Mark Fisher, Chief Executive Officer of the Council of the Great Lakes Region, released the following statement in 2014 applauding the passage of H.R. 3080, or the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, which aims to advance the modernization of America’s waterways and ports.

“In signing and enacting the legislation, President Obama and Congress have demonstrated that we are able to find common ground on the country’s most pressing economic and environmental challenges. In this regard, The Council of the Great Lakes Region welcomes the legislation’s focus on increasing investments in water infrastructure throughout the Great Lakes basin and preventing the introduction of aquatic nuisance species into the basin, and would like to thank Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), as well as Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Congressman Bob Gibbs (R-OH) for their leadership in moving this bill through Congress,” said Mark Fisher.

Economic activity in the Great Lakes region, which encompasses 105 million people living in the eight Great Lakes states and the provinces Ontario and Québec, totaled $4.9 trillion USD in 2013, which, if the region was a country, would equate to the fourth largest economy in the world, behind only the United States, China and Japan.

“This region has long been the engine of America’s and Canada’s prosperity and competitiveness, and is home to over 3,500 species as well as some of the most unique and diverse ecosystems in the world,” added Fisher.  “Building the next Great Lakes economy and preserving a healthy environment will require more bi-partisan efforts like this in the future, and the Council is committed to working with legislators and government departments and agencies at all levels in the United States and Canada, as well as the private sector, academia and the non-profit community, to achieve these objectives.”

About the Council of the Great Lakes Region

The Council of the Great Lakes Region is a new bi-national organization that works to enhance regional collaboration and cross-border integration to advance effective, coordinated, and broadly shared responses to the region’s common economic, social and environmental policy challenges.The Council is accomplishing this mandate by:

• Conducting high-quality analysis on issues that matter and developing region-wide strategies;
• Bringing together diverse perspectives through conferences, roundtable dialogues and networking events, so that industry, government, labour, academia and the not-for-profit community can share their knowledge; and,
• Generating ideas and providing realistic solutions on how best to reconcile the often divergent challenges of economic prosperity and environmental conservation.