This statement is submitted on behalf of USA Maritime, the coalition representing the U.S.-Flag international sailing fleet, made up of ship operators, trade associations and labor organizations owning, operating, crewing and advocating on behalf of the United States Merchant Marine in international commerce.
Our members own, operate, crew or represent most of the U.S.-Flag vessels currently operating in foreign commerce, including all ships in the Maritime Security and Tanker Security Programs.
This hearing could not come at a more significant time in America’s maritime history. After decades of allowing the foreign competition to overtake our maritime industry, especially the shipyard industrial base, the attention of the American people and our government seems to have finally been drawn back to its roots.
There is no more American industry than the maritime industry. From the founding of the Republic, America has been a nation of the sea, surrounded by water and dependent on trade for our wealth and well-being. Despite that history, the last two hundred years of maritime policy has struggled to find a consistent means of ensuring that America’s merchant marine remains afloat.
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