Posted:
January 3, 2013
The President today signed legislation that includes renewal of the Maritime Security Program at 60 ships through fiscal year 2025.
The measure was H.R. 4310, the 51st National Defense Authorization Act, sponsored by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA) and HASC Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA). H.R. 4310 authorizes defense spending in fiscal 2013, which begins next Oct. 1.
The House of Representatives and the Senate approved the legislation by strong margins in mid-December after a House-Senate conference committee reconciled the defense budget bills passed separately in each chamber. The final bill went to the President Dec. 30.
"Enactment of this legislation means continued long-term employment for American Maritime Officers on 15 ships participating in the Maritime Security Program," AMO National President Tom Bethel said. "Our union held a leadership role in getting the MSP reauthorized for 10 years beyond its scheduled expiration in 2015, just as we had taken the lead in the program's initial authorization through the Maritime Security Act of 1996 and the MSP's expansion from 47 ships to 60 ships in 2003.
"I am grateful to everyone in our union who participates in the American Maritime Officers Voluntary Political Action Fund, which is used exclusively to support federal lawmakers who support the U.S. maritime industry and American merchant mariners in all international and domestic trades," Bethel added. "The AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund was critical to our strategy on MSP reauthorization, and it will become even more important in 2013, with a new Congress and new challenges to the U.S. merchant fleet anticipated on several fronts."
The Maritime Security Program sustains 60 privately owned and operated U.S.-flagged merchant vessels in international commercial trade markets worldwide. In exchange for limited operating assistance budgeted through the Department of Transportation, these ships, their officers and crews and all intermodal assets owned or leased by participating companies are available immediately to the Department of Defense in national security emergencies.
"Extension of the proven, cost-effective Maritime Security Program under H.R. 4310 ensures that DOD will have the private sector U.S.-owned merchant ships, the skilled civilian U.S. citizen merchant mariners and the intermodal capabilities the department relies upon traditionally and almost exclusively for long-term strategic sealift service during a crisis anywhere in the world," Bethel noted.
The Maritime Administration in DOT and U.S. Transportation Command in DOD administer the Maritime Security Program. TRANSCOM determines which ships are best suited for enrollment in the program.
Under H.R. 4310, the MSP is authorized for a third 10-year period, beginning in fiscal year 2015. Funding is authorized at the current 60-ship level of $186 million in fiscal years 2012-2018, $210 million in fiscal years 2019-2021 and $222 million in fiscal years 2022-2025. Under the Maritime Security Act of 1996, this funding must be approved each year as a direct appropriation.
In a separate but related development, Congress and the President Jan. 1 agreed to postpone "sequestration" - automatic annual across-the-board federal budget cuts, most of which are aimed at DOD - until March 1 in the hope of reaching agreement on less severe spending reductions. The budget sequester would trim the Maritime Security Program account in fiscal 2012 by about $17 million.
President signs legislation renewing Maritime Security Program
The President today signed legislation that includes renewal of the Maritime Security Program at 60 ships through fiscal year 2025.
The measure was H.R. 4310, the 51st National Defense Authorization Act, sponsored by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA) and HASC Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA). H.R. 4310 authorizes defense spending in fiscal 2013, which begins next Oct. 1.
The House of Representatives and the Senate approved the legislation by strong margins in mid-December after a House-Senate conference committee reconciled the defense budget bills passed separately in each chamber. The final bill went to the President Dec. 30.
"Enactment of this legislation means continued long-term employment for American Maritime Officers on 15 ships participating in the Maritime Security Program," AMO National President Tom Bethel said. "Our union held a leadership role in getting the MSP reauthorized for 10 years beyond its scheduled expiration in 2015, just as we had taken the lead in the program's initial authorization through the Maritime Security Act of 1996 and the MSP's expansion from 47 ships to 60 ships in 2003.
"I am grateful to everyone in our union who participates in the American Maritime Officers Voluntary Political Action Fund, which is used exclusively to support federal lawmakers who support the U.S. maritime industry and American merchant mariners in all international and domestic trades," Bethel added. "The AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund was critical to our strategy on MSP reauthorization, and it will become even more important in 2013, with a new Congress and new challenges to the U.S. merchant fleet anticipated on several fronts."
The Maritime Security Program sustains 60 privately owned and operated U.S.-flagged merchant vessels in international commercial trade markets worldwide. In exchange for limited operating assistance budgeted through the Department of Transportation, these ships, their officers and crews and all intermodal assets owned or leased by participating companies are available immediately to the Department of Defense in national security emergencies.
"Extension of the proven, cost-effective Maritime Security Program under H.R. 4310 ensures that DOD will have the private sector U.S.-owned merchant ships, the skilled civilian U.S. citizen merchant mariners and the intermodal capabilities the department relies upon traditionally and almost exclusively for long-term strategic sealift service during a crisis anywhere in the world," Bethel noted.
The Maritime Administration in DOT and U.S. Transportation Command in DOD administer the Maritime Security Program. TRANSCOM determines which ships are best suited for enrollment in the program.
Under H.R. 4310, the MSP is authorized for a third 10-year period, beginning in fiscal year 2015. Funding is authorized at the current 60-ship level of $186 million in fiscal years 2012-2018, $210 million in fiscal years 2019-2021 and $222 million in fiscal years 2022-2025. Under the Maritime Security Act of 1996, this funding must be approved each year as a direct appropriation.
In a separate but related development, Congress and the President Jan. 1 agreed to postpone "sequestration" - automatic annual across-the-board federal budget cuts, most of which are aimed at DOD - until March 1 in the hope of reaching agreement on less severe spending reductions. The budget sequester would trim the Maritime Security Program account in fiscal 2012 by about $17 million.