Posted:
January 7, 2016
By Paul Doell
National President
A Congressional sea change of real significance to the U.S. maritime community occurred late in October, when Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner brought his principled public service career to an honorable, voluntary end after 33 years at the local, state and federal levels.
Ever the statesman, Rep. Boehner based his deeply personal decision to retire on the noble and selfless hope that this action would somehow hasten the end of ideological division on Capitol Hill and calm "the prolonged leadership turmoil" Rep. Boehner feared would bring "irreparable harm to the institution."
At this point, many of the men and women I am privileged to represent in American Maritime Officers - and many other readers - are asking: "Why does John Boehner's retirement matter to the U.S. shipping industry or to American merchant mariners working in domestic and international trades?"
This is a fair question under the circumstances. Rep. Boehner - Speaker of the House of Representatives and second in the line of succession to the presidency since January 2011 - was never identified publicly with legislation intended to help sustain a strong, privately owned and operated U.S. merchant fleet. He never chaired a Congressional committee or subcommittee with influence over maritime policy, and he never carried our cause in open debate on the House floor.
But, having known and supported John Boehner since his election to the House in 1990, and having appreciated the characteristically graceful and reserved style he applied to his job, we understand better than any other maritime interest in Washington just how quietly helpful Rep. Boehner was to us all.
A fresh example: one week before Christmas, the President signed an omnibus appropriations bill to fund the federal government through the balance of fiscal year 2016, and the maritime community celebrated the measure's provision authorizing substantial increases in Maritime Security Program funding.
Beginning in fiscal 2017 next October 1, stipends paid to U.S.-flag shipping companies participating in the MSP will rise from $3.5 million per vessel in fiscal 2016* to $5 million per ship in fiscal years 2017-2020; these payments will increase to $5.2 million per ship in fiscal 2021.
This new MSP funding schedule in fiscal 2017- nearly a year in the making - was the exclusive work of Speaker John Boehner and his transportation policy staff. AMO and American Maritime Officers Service (AMOS, the lobbying arm of deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters merchant vessel operating companies that employ AMO members) were the first maritime interests alerted to this initiative.
Rep. Boehner's proposal earned early support from Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and in the Senate, and in the key committees with MSP jurisdiction in each chamber. AMO and AMOS led the industry-wide effort to broaden this bipartisan support base and to keep the MSP language intact as the spending bill moved through Congressional channels; Brenda Otterson, a longtime Congressional chief of staff now serving as legislative consultant to AMOS, coordinated daily with the Speaker's office on strategy and timing.
The omnibus appropriations package cleared the House in a 316-113 vote and the Senate in a 65-33 vote, with the MSP provision drawing little or no challenge.
For AMO, this legislative triumph means continued employment on at least 15 of the 60 MSP ships - all of which operate in commercial international trade, all of which are available immediately to the Department of Defense for strategic sealift service in national security emergencies.
For AMOS, it means greater stability and easier long-term business planning for the vessel operators.
An equally important consideration is what this means to John Boehner, a proud and avowed small government conservative. He sees the Maritime Security Program as an example of effective public-private partnership, as a real value to taxpayers and as a critical element of defense strategy. He knows that the modest annual U.S. investment in the MSP ensures a quality fleet of reliable cargo ships and an intermodal and logistics support network with worldwide reach - assets that would cost DOD multiple billions to build, buy and maintain.
Rep. Boehner also understands that the MSP helps perpetuate a highly skilled, loyal civilian American seagoing workforce - private sector merchant mariners dedicated without question to the military mission at hand.
On another front, Rep. Boehner was with us behind the scenes in defense of the Jones Act, the law that holds all waterborne commerce between and among U.S. points for merchant vessels owned, built, flagged and crewed in the United States.
On at least three occasions in the last four years, the Speaker informed me as AMO's legislative director that he had been approached by lawmakers seeking leadership support for amendment to or outright repeal of this domestic shipping law.
Each time, Rep. Boehner told me no legislative attack on the Jones Act would advance in the House on his watch - he saw merit in the law as providing additional ships and dependable merchant mariners for military support services, as accounting for some 500,000 jobs nationwide, and as representing billions in private capital investment.
Early in the Presidential campaign season in 2008, Rep. Boehner - minority leader in the House at the time - took me aside one afternoon to ask how the shipping industry would fare with a Republican in the White House. We spoke at length about possibility and potential, and Rep. Boehner assured me that he would address any policy concerns personally and privately at the highest levels in a GOP administration.
As the Honorable John Boehner eases into retirement, we in AMO are pleased to give unsought credit where it is long overdue, to report gratefully on the Congressman's subtle but strong support of the U.S. merchant fleet and American merchant mariners over many years. We wish "Mr. Speaker" and his family fair winds and following seas at this new juncture in their lives.
* Separate legislation, the National Defense Authorization Act, authorized a fiscal 2016 Maritime Security Program stipend increase from $3.1 million per ship to $3.5 million per ship. California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, had the lead on this initiative.
'Mr. Speaker': the quiet work of Rep. John Boehner
By Paul Doell
National President
A Congressional sea change of real significance to the U.S. maritime community occurred late in October, when Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner brought his principled public service career to an honorable, voluntary end after 33 years at the local, state and federal levels.
Ever the statesman, Rep. Boehner based his deeply personal decision to retire on the noble and selfless hope that this action would somehow hasten the end of ideological division on Capitol Hill and calm "the prolonged leadership turmoil" Rep. Boehner feared would bring "irreparable harm to the institution."
At this point, many of the men and women I am privileged to represent in American Maritime Officers - and many other readers - are asking: "Why does John Boehner's retirement matter to the U.S. shipping industry or to American merchant mariners working in domestic and international trades?"
This is a fair question under the circumstances. Rep. Boehner - Speaker of the House of Representatives and second in the line of succession to the presidency since January 2011 - was never identified publicly with legislation intended to help sustain a strong, privately owned and operated U.S. merchant fleet. He never chaired a Congressional committee or subcommittee with influence over maritime policy, and he never carried our cause in open debate on the House floor.
But, having known and supported John Boehner since his election to the House in 1990, and having appreciated the characteristically graceful and reserved style he applied to his job, we understand better than any other maritime interest in Washington just how quietly helpful Rep. Boehner was to us all.
A fresh example: one week before Christmas, the President signed an omnibus appropriations bill to fund the federal government through the balance of fiscal year 2016, and the maritime community celebrated the measure's provision authorizing substantial increases in Maritime Security Program funding.
Beginning in fiscal 2017 next October 1, stipends paid to U.S.-flag shipping companies participating in the MSP will rise from $3.5 million per vessel in fiscal 2016* to $5 million per ship in fiscal years 2017-2020; these payments will increase to $5.2 million per ship in fiscal 2021.
This new MSP funding schedule in fiscal 2017- nearly a year in the making - was the exclusive work of Speaker John Boehner and his transportation policy staff. AMO and American Maritime Officers Service (AMOS, the lobbying arm of deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters merchant vessel operating companies that employ AMO members) were the first maritime interests alerted to this initiative.
Rep. Boehner's proposal earned early support from Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and in the Senate, and in the key committees with MSP jurisdiction in each chamber. AMO and AMOS led the industry-wide effort to broaden this bipartisan support base and to keep the MSP language intact as the spending bill moved through Congressional channels; Brenda Otterson, a longtime Congressional chief of staff now serving as legislative consultant to AMOS, coordinated daily with the Speaker's office on strategy and timing.
The omnibus appropriations package cleared the House in a 316-113 vote and the Senate in a 65-33 vote, with the MSP provision drawing little or no challenge.
For AMO, this legislative triumph means continued employment on at least 15 of the 60 MSP ships - all of which operate in commercial international trade, all of which are available immediately to the Department of Defense for strategic sealift service in national security emergencies.
For AMOS, it means greater stability and easier long-term business planning for the vessel operators.
An equally important consideration is what this means to John Boehner, a proud and avowed small government conservative. He sees the Maritime Security Program as an example of effective public-private partnership, as a real value to taxpayers and as a critical element of defense strategy. He knows that the modest annual U.S. investment in the MSP ensures a quality fleet of reliable cargo ships and an intermodal and logistics support network with worldwide reach - assets that would cost DOD multiple billions to build, buy and maintain.
Rep. Boehner also understands that the MSP helps perpetuate a highly skilled, loyal civilian American seagoing workforce - private sector merchant mariners dedicated without question to the military mission at hand.
On another front, Rep. Boehner was with us behind the scenes in defense of the Jones Act, the law that holds all waterborne commerce between and among U.S. points for merchant vessels owned, built, flagged and crewed in the United States.
On at least three occasions in the last four years, the Speaker informed me as AMO's legislative director that he had been approached by lawmakers seeking leadership support for amendment to or outright repeal of this domestic shipping law.
Each time, Rep. Boehner told me no legislative attack on the Jones Act would advance in the House on his watch - he saw merit in the law as providing additional ships and dependable merchant mariners for military support services, as accounting for some 500,000 jobs nationwide, and as representing billions in private capital investment.
Early in the Presidential campaign season in 2008, Rep. Boehner - minority leader in the House at the time - took me aside one afternoon to ask how the shipping industry would fare with a Republican in the White House. We spoke at length about possibility and potential, and Rep. Boehner assured me that he would address any policy concerns personally and privately at the highest levels in a GOP administration.
As the Honorable John Boehner eases into retirement, we in AMO are pleased to give unsought credit where it is long overdue, to report gratefully on the Congressman's subtle but strong support of the U.S. merchant fleet and American merchant mariners over many years. We wish "Mr. Speaker" and his family fair winds and following seas at this new juncture in their lives.
* Separate legislation, the National Defense Authorization Act, authorized a fiscal 2016 Maritime Security Program stipend increase from $3.1 million per ship to $3.5 million per ship. California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, had the lead on this initiative.