During the June 12 House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on International Food Aid Modernization,witness Andrew Natsios responded to a question from Chairman Royce that maritime cargo preference requirements have outlived their usefulness and that the general justification for it doesn’t exist anymore. During the response, Mr. Natsios also implied that U.S.-flag capability is not important in a post cold war environment and stated that U.S.-flag ships had not been called on during the past decade to “protect maritime security”. The response confirms that Mr. Natsios is not an expert on maritime issues and national security, nor is he aware that U.S.-flag ships and U.S. citizen mariners contributed overwhelmingly to the sealift support mission leading to and during military operations in Afghanistan and lraq during the very decade referenced in his response.
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