Presidential Visit: New Orleans

President Barack Obama paid a visit to the Port of New Orleans on November 8, touring the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal and speaking on the importance of growing the national economy through increased exports.

New Orleans Port Hosts President Obama 

President Barack Obama paid a visit to the Port of New Orleans on November 8, touring the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal and speaking on the importance of growing the national economy through increased exports.

"This is one of the busiest port complexes in the entire world," President Obama told the crowd of more than 500. "You move millions of tons of steel and chemicals and fuel and food every single year. And, in so many ways, this port is representative of what ports all around the country do: They help to keep our economy going – moving products, moving people, making sure that businesses are working."

He noted that much of the nation’s grain that is exported by ports along the Lower Mississippi River.

"Corn and wheat from my home state come down the River, ending up here and going all around the world," President Obama said. "Part of the reason why we’ve been able to increase exports so rapidly is because we’ve got some of the best natural resources, waterways and facilities in the world."

The president was accompanied on the terminal tour by Port President and CEO Gary LaGrange, PPM®, Ports America General Manager Keith Palmisano, ILA longshoreman Chris Hammond, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and Congressman Cedric Richmond.

President Obama cited federal investments made in the port, such as a $16.7 million TIGER grant in 2012, which is being used to fund the Mississippi River Intermodal Terminal. The project will include reconfiguring a 12-acre rail yard adjacent to the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal. The new rail terminal will boost the terminal’s capacity from 640,000 to 840,000 TEUs annually.

During the tour, Mr. LaGrange promoted major projects such as deepening the Mississippi River from its current 45-47-foot draft to 50 feet – the same project draft of the new Panama Canal Locks. He also focused on further infrastructure investment needs within the container terminal, such as the completion of its second and third phases.

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