The year’s first hearing of a crucial House subcommittee reinforced support for the Jones Act and for other U.S. maritime industry components.
SIU Political and Legislative Director Brian Schoeneman, who also serves as chairman of the coalition USA Maritime, testified at the Feb. 5 hearing of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, part of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Also testifying were Paul Anderson, president and chief executive officer, Port Tampa Bay; Joe Rella, president, St. Johns Ship Building, Inc., on behalf of the Shipbuilders Council of America; and Tom Reynolds, chief strategy officer, Seasats, on behalf of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International.
The hearing was titled “America Builds: Maritime Infrastructure.”
In his opening remarks, Subcommittee Chairman U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell (R-Mississippi) pointed out that the hearing is a continuation of the parent committee’s “America Builds” series “to discuss the nation’s maritime infrastructure.”
Ezell also noted, “In order to participate in coastwise trade between two domestic points, a ship must be Jones Act-qualified, meaning the ship is U.S.-built, U.S.-crewed, and U.S.-owned. The Jones Act is a fundamental statute for the domestic maritime industry. The Jones Act is quite literally the bedrock and foundation of our nation’s shipbuilding industrial base because it helps to maintain a pool of qualified American mariners that we rely on to transport goods and our military, in times of peace and war.”
He added, “Unfortunately, the rise of the shipbuilding industries of global competitors has led to a decline in our own shipbuilding capacity. Coastal Mississippi, and the Gulf Coast as a whole, is home to several shipyards employing thousands of Americans. I look forward to discussing ways to reinvigorate this critical industry.”
Schoeneman told the legislators, “The goal of this hearing is to discuss the current state of our maritime infrastructure. I would rate our infrastructure a solid C. There’s much work to be done if we’re going to catch up to the rest of the world, particularly China, who has invested billions, if not trillions, into their maritime sector.”
He stated, “In less than 30 years, China has emerged as the dominant commercial maritime power. They are the world’s largest shipowner. They are the world’s largest shipbuilder and they control most of the world’s trailer chassis, maritime cranes and shipping container supply. In that same time period, the United States has invested a pittance and our industry scrambles, each year, to convince Congress to spend the money needed to adequately fund our handful of government programs like the Maritime Security Program.”
Schoeneman asked the subcommittee members for support of the laws and programs that keep the industry afloat.
“America needs more mariners, we need more cargo and we need more ships of all types, from icebreakers and fireboats to oceangoing commercial vessels,” he said. “We can fix these problems by making maritime a priority again, like it has been in our past. We continue to work hard to solve our current mariner shortage.”
He added, “When it comes to ships, we’re not living up to our aspirations. Current law says America must have a merchant marine sufficient to carry a substantial portion of our waterborne foreign commerce. We don’t do this. Our fleet carries less than two percent of our foreign commerce and represents less than 0.4 percent of the world’s shipping fleet. We saw the damage overreliance on foreign shipping creates during the most recent supply chain crisis. More U.S.-flag market share will help to strengthen the resilience of our national supply chain…. For us to compete against China, we must change our priorities and it needs to start today.”
Later, during a question-and-answer period, Schoeneman said the Jones Act is “fundamental” to national security. Also during the question-and-answer segment, he explained the massive value of cargo preference laws to numerous Americans from different industries, not just maritime.
Rella (from St. Johns Ship Building) weighed in on America’s freight cabotage law: “From our industry’s perspective, the Jones Act is absolutely essential to the commercial shipbuilding sector,” he said. “The Jones Act, which comes at no cost to the U.S. government, helps maintain a merchant marine to carry our domestic waterborne commerce. The law also ensures that the U.S. maintains critical shipyard infrastructure and an associated skilled workforce that can build, repair, modernize and maintain the more than 40,000 vessels of the domestic Jones Act fleet. This industrial base also ensures there is a sufficient workforce to support the construction and repair of our critical national security fleets.”
At different points in the hearing, various legislators weighed in with their concern for, and support of American maritime. Ranking Member Salud Carbajal (D-California) said, “While we have made great strides in recent years in bolstering our ports, waterways and maritime industry, we cannot take our foot off the pedal. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, alone, invested more than $17 billion in our ports and waterways. This funding has been used to fund repairs, upgrades and replacements to reduce port and vessel congestion and to strengthen our supply chain. In addition, cutting emissions near ports by boosting electrification and investing in other low-carbon technologies to reduce overall environmental impacts is critically important, as we continue to battle climate change.”
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Washington), ranking member of the full committee, stated, “I was heartened to hear (Transportation) Secretary (Sean) Duffy’s support for the Jones Act during his confirmation hearing. The Jones Act has strong support among members of this committee.
It’s critical to the maritime industry.”
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