WASHINGTON, D.C.—USA Maritime Chairman James L. Henry today issued the following statement in response to certain allegations and statements made during the October 19, 2017, hearing titled “Modernizing the Food for Peace Program.”
“Statements made during the hearing misrepresent the value proposition of shipping Food for Peace cargoes with the U.S. Merchant Marine pursuant to our nation’s cargo preference laws. Hiring Americans sailing on U.S.-flag ships, instead of foreign mariners, leverages transportation dollars our government already has to spend to ensure we maintain a U.S. Merchant Marine necessary to support our nation in times of war and national emergency. For example, the U.S.-flag merchant fleet carried more than 90% of the supplies our troops needed in Iraq and Afghanistan at a fraction of the cost of other alternatives. Relying upon this partnership with the U.S. commercial fleet is a cost-effective alternative to replicating such sealift capacity by building military gray-hull ships and hiring more government employees. This approach saves taxpayers more than $1 billion in annual operating costs for vessels and related intermodal assets together with $13 billion in vessel capital costs. READ MORE (
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