Posted:
April 17, 2013
Led by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA), a total of 46 congressional representatives urged colleagues to fully fund the Maritime Security Program in the fiscal year 2014 appropriations bill for the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
In a letter to Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) - chairman of the Appropriation Committee's Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies - and Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ), ranking member on the subcommittee, the representatives requested $186 million for the Maritime Security Program (MSP) in fiscal year 2014 - the "amount necessary to ensure that the U.S. Maritime Administration, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, has the necessary funds available to fully implement the MSP in FY 2014.
"The MSP was originally enacted to ensure that the United States has the U.S.-flag commercial sealift capability and trained U.S. citizen merchant mariners available to crew the government and privately-owned vessels needed by the Department of Defense in time of war or other international emergency," the representatives wrote. "Most importantly, the Maritime Security Program and the uninterrupted operation of its maritime security fleet of 60 U.S.-flag militarily-useful commercial vessels ensures that America will in fact be able to support and supply our troops overseas. It guarantees that American flag vessels and American crews will continue to be available to transport the supplies and equipment our troops need to do their job in behalf of our nation.
"Without having the MSP and its maritime security fleet to rely on, the options available to the Department of Defense and to our country to meet America's commercial sealift capability requirements are totally unacceptable," they wrote.
"On the one hand, our country would be faced with the option of giving foreign flag shipping interests and their foreign mariners, interests who many not share America's goals, objectives and values, the responsibility for supporting and advancing America's security interests overseas," the representatives noted.
"On the other hand, our country would be faced with the option of having the Department of Defense build, maintain and operate the requisite vessels itself, at a tremendous cost to the American taxpayer. In fact, a 2006 report prepared for the National Defense Transportation Association - Military Sealift Committee concluded that 'the likely cost to the government to replicate just the vessel capacity provided by the MSP dry cargo vessels would be $13 billion.' In addition, the United States Transportation Command has estimated that it would cost the U.S. Government an additional $52 billion to replicate the 'global intermodal system' that is made available to the Department of Defense by MSP participants who are continuously developing, maintaining and upgrading their systems."
Congressional support for full MSP funding in fiscal year 2014
Led by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA), a total of 46 congressional representatives urged colleagues to fully fund the Maritime Security Program in the fiscal year 2014 appropriations bill for the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
In a letter to Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) - chairman of the Appropriation Committee's Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies - and Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ), ranking member on the subcommittee, the representatives requested $186 million for the Maritime Security Program (MSP) in fiscal year 2014 - the "amount necessary to ensure that the U.S. Maritime Administration, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, has the necessary funds available to fully implement the MSP in FY 2014.
"The MSP was originally enacted to ensure that the United States has the U.S.-flag commercial sealift capability and trained U.S. citizen merchant mariners available to crew the government and privately-owned vessels needed by the Department of Defense in time of war or other international emergency," the representatives wrote. "Most importantly, the Maritime Security Program and the uninterrupted operation of its maritime security fleet of 60 U.S.-flag militarily-useful commercial vessels ensures that America will in fact be able to support and supply our troops overseas. It guarantees that American flag vessels and American crews will continue to be available to transport the supplies and equipment our troops need to do their job in behalf of our nation.
"Without having the MSP and its maritime security fleet to rely on, the options available to the Department of Defense and to our country to meet America's commercial sealift capability requirements are totally unacceptable," they wrote.
"On the one hand, our country would be faced with the option of giving foreign flag shipping interests and their foreign mariners, interests who many not share America's goals, objectives and values, the responsibility for supporting and advancing America's security interests overseas," the representatives noted.
"On the other hand, our country would be faced with the option of having the Department of Defense build, maintain and operate the requisite vessels itself, at a tremendous cost to the American taxpayer. In fact, a 2006 report prepared for the National Defense Transportation Association - Military Sealift Committee concluded that 'the likely cost to the government to replicate just the vessel capacity provided by the MSP dry cargo vessels would be $13 billion.' In addition, the United States Transportation Command has estimated that it would cost the U.S. Government an additional $52 billion to replicate the 'global intermodal system' that is made available to the Department of Defense by MSP participants who are continuously developing, maintaining and upgrading their systems."