Senator John McCain Launches New Attack on ‘Antiquated’ Jones Act

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has as soon as once more launched an assault on the Jones Act, saying Tuesday that he has filed an modification to a Keystone XL Pipeline invoice that may repeal the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, aka the Jones Act, requiring that each one items shipped between ports of the United States be carried by vessels constructed within the United States and owned and operated by Americans.

“I have long advocated for a full repeal of The Jones Act, an antiquated law that has for too long hindered free trade, made U.S. industry less competitive and raised prices for American consumers,” stated Senator John McCain in a press launch issued Tuesday. “The modification I’m introducing once more at this time would remove this pointless, protectionist restriction.

Legislation approving the development of the Keystone XL oil pipeline cleared an preliminary Senate hurdle on Monday by a vote of 63-32, a measure that opens the invoice up for debate and the providing of amendments, such because the one launched by McCain. A Senate vote on the modification may come as quickly as subsequent Tuesday, in response to some studies.

“[Monday] evening’s vote means it will now advance to the floor for open debate and every member will have an opportunity to offer amendments they believe will strengthen the bill,” stated Senator John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican and co-sponsor of the Keystone invoice, studies Reuters.

The modification filed by Senator McCain significantly targets the U.S. construct requirement of the Jones Act. The textual content of the modification could be discovered here.

Responding to Senator McCain’s new assault, the American Maritime Partnership, representing the voice of the U.S. home maritime, has issued the next assertion clearly opposing McCain’s newest actions:

WASHINGTON, DC – American Maritime Partnership (AMP), the voice of the home maritime business, at this time launched the next assertion on Senator John McCain’s current measure to remove the U.S. shipbuilding business, which is crucial to supporting America’s navy energy and protection wants, employs a whole bunch of hundreds of Americans, and pumps tens of billions of {dollars} into the U.S. financial system.
“The McCain amendment would gut the nation’s shipbuilding capacity, outsource our U.S. Naval shipbuilding to foreign builders, and cost hundreds of thousands of family-wage jobs across this country,” stated AMP Chairman Tom Allegretti. “The shipbuilding requirement, which Senator McCain seeks to eliminate, is in place to ensure that the United States maintains the industrial capacity to build its own ships, so as to protect and defend the American homeland. It is hard to believe that the Congress would endorse a change to the law that would outsource U.S. jobs and reduce national security by effectively creating dependence on foreign countries to build our ships.”
American Maritime is Critical to National and Homeland Security
A main objective of the Jones Act is to advertise nationwide and homeland safety. The Navy’s place is obvious – repeal of the Jones Act would “hamper [America’s] ability to meet strategic sealift requirements and Navy shipbuilding.” Similarly, only a month in the past, Congress enacted laws reaffirming the Jones Act and calling a robust business shipbuilding business “particularly important as Federal budget cuts may reduce the number of new constructed military vessels.” The unbiased Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, stated America’s navy energy relies on a robust “shipyard industrial base to support national defense needs.”
The McCain modification would undermine and devalue tens of billions of {dollars} of investments in current U.S. constructed vessels all through the American home maritime business. The Jones Act is the inspiration of the American home maritime infrastructure—vessels, mariners, and shipyards—that’s crucial to navy sealift. The similar is true of homeland safety, the place American staff on American vessels work intently with native, state and federal companies to carry out a crucial home safety operate.
American Maritime Is Vital to Nation’s Economy
The American home maritime business is investing document quantities in new ship building in nearly each commerce, a “tremendous renaissance,” in response to Paul “Chip” Jaenichen, administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration. American shipyards are constructing document numbers of contemporary, state-of-the-art vessels in all sectors with extra on order. The modification is especially troubling as a result of shipyards are among the many largest employers in lots of states, offering steady manufacturing jobs that pay far above the nationwide common. A current research by the U.S. Maritime Administration cited the “economic importance” of the American shipbuilding and restore business, with annual employment of greater than 400,000, annual labor revenue of about $24 billion, and annual gross home product of $36 billion.

In December, Senator John McCain vowed the eventual full repeal of the Jones Act regardless of powerful opposition.

“It’s one of these things you just propose amendments to bills and encourage hearings and sooner or later the dam breaks,” McCain stated after a speech at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative suppose tank, in December.

“But I have to tell you … the power of this maritime lobby is as powerful as anybody or any organization I have run up against in my political career. All I can do is appeal to the patron saint of lost causes and keep pressing and pressing and sooner or later you have to succeed,” he stated.

SEE ALSO: Jones Act Under Attack – American Maritime Partnership Fires Back

In addition to AMP’s robust assertion opposing Senator McCain’s Jones Act modification, there appears to be a rising refrain of voices stating their opposition to the measure, that are highlighted beneath:

NAVY LEAGUE: “The lack of the American-built provisions within the Jones Act would have devastating ripple results on all the ocean providers. Its fast influence could be a discount within the variety of ships in-built U.S. shipyards, which might lead to a lack of jobs, a lack of industrial data and expertise, and a loss in America’s edge in shipbuilding high quality and know-how.“

MEBA: “Senator McCain has chosen to offer his amendment at the last minute to an unrelated bill because he knows that if the issue is debated fairly and openly on its merits, he would not be able to defend his position.”

SEAFARERS: “This amendment has no place in the Keystone bill or in Congress,” said SIU President Michael Sacco. “It is just another attack on the Jones Act, one that could cripple the U.S.-flag maritime industry. We need all hands on deck to defeat this amendment.”

GREAT LAKES MARITIME TASK FORCE: The Great Lakes Maritime Task Force sees no profit to permitting foreign-built vessels to hold cargo between U.S. ports, however warns that almost 60,000 jobs within the Great Lakes states might be sacrificed for no good cause if the modification to the Keystone pipeline invoice supplied by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is accepted. “There is no reason to even consider this amendment,” stated John D. Baker, President of GLMTF and President Emeritus of the ILA’s Great Lakes District Council “The vessels built in Great Lakes shipyards are so efficient that year in, year out they save their customers billions of dollars in freight costs compared to the land-based transportation modes. What shortcoming, what failing can be found there?”

USCG COMMANDANT Adm. Paul Zukunft: “That for me is a real consequence, if we have foreign flagged vessels doing coastalized trade, what are the safety standards, what are the maritime pollution … standards, how are they in compliance with the same standards that we apply to our U.S. fleet?” Adm. Paul Zukunft stated on the Surface Navy Association’s National Symposium in Crystal City, Va.

“I think, at the end of the day, it will put our entire U.S. fleet in jeopardy, where our fleet of roughly 80-plus international U.S.-flagged vessels will rapidly go to zero,” he stated. “And then in a time of crisis, who are we going to charter to carry out our logistics? … Very difficult if we don’t have a U.S. flagged ship.”

RELATED: Congressman Hunter Implores Senate Leadership to Support Jones Act

Contact your Senator and inform him/her that you just strongly oppose any such modification.