Posted:
July 5, 2012
USA Maritime, a coalition of which American Maritime Officers and American Maritime Officers Service are members, sent the following letter dated June 29 to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), ranking member on the Committee on Environment and Public Works, Rep. John Mica (R-FL), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), ranking member on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
USA Maritime is a coalition of ship owning companies, maritime labor organizations, and maritime trade associations committed to promoting and protecting the U.S.-flag Merchant Marine. USA Maritime represents virtually every U.S.-flag vessel participating in the U.S.- foreign trade.
We write to express our profound disappointment and concern with Section 100124 of the Highway Bill (H.R. 4348). This provision, which deals with the transportation of international food aid and adversely affects U.S. military capabilities, was not germane to the bill, was added in conference at the last moment without any public scrutiny or transparency, and was never considered by either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate.
The provision guts the cargo preference program for the shipment of international food aid (P.L. 480) by reducing the reserved percentage of cargoes by one third. The provision also repeals provisions agreed to as part of a bi-partisan 1985 cargo preference compromise among farm and maritime interests. The shipment of international food aid cargoes supports 33,000 U.S. jobs, $523 million in U.S. household earnings, and $2 billion in U.S. economic output. Fully one third of those positive impacts will be eliminated by Section 100124, making the provision very short sighted policy.
The provision will also have a significant negative impact on national defense. The cargo reservation that the provision eliminates was designed to provide support for a fleet of militarily useful U.S.-flag vessels available for national emergencies. Last year, General Duncan McNabb, then Commanding General of the U.S. Transportation Command, stated that the availability of these food aid cargoes subject to cargo preference is essential to maintaining the U.S.-flag Merchant Marine and therefore essential to maintaining our national defense sealift capability.
We therefore strongly urge that Section 100124 not be adopted, or that it be reversed as soon as possible and that cargo preference be restored before ships are compelled to leave the U.S.-flag with the resultant loss of jobs for our skilled U.S. citizen merchant mariners and of our national defense sealift capability.
USA Maritime: reduction in U.S.-flag cargo preference undercuts U.S. jobs, economy, national defense
USA Maritime, a coalition of which American Maritime Officers and American Maritime Officers Service are members, sent the following letter dated June 29 to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), ranking member on the Committee on Environment and Public Works, Rep. John Mica (R-FL), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), ranking member on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
USA Maritime is a coalition of ship owning companies, maritime labor organizations, and maritime trade associations committed to promoting and protecting the U.S.-flag Merchant Marine. USA Maritime represents virtually every U.S.-flag vessel participating in the U.S.- foreign trade.
We write to express our profound disappointment and concern with Section 100124 of the Highway Bill (H.R. 4348). This provision, which deals with the transportation of international food aid and adversely affects U.S. military capabilities, was not germane to the bill, was added in conference at the last moment without any public scrutiny or transparency, and was never considered by either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate.
The provision guts the cargo preference program for the shipment of international food aid (P.L. 480) by reducing the reserved percentage of cargoes by one third. The provision also repeals provisions agreed to as part of a bi-partisan 1985 cargo preference compromise among farm and maritime interests. The shipment of international food aid cargoes supports 33,000 U.S. jobs, $523 million in U.S. household earnings, and $2 billion in U.S. economic output. Fully one third of those positive impacts will be eliminated by Section 100124, making the provision very short sighted policy.
The provision will also have a significant negative impact on national defense. The cargo reservation that the provision eliminates was designed to provide support for a fleet of militarily useful U.S.-flag vessels available for national emergencies. Last year, General Duncan McNabb, then Commanding General of the U.S. Transportation Command, stated that the availability of these food aid cargoes subject to cargo preference is essential to maintaining the U.S.-flag Merchant Marine and therefore essential to maintaining our national defense sealift capability.
We therefore strongly urge that Section 100124 not be adopted, or that it be reversed as soon as possible and that cargo preference be restored before ships are compelled to leave the U.S.-flag with the resultant loss of jobs for our skilled U.S. citizen merchant mariners and of our national defense sealift capability.