Opinion: Our country cannot afford partisan delays in recovering from the Baltimore Bridge collapse.

Editor’s note: Larry Hogan served as Governor of Maryland from 2015 to 2023 and is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. The views expressed in this commentary are his own.read more opinions On CNN.

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America may be historically divided politically, but the economy is not red or blue. As Congress reconvenes for the first time since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, leaders of both parties must recognize this truth. The aftermath of this tragedy is not just a problem for Baltimore and Maryland. The economic impact of the shutdown at one of America’s most important ports is already being felt across the country, affecting workers and consumers in states with Republican and Democratic majorities.

The March 26 collapse caused a container ship to collide with a bridge pillar, killing six people and destroying a vital shipping corridor across the Patapsco River. Debris from allied forces cut off access to the Port of Baltimore. The port is the largest entry point in the United States for sugar and large agricultural and construction equipment, including tractors, agricultural combines, forklifts, bulldozers, and large trucks. Just as America’s farmers prepare to plant crops, we cannot afford to lose access to the critical equipment we need to feed our nation.

Losing access to the port also has a serious impact on the auto market, as Baltimore is an important domestic gateway for cars and trucks, handling 850,000 vehicles last year alone. Long-standing supply chain challenges in the auto market have taken a toll on workers, auto dealers and hard-working families struggling to find affordable cars, but further disruption would be devastating. right. Port closures are already impacting the auto industry across the country, including in Louisiana and Florida.

This is not a theoretical issue. Over the past few years, we have seen how supply chain disruptions brought about by the global pandemic have caused hardship and resulted in unaffordable prices. At a time when many ports across the country were facing devastating bottlenecks, the Port of Baltimore remained open thanks to investments my administration made to expand port operations and to make up for the shortfall. They even added container ships to the. Now, this important national resource has been taken off the board, at least temporarily.

When unforeseen disasters threaten our nation, Congress has traditionally stepped in to provide assistance in a bipartisan manner. Disasters do not differentiate between red and blue victims or districts. But even disaster relief has become little more than a partisan football in recent years, as Hurricane Sandy victims who waited months for aid to be approved reminded us. That cannot happen as we recover from the bridge collapse.

There is no room for delays, accusations, or outlandish conspiracy theories. Sanaa’s head must win. Republicans and Democrats at the local, state, and federal levels must put aside their sacred cows and get this done.

First, leaders need to work together to provide immediate financial support to the thousands of hard-working longshoremen and other employees associated with port operations who are currently out of work. This is not charity work. This is a necessary investment to prevent this short-term challenge from causing long-term disruption. If these skilled workers are forced to look for work elsewhere, it will take even longer to get the ports back up and running, even if the Channel opens to traffic in the coming weeks. become.

Second, don’t waste time discussing other unrelated issues that could delay funding to remove the collapse debris and rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Rebuilding the bridge is critical to port operations, and it’s also essential to traffic on Interstate 695, where 12.5 million vehicles will cross the bridge in 2023. While it is important to seek any possible settlement with the operator of the vessel that caused the collapse, this is no excuse for inaction. Our economy cannot wait for lengthy political or legal processes to extract payments before rebuilding.

Third, Congress needs to cut unnecessary red tape and streamline Environmental Protection Act and Endangered Species Act reviews to rebuild bridges as quickly as possible. Some are already saying that red tape will delay the process by several years. That’s unacceptable. In 2022, while I was leading Maryland, the new Neath-Middleton Bridge over the Potomac River, which is similar in size to the Francis Scott Key Bridge, opened on budget and ahead of schedule.

We should not tolerate political, legal and regulatory delays in building bridges that are already an essential part of our economy. This doesn’t mean cutting corners. We need to fully comply with all environmental and safety regulations, but we also need to exclude the possibility of activist groups unnecessarily delaying the process and leading to endless legal proceedings.

There is clear precedent for a bipartisan approach with minimal barriers. In August 2007, the Interstate 35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis suffered a catastrophic failure and collapsed, killing 13 people. In just a few days, the House and Senate unanimously passed the bill, and President George W. Bush signed legislation funding the bridge’s reconstruction through an expedited permitting process. In just 13 months, the bridge was replaced and open to traffic.

Recovering from such disasters was not a partisan issue then, and it should not be now. With livelihoods and the economy at stake, we must cut through the partisan nonsense, hold both sides accountable, and get things done. That’s what Marylanders and our country really want from our leaders. This is a much bigger issue than politics. We rise and fall together as a nation. And the Francis Scott Key Bridge will soon be rebuilt.