River maritime commerce and the channel deepening project. (Three
of the Congressional staff members were actually in their first week on the
job!)

The goals of the briefing were to thank them for their strong support thus
far, provide updated information about the project's progress, strategize
about next steps for the project, address questions, and seek their support
for including $40 million in the President's Fiscal Year 2006 Budget and in
Congress' FY2006 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. This briefing comes
at critical time in the process for continuing to move forward with channel
deepening. President Bush is preparing to release the proposed federal
budget for FY 2006 in early February. After the President visited Portland
last August to declare his support for the project, he amended his FY 2005
proposed budget to include $15 million. At that time, he also committed to
funding the project through completion.

We remain confident that the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project will
be included in the President's FY 2006 budget with a specific recommended
funding level -- and we are actively advocating for that funding level to be
$40 million so the project may continue moving towards the most time
efficient and low-cost schedule. We are equally confident that support for
this project in Congress will remain strong during the subsequent
appropriations process.

Thanks to the many Coalition members and Congressional staff who
participated in this important and timely briefing!

Taking A Trip To Washington, DC?:
If your organization is planning a lobbying trip to Washington, D.C. this
year, please contact Theeme Holznagel (contact information listed below).
We would like to provide you and your members with updated materials about
channel deepening to be handed out to Congressional members and staff in
D.C.

Please provide us with specific dates for your trip to D.C., the main
contact person who is coordinating the trip, and how many hand-outs we
should provide. Working together as a coordinated team, we can win a major
federal appropriation for 2006!

Staff Responsibilities & Work Hours:
Since Coalition Executive Director Dave Hunt was re-elected to the Oregon
House of Representatives in November, the Coalition Board of Directors has
affirmed his request to reduce his Coalition work hours to 20%-time
beginning this week in order to fulfill his legislative responsibilities.
Once the 2005 Legislative Session has ended, Dave will resume his Coalition
workload at 80%-time. Dave was recently named to the House Transportation
Committee and will continue to be an active advocate for maritime trade and
transportation.

Coalition Assistant Director Theeme Holznagel will continue her
responsibilities including channel presentations to civic groups, local
governments, and other interested organizations and will fulfill most of
Dave's job duties until the end of the legislative session.

In addition, Brian Wright has joined the Coalition as Administrative
Assistant. Brian began working part-time on January 5th and will work for
the next seven months assisting with office administration, answering
phones, and providing quality customer service for those requesting
information. Brian has already learned a great deal about channel deepening
and will be able to contribute a great deal to the Coalition.

Coalition Keeps Expanding:
We welcome the following organization who officially joined the Coalition during the past two weeks:

Morrow County Commission (Oregon)

Did You Know?
The following bulk cargo volumes (tonnage measured in short-tons) were
shipped in 2003:
Port of Portland: 10,532,545.00
Port of Kalama: 6,952,826.00
Port of Vancouver: 3,179,551.00
Port of Longview: 1,519,181.00

Bulk cargo are items shipped unpackaged such as grains, coal, fertilizer,
and pot ash. The Port of Portland ranked 1st on the west coast in
transporting bulk cargo and the Port of Kalama ranked 3rd after the Port of
Long Beach, CA.

Please contact us with any questions, concerns, or information requests. Thanks for your partnership in building a stronger economy through maritime trade.

Dave Hunt, Executive Director
Theeme Holznagel, Office Manager
Columbia River Channel Coalition
(503) 285-6343 (voice), (503) 285-6350 (fax)
CRCC@ChannelCoalition.com (e-mail)