Jim Kearns, special counsel in the Maritime Practice Group, presented on two panels during the 2021 Inland Rivers, Ports and Terminals Annual (IRPT) Conference in Biloxi. As a member of the Legislative Update panel on October 19, Jim discussed why earmarks had fallen into disfavor in Congress, how they were being brought back into limited use, and what this would mean for marine transportation. On October 20, he spoke on the panel that described the Port Resilience Handbook that IRPT is undertaking to help facilities on the inland waterways prepare for, respond to, and recover from special challenges, such as the workforce disruptions caused by Covid-19 and the increasing frequency of ransomware attacks.