57
uring the last 60 years, a handful of Maryland’s Congres-
sional delegation became recognized as the Port’s patrons.
More recently, three Maryland U.S. Senators — Barbara Mikulski,
Paul Sarbanes and Charles “Mac” Mathias — helped bring home
dredging funding, while three others enjoyed positions of leader-
ship during the 1960s: George Fallon, who became chairman of
the House Public Works Committee; Ed Garmatz, chairman of the
House Merchant Marine Committee; and Sam Friedel, who chaired
the House Administration Committee. And although they all
thumped for the Port’s best interests, none matched the high level
of forceful advocacy dished out by Helen Delich Bentley, formerly
maritime editor of
The Sun.
Bentley, who served as Chairman of the Federal Maritime
Commission from 1969 to 1975, became sufficiently aroused by
delays in dredging Baltimore’s 50-foot channel that she decided
to challenge the re-election of the popular incumbent to the
U.S. House of Representatives in 1980. Elected on her third try,
Bentley pushed through legislation which enabled the work to
be completed in 1989.
In 1971, a tough and tumultuous stretch for the Port was kicked
off by a fit of legislative pique in Annapolis which subordinated
the Maryland Port Authority under the newly created Maryland
Department of Transportation, whereupon it was renamed the
Maryland Port Administration.
Congressional deregulatory initiatives cut a wide swath
through American industry during the last quarter of the 20th
century. In 1980, the Staggers Rail Act signaled the onset of rail-
road deregulation; the Interstate Commerce Commission’s power
over rates and routes was curtailed, eliminating the differential
Port Patrons
