Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) discuss the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project after touring the Port of Savannah.
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Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) discuss the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project after touring the Port of Savannah. / GPB News

Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter said Friday that he continues to push for more federal funding to deepen the Savannah harbor. The state has already paid its share to get the project underway. But federal dollars have been slower.

 

The price of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project keeps rising. It now stands at $973 million.

 

That’s one reason Carter said he hopes to get things moving more quickly.

“That’s what’s so frustrating a lot of times, you know, when we deal with the bureaucracy of the federal government," he said. "Had we completed this project years ago, it would’ve been much more affordable.”

In his latest budget proposal, President Donald Trump requested $50 million for the project. That’s half of what Georgia officials say they need each year to keep the work on track.

Rep. Carter visited the Port of Savannah Friday with Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana, who chairs a House subcommittee overseeing port regulations.

Both Congressmen stressed the expected economic impact of the project beyond Georgia, saying it would benefit the region and country as a whole.

The project will deepen the Savannah River Channel to better accommodate the larger ships increasingly calling at East Coast ports since the expansion of the Panama Canal.