Posted:
December 9, 2016
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, sent the following letter dated December 2 to President-Elect Donald Trump.
I write to you today highlighting the importance of United States domestic cabotage laws in keeping American jobs in America. These laws, found in chapter 551 of title 46, United States Code, and popularly known as the Jones Act, require that merchandise and passengers that move by water between two points in the United States do so on U.S.-built, -owned, -flagged, and -crewed vessels. Simply put, the Jones Act protects and creates good American jobs - jobs that would have otherwise fled our shores. Like so many others, I supported your campaign because of your commitment to protecting American jobs. You can carry out this promise by protecting the Jones Act from attempts, initiated and funded by foreign corporations, to dismantle or repeal it. Throughout our history, the U.S.-flag fleet has provided American jobs, protected domestic economic prosperity, and provided critical sealift capability for our military.
Changes to the Jones Act would result in the elimination of tens of thousands of good American jobs by allowing foreign vessels, vessels constructed in foreign shipyards, or vessels crewed by foreign seafarers to be used in internal U.S. waterways. We simply cannot allow our economy to lose these jobs to foreign shippers and shipbuilding interests. The loss of these jobs will affect every state and will result in the loss of billions of dollars in investments made by Americans and will place at risk hundreds of millions of dollars in federal loans that finance American ship construction. Moreover, losing these jobs would result in a decrease of American wages, taxes and less overall economic activity.
Historically, the Jones Act has allowed the United States to retain a base level of expertise in shipbuilding, ship operations and maintenance, providing stability to our commercial U.S. waterborne transportation industry. It provides access to U.S.-flag vessels and U.S. merchant mariners that provide critical capabilities to our national defense sealift needs. Changes to the Jones Act would also cause irreparable harm to the U.S. merchant marine, a critical asset to our national defense sealift readiness. Any loss to this commercial base would be both costly and time consuming for the U.S. government to replicate on its own.
As you move forward in your transition, I look forward to working with you on returning American jobs back to America, and in the case of the Jones Act, protecting current American jobs from foreign threats. As you work to reverse the disastrous policies that have led to the outsourcing of American jobs, I urge you to promote policies and retain the Jones Act. The Act helps grow a strong and robust U.S. shipbuilding industry and U.S. mariner workforce.
Congressman Hunter highlights importance of Jones Act in letter to President-Elect Trump
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, sent the following letter dated December 2 to President-Elect Donald Trump.
I write to you today highlighting the importance of United States domestic cabotage laws in keeping American jobs in America. These laws, found in chapter 551 of title 46, United States Code, and popularly known as the Jones Act, require that merchandise and passengers that move by water between two points in the United States do so on U.S.-built, -owned, -flagged, and -crewed vessels. Simply put, the Jones Act protects and creates good American jobs - jobs that would have otherwise fled our shores. Like so many others, I supported your campaign because of your commitment to protecting American jobs. You can carry out this promise by protecting the Jones Act from attempts, initiated and funded by foreign corporations, to dismantle or repeal it. Throughout our history, the U.S.-flag fleet has provided American jobs, protected domestic economic prosperity, and provided critical sealift capability for our military.
Changes to the Jones Act would result in the elimination of tens of thousands of good American jobs by allowing foreign vessels, vessels constructed in foreign shipyards, or vessels crewed by foreign seafarers to be used in internal U.S. waterways. We simply cannot allow our economy to lose these jobs to foreign shippers and shipbuilding interests. The loss of these jobs will affect every state and will result in the loss of billions of dollars in investments made by Americans and will place at risk hundreds of millions of dollars in federal loans that finance American ship construction. Moreover, losing these jobs would result in a decrease of American wages, taxes and less overall economic activity.
Historically, the Jones Act has allowed the United States to retain a base level of expertise in shipbuilding, ship operations and maintenance, providing stability to our commercial U.S. waterborne transportation industry. It provides access to U.S.-flag vessels and U.S. merchant mariners that provide critical capabilities to our national defense sealift needs. Changes to the Jones Act would also cause irreparable harm to the U.S. merchant marine, a critical asset to our national defense sealift readiness. Any loss to this commercial base would be both costly and time consuming for the U.S. government to replicate on its own.
As you move forward in your transition, I look forward to working with you on returning American jobs back to America, and in the case of the Jones Act, protecting current American jobs from foreign threats. As you work to reverse the disastrous policies that have led to the outsourcing of American jobs, I urge you to promote policies and retain the Jones Act. The Act helps grow a strong and robust U.S. shipbuilding industry and U.S. mariner workforce.