24 FOGHORN Now in his seventh congressional term in Washington, D.C., Massie started his political career in local govern- ment. Today, he represents the Kentucky 4th Congres- sional District and serves on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure and the House Judiciary Committee. Handling maritime transportation, infra- structure, regulatory policy, and economic growth, the Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure is of key significance to the passenger vessel industry. Prior to his roles in government, Massie earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT. In his straightforward style, Massie started his keynote by addressing the top concern on people’s minds, the continu- ing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Acknowledging that the struggle has fallen along party lines, he pointed out some requests on the table that he saw as reasonable, common sense and in some cases simply consti- tutional—all possibly guiding the way towards a resolution. Since his start in Congress, he has been part of the Com- mittee on Transportation & Infrastructure and explained that he sees it as a place that the federal government should be involved. To support his position, he referred to Adam Smith and to the Supreme Court case of Gibbons v Ogden. He explained that Smith, who is often called the father of modern economics and was read by the nation’s found- ing fathers, saw three roles of government. Those were to provide for the common defense, to institute a system of justice, and to do public works and infrastructure. This was influential for Massie in his decision to join both the Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure and the House Judiciary Committee, addressing two of Smith’s three roles. The court case of Gibbons v Ogden has also been impactful for Massie. The case was decided in 1824 and held that the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution that grants the power to regulate interstate commerce includes the power to regulate navigation. States had been handing out patents for steamboats, effectively creating monopolies of the ves- sels and interrupting interstate commerce. The court rul- ing changed that, and Massie noted the ripple effect. The same year, the General Survey Act passed which allocated money for waterways and land routes to connect states and expand trade and allowed the president to employ military and civil engineers for the purpose. This has been seen as marking the true beginning of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works Program. For Massie, this is an example of the importance of government involvement in transportation. He noted, “I’m a constitutionalist. People say, you don’t want any government at all. I do want gov- ernment. I just want it to work, and I want it to be inside of its proper role.” His engineering background makes transportation of keen interest to him. While at MIT, he had the opportunity to hear John Sununu, former governor of New Hamp- shire and White House chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush, speak. Sununu noted that he saw Congress as needing fewer lawyers and more engineers, explaining that lawyers are trained to take a position. They will look for facts to support their position and try to ignore facts that don’t. Engineers, however, are trained to first collect facts and then come up with a position. Sununu pointed out that one of these methods was good for solving problems while the other was good for starting fights. This appealed to the engineer in Massie. “That stuck with me,” he said. “That’s another reason that I like being on the transporta- tion committee.” Looking to first learn the facts and gather information, he seeks to bring this commonsense approach to his work on the committee. Massie touched on the ranking of committess as Class A, Class B, or Class C. While transportation is ranked as a B committee, Massie stated his case that it should be ranked as an A. In his congressional district alone, he said there are three locks and dams and 280 miles of the Ohio river. He noted Kentucky is home to the Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Airport, as well as the North American head- quarters for DHL, Amazon, and UPS. With the Ohio River running through Massie’s district, he has a personal interest in Water Resources Develop- ment Act (WRDA) which is in development with the goal of passing this year. “We’ll get that done,” he promised. Massie has taken particular interest in a cost share issue along the Ohio River. He discussed the portion of costs being shouldered by boat operators, specifically mention- ing barges, even though the locks and dams play a larger role in the state. They are used for recreational purposes, to manage municipal water supplies, and for flood control. It is his hope that the associated costs are distributed in such a way to reflect the broad use of the locks and dams and not placed on one industry. FOGHORN FOCUS
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