A bipartisan group of United States Senators has called on the Senate Appropriations Committee to approve full Fiscal Year 2018 funding for the Maritime Security Program (MSP). The Senators, led by Seapower Subcommittee Chairman Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), urges full funding for MSP at its Congressionally-authorized level of $300 million.
The Senators reminded their colleagues that “Without a viable U.S.-flag commercial fleet and the American merchant mariners this fleet supports, the United States would be unable to deploy its military forces on a global basis and to deliver the supplies and equipment American troops need to do their job on behalf of the American people.” They further noted that in November 2015, “Rear Admiral Thomas Shannon, Commander of the Military Sealift Command, stated that without a strong U.S.-flagged merchant marine, we cannot answer the call and carry our nation to war.”
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