ALEXANDRIA, Va.  - The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)—the unified and recognized voice of seaports in the Americas—today is commending leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and its Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment for passing H.R. 5303, the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016. This is crucial legislation to address the needs of America’s ports and other water resources infrastructure, and help strengthen the nation’s economic competitiveness. According to AAPA President and CEO Kurt Nagle, among the most important aspects of this legislation is that it puts WRDA back on an every-two-year cycle, avoiding a backlog of projects and adopting policy changes to make the system work more efficiently and fairly.  He cited House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA), T&I Committee Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR), T&I Committee Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Chairman Robert Gibbs (R-OH) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Grace Napolitano (D-CA) for their leadership in bringing this important bill up for consideration this session. “Ensuring the viability and effectiveness of our nation’s deep-draft navigation infrastructure is fundamental to a sound economy,” said Mr. Nagle. “WRDA 2016 helps do that by getting Congress back to the business of regularly addressing the needs of our ports and other waterway infrastructure. “The Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014 was historic in that it put our industry and nation on a path towards full use of the Harbor Maintenance Tax, which is essential to maintain a world-class 21st century port navigation system and providing more donor equity. WRDA 2016 can continue that progress, and we urge both the House and Senate to bring their respective WRDA bills to the floor as soon as possible to ensure final legislation is enacted this year.”