AMO Currents - A crucial moment for maritime policy on Capitol Hill

AMO Currents - Posted: March 11, 2011

A crucial moment for maritime policy on Capitol Hill

By Tom Bethel
National President

Our union's legislative staff in Washington is steeped these days in budget matters as the House of Representatives and the Senate attempt to set federal spending levels for the balance of fiscal year 2011.

For example, the staff held many meetings with leading lawmakers and key Congressional staff over several weeks, making the case for full funding of the Maritime Security Program at the authorized level of $174 million through September 2010. The MSP is authorized through 2025, but it must be paid for each year through Department of Transportation appropriations.

While the Maritime Security Program is funded through the annual DOT budget, a significant and growing number of lawmakers see the MSP correctly as an effective and efficient national security enhancement. The MSP, which represents jobs for members of American Maritime Officers on 15 ships, gives the Department of Defense immediate access to 60 U.S.-flagged merchant ships, the civilian officers and crews aboard them, and all intermodal assets and logistics support systems owned or leased worldwide by participating companies.

By all accounts, the Maritime Security Program is a budget bargain - one study in July 2009 said it would cost the Defense Department an estimated $13 billion to build or buy the sealift capacity and flexibility the MSP provides. Thus, the MSP by March 1 appeared safe, even as House members and Senators sought steep cuts in discretionary spending to begin reining in the budget deficit and the national debt.

Meanwhile, our representatives in the capital were addressing issues arising from the Cargo Preference Act of 1954, which holds specific shares of government-financed overseas cargoes for privately owned and operated U.S.-flagged merchant ships.

One controversy appeared to end favorably March 1 when the Department of Energy agreed at long last that cargo preference - a statutory 50-percent U.S.-flagged share - applies in transactions supported by DOE loan guarantees. At issue in this specific example was the purchase of renewable energy components bought overseas for use in the United States.

USA Maritime, a Washington-based coalition that includes AMO and American Maritime Officers Service - which represents deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters merchant vessel operating companies that employ AMO members - welcomed the policy shift in DOE, but advised that "partnership between government and industry" would be necessary to "ensure" that cargo preference is applied in subsequent transactions.

"USA Maritime pledges that it will work with the Department of Energy and the U.S. Maritime Administration to identify a strong and mutually beneficial approach to cargo preference," the coalition said.

On another front, the AMO staff at press time was making the Capitol Hill rounds to support fair funding of the PL-480 food aid export program. Under a 1985 amendment to the 1954 Cargo Preference Act, up to 75 percent of such exports must be delivered in privately owned and operated U.S.-flagged merchant ships.

PL-480 this year is targeted for a staggering 42 percent budget cut - a reduction wildly disproportionate to the 15-20 percent cut in foreign aid spending overall in fiscal 2011. Less money for PL-480 means diminished demand for U.S.-flagged container ships and bulk carriers in this important trade, and our union is alerting principal Hill figures to the immediately apparent national security implications.

Finally, American Maritime Officers is working relentlessly to make sure cargo preference survives this year's Congressional reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. By law, 100 percent of cargoes financed through Ex-Im Bank are held for privately owned and operated U.S.-flagged merchant ships.

These are just some of the legislative issues keeping American Maritime Officers busy in Washington DC, and each is a reminder of the timeless truth that drives us each day - every single seagoing job under the American flag depends upon what Congress does or does not do.

In this context, I ask that every deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO member and applicant for AMO membership participate to the greatest practical extent in the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund, which is every bit as critical to our union as a Capitol Hill call.