President visiting Jacksonville today

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Jacksonville on Thursday afternoon to talk about the economy.

The White House says during his stop at JaxPort, he will focus on what we can do to invest in the middle class. ?He believes that's the only way to strengthen the economy.

"In the last few years, we have certainly seen the conversation about port investment rise in priority as people start to understand that our ports are the foundation of our economy. The movement of goods to our consumers, the movement of goods from our manufacturers to the rest of the world that is critically important to our economic health," said Nancy Rubin, JaxPort spokeswoman.

The Mile Point project and deepening the shipping channel in the St. Johns River are ongoing efforts to demolish an underwater wall and open up the shipping channel. ?If approved, the head of the local longshoreman's union means more business and more work.

"Right now we have about 1,500 members. Only about 600 of those members have a good living as a longshoreman so if we have more jobs here more people that can make a decent living here," said Keith Hopkins, who's been a longshoreman for 25 years.

The project that would allow bigger and more ships to come here is in the hands of Congress. ?In January, Gov. Rick Scott approved $38 million for the project, but it's tied up at the federal level. President Obama has the ability to speed it up.

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio supports efforts to fund port improvements.

"I think everyone supports the dredging project. The two impediments have been money and authorization. Because of a quirk in the federal law that even though the state is spending that money, the federal government had to authorize them to spend that money. And that will be cleared up in the federal version of the bill," said Rubio.

President Obama is expected to speak around 2:35 p.m. This is not open to the public. ?Channel 4 will carry his remarks live on television and streaming on News4Jax.com.

Source: http://www.news4jax.com/news/president-to-speak-at-jaxport/-/475880/21157268/-/3vd7vf/-/index.html

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