U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten and several members of Michigan’s Democratic congressional delegation introduced legislation that would prohibit the Trump administration from interfering in the opening and operation of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a cross-border project connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.
Scholten, a Democrat who represents Michigan’s 3rd District, introduced the Michigan-Canada Partnership Act alongside U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell, Haley Stevens, Rashida Tlaib, Shri Thanedar and Kristen McDonald Rivet, according to a news release.
“Canada and the United States have shared a strong, trusted partnership for centuries, and in Michigan, that relationship matters every single day,” Scholten said. She said Canada is Michigan’s largest trading partner and said the bridge project showed what could happen “when we work together across borders to prioritize jobs, commerce, and cooperation.”
Construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge has had years of bipartisan support and is set to open this year, the release said. The bridge is also described as ready to open this spring.
In 2012, Michigan entered into a bilateral agreement with Canada to advance construction of the bridge without direct cost to Michigan taxpayers, according to the release. The agreement was executed under then-Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, and in cooperation with President Barack Obama, a Democrat, which the release said demonstrated the project’s nonpartisan importance to American workers, manufacturers and national competitiveness.
Dingell said the bill would prevent federal interference in the bridge’s opening and operation and called the bridge a “vital economic link between our two countries,” citing a 2017 endorsement of the project by Trump.
Stevens said the president was “threatening to block the opening” of the bridge and said she was demanding he “drop this reckless threat.”
Tlaib said the bridge was “ready to open this spring” and said it was “no surprise” that Matthew Moroun, identified in the release as the owner of the Ambassador Bridge, met with the Trump administration “mere hours” before the president “threatened to block” the new bridge from opening.
Thanedar said Canada paid the “entire cost of the bridge” and said the project supported American workers by hiring them for construction and using American steel.
McDonald Rivet said the bridge has been a bipartisan priority because it supports jobs, makes transport easier and will lower costs, and she said she wanted Congress to pass the bill.