Legislation aimed at revitalizing U.S. shipping and shipyards has been introduced in both the House of Representatives and Senate.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., spoke Tuesday during a press conference about their bipartisan Energizing American Shipbuilding Act. The legislation, introduced this week, would boost the two industries, not by subsidizing shipbuilding or ship operation, but by requiring a portion of U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil to be carried on ships built in the United States and registered under the U.S. flag.
The legislation also is supported by Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; Rob Wittman, R-Va.; Joe Courtney, D-Conn.; Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.; Don Norcross, D-N.J.; and Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif.
Specifically the act would:
• Immediately launch a shipbuilding program in the United States, ramping up over time so that by 2040, 15 percent of exported American LNG travels on U.S.-built and flagged vessels and by 2032, 10 percent of exported crude oil travels on U.S.-built and flagged vessels. Garamendi said the bill would result in the construction of more than 50 vessels and expand and enhance the U.S. industrial base and create thousands of manufacturing and maritime jobs.
• Require a significant portion of the iron, steel and manufactured components used in the ships be sourced or constructed in the United States.
• Require that exporters immediately create training opportunities for American mariners aboard export vessels so they can earn the credentials needed to work on them.
Garamendi said during the press conference that supporters of the bill (H.R. 5893) were doing so in order “to rebuild our U.S.-flag fleet for the sake of our economy and for our national security. For too long we have outsourced the security and control over the supply chain that underpins our entire economy.”
He said 98 percent of all goods moving through U.S. ports travel on foreign-flag vessels manned by foreign mariners.
“Rebuilding America’s shipbuilding and mariner base is an idea that unites Democrats, Republicans, metallurgical trades, the business community, labor and our armed forces,” said Garamendi. “These industries are not only vital to our economy, they’re vital to our country’s national security. Congress has neglected our maritime industry for too long, to the point that we’re now several dozen merchant ships and 1,800 mariners short of what’s needed to guarantee sufficient sealift support in times of crisis.”
The number of U.S.-flag commercial vessels has declined from 249 in the 1980s to just 78 today, he said.
“This bill seeks to turn the ship around by taking advantage of America’s energy export boom to bring back American shipbuilding, shipyard and mariner jobs, rather than continuing to outsource them to countries like China,” he said. “I believe this bill is the start of a long-term reinvestment in the idea of America as a maritime, seafaring nation.”
Rob Mullins, chief executive officer of VT Halter Marine, said at the press conference, “This is an emotional thing for me. I’m a second-generation shipbuilder and I have been watching this industry die for the past 10 years. To see some effort to reinvigorate it, to get it mobilized and help build on the logistic support for the strongest Navy in the world I think is critical for all of us.”
Hunter, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, recalled during the press conference that as a Marine, he was an embarkation officer when a U.S. flag roll-on, roll-off ship loaded the arms and supplies his unit needed in San Diego for transport to Kuwait and eventual use in Fallujah, Iraq.
“This is the equipment that a U.S.-flagged ship, U.S- crewed ship took over to the Iraq wars. That’s how we go to war,” he said. “If something big blows up ... we don’t have the ships right now to move our people or equipment and Band-Aids and bullets and food to where we need to go to,” he said.
LNG and crude oil tankers can’t be used to transport war materiel, but they could keep shipyards busy and the ships would provide jobs for seafarers that could use their skills on ships that would have more military utility in times of crisis. Ships registered under the U.S. flag must employ U.S. citizens as licensed officers and no more than 25 percent of the unlicensed crew can be non-U.S. citizens. If they are not citizens, they must be lawful permanent residents.
“It’s OK to be a protectionist if you are protecting the things America needs to survive,” said Hunter. “A strong commercial Navy, a merchant marine is just as important as a U.S. Navy with guns on them.
“To my free traders, it would cost the Navy tens of billions of dollars to have ships sitting on standby waiting to go to war if we had to go to war. So why not let industry and the market work in the way they can and we can do that for them and it won’t cost the Navy a dime and we will be able to move our goods around the ocean without having to use Korea or Chinese steel — using American steel, American crew, American workers,” Hunter said.