Kaptur Statement on Resumption of Brandon Road ProjectPress ReleaseTradeJobs and the Economy

Toledo, OH - Today, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water and Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Great Lakes Task Force, released the following statement on the status of the work by the US Army Corps of Engineers to construct the invasive carp barrier at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois.

"I'm pleased work at Brandon Road can start again. This is great news for the Great Lakes, and I thank the Governors who joined me to press the President this week to get it done. With more than a month of critical construction time lost, the Administration still owes Congress and the public an explanation why the stop work order was issued," said Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09). "Congress authorized this barrier, paid for it, and watched two states put up their own money and their own land to see it built. A project that protects the drinking water, fisheries, and the livelihoods of 30 Million people should never be treated as a bargaining chip. The Army Corps of Engineers should move with great haste to make up the lost ground. I will be watching every step of the way until this project to protect the Great Lakes fisheries is finished."

Kaptur's statement follows a month-long delay on the project in which the Trump Administration ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to halt work, giving no reasoning to Congress or to the public. The project, which was authorized and planned in 2024, is designed to prevent invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes and devastating the region's $11 Billion fishing and recreation industry.

Congresswoman Kaptur has long been a leading and staunch advocate for the entire Great Lakes region, fighting to protect the vitality of the Lakes and the people, animals, and plants that call them home. On July 31, 2026, Congresswoman Kaptur, along with her fellow co-chairs on the Bipartisan Great Lakes Task Force, sent a letter urging the Trump administration to lift stop-work orders on the project. Congresswoman Kaptur also raised the importance of timely, uninterrupted construction of the Brandon Road Project with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works and the Commanding General of the Army Corps of Engineers at an Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Annual Budget Hearing for the Army Corps on April 16, 2026. And she has been following through with communications to Army Corps leadership each time a pause or delay arises as a result of the current Administration's decision-making needlessly putting the Great Lakes at greater risk of invasive carp penetration.

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