By KEVIN WALKER

Michigan Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House Armed Services Committee passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2019, which included language offered by U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell of Michigan’s 10th District affirming the national security importance of the Soo Locks.

The NDAA, including his language on the Soo Locks, then passed the full House on May 24.

“I’m proud that my first action on the House Armed Services Committee was reaffirming the national security importance of the Soo Locks,” Mitchell, a Republican, said May 10. “Nearly all domestic iron ore – which is required for certain steel production, a substantial part of our economy and essential for national defense – travels through the Soo Locks.

“Steel production critical to our nation’s military and millions of American jobs are dependent on the Soo Locks, and there is no redundancy or alternatives to the locks. That’s why I am glad the committee is urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and all involved executive branch agencies, to expedite necessary reviews, analysis and approvals in order to speed the required upgrades at the Soo Locks.”

Republican Rep. Jack Bergman, representing Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.) and part of the northern Lower Peninsula, has also been pushing for an upgrade to the Locks. In April he authored a letter asking that the Corps prioritize a Soo Locks project and use additional appropriated funds to begin design and construction work on a new lock that can accommodate the largest cargo carrying vessels.

“Steel plates used as armor for ships, Abrams tanks and other military applications rely solely on the locks as a shipping route,” Bergman said April 17. “Even a short-term closure of the (Poe) Lock would have large implications on military readiness and national security.”

In June 2017, he led a bipartisan tour of the Soo Locks with both of Michigan’s U.S. senators and members of the state’s Congressional delegation. At that time he also introduced the Soo Locks Modernization Act and secured funding for a Corps feasibility study, set to be released in June.

All of this follows on the heels of a report released by the Department of Homeland Security in October 2015 warning what would happen if the Poe Lock section of the locks broke down.

An unexpected six-month closure of the lock would have “devastating” consequences for industries dependent on this supply chain, which starts at iron ore mines in Minnesota and Michigan’s U.P., an executive summary of the report stated. Steel mills in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan would all be affected.

Iron ore mined in Minnesota and the U.P. is processed and used to make appliances and construction, farm and other kinds of equipment. According to the report, about 80 percent of iron ore mining and most North American goods made with steel would shut down production. Moreover, there would be no quick and easy way to replace the steel.

The report predicts that an unanticipated shutdown of the locks would put nearly 11 million people in the United States out of work and potentially millions more in Canada and Mexico.

“The economy would enter a severe recession,” the report stated. “There are no plans or solutions that could mitigate the damage.”