29-911 O Y 4.M53:98-32 MERCHANT MARINE ACT OF 1983 HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE OF THE COMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES NINETY-EIGHTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H.R. 3156 A BILL TO AMEND THE MERCHANT MARINE ACT, 1936, AND FOR WASHINGTON: 1984 DOCUMENTS COMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina, Chairman MARIO BIAGGI, New York GLENN M. ANDERSON, California JOHN B. BREAUX, Louisiana NORMAN E. D'AMOURS, New Hampshire W. J. (BILLY) TAUZIN, Louisiana WILLIAM O. LIPINSKI, Illinois ROBERT A. BORSKI, Pennsylvania THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROBERT LINDSAY THOMAS, Georgia SOLOMON P. ORTIZ, Texas BRIAN J. DONNELLY, Massachusetts EDWIN B. FORSYTHE, New Jersey NORMAN F. LENT, New York ROBERT W. DAVIS, Michigan CLAUDINE SCHNEIDER, Rhode Island CONTENTS Fields, Hon. Jack, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas. Forsythe, Hon. Edwin B., a Representative in Congress from the State of Hiltzheimer, Charles I., chairman and chief executive officer, Sea-Land 173 Prepared statement. 177 Klinges, David H., chairman, board of directors, Shipbuilders Council of America, and vice president, Marine Construction Department, Bethle- ................. Tavrow, Richard L., alternate member, board of directors, Council of American-Flag Ship Operators, and senior vice president, American Walsh, James P., on behalf of the American Tunaboat Association (pre- Hiltzheimer, Charles I.: Address of June 15, 1982, before the Joint Mari- time Congress: "Improving the Operating Efficiency of the U.S.-Flag Additional material supplied-Continued Foreign interest in U.S. ship investments. Supplemental questions of the committee and answers Tavrow, Richard: Costs associated with the additional construction time Communications submitted: Benkert, W. M.: Letter of December 15, 1983, to Hon. Edwin B. Forsythe... Committee staff: Memorandum of October 14, 1983, to members of subcommittee... Groton, Page: Letter of July 15, 1983, to Hon. Mario Biaggi. Hiltzheimer, Charles I.: Letter of August 31, 1983, to Hon. Mario Biaggi.... Letter of August 18, 1983, to Hon. Jack Fields with reply to questions Singman, Julian H.: Letter of August 10, 1983, to Hon. Mario Biaggi MERCHANT MARINE ACT OF 1983 THURSDAY, JULY 21, 1983 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE, COMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:38 a.m., in room 1334, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Mario Biaggi (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Biaggi, Anderson, Foglietta, Donnelly, Bonker, Dyson, Ortiz, Breaux, Snyder, Young, Shumway, Fields, Bateman, McKernan, and Forsythe. Staff present: Ric Ratti, Greg Lambert, Ann Mueller, Ed Welch, Jeff Oshins, George Mannina, Steve Little, Kip Robinson, and Gwen Lockhart. Mr. BIAGGI. In the 96th Congress, this subcommittee considered and reported to the House an Omnibus Maritime bill. That legislation contained regulatory, promotional, and tax changes to the maritime law which would have benefited both operators and shipbuilders. Unfortunately, Congress failed to enact the Omnibus bill, and since then we have not sought to address all the regulatory and promotional problems of shipbuilders and ship operators in one piece of legislation. Rather, in the last Congress, we began the process of regulatory reform which, hopefully, will culminate in the near future with enactment of the Shipping Act of 1983. We have now turned to a consideration of promotional programs. In this Congress, two bills have been introduced which aim to provide assistance to U.S.-flag carriers by assuring them a fair share of our trade. They are: H.R. 1242, introduced by the gentlelady from Louisiana, Mrs. Boggs; and H.R. 2692, introduced by the distinguished chairman of this committee, Mr. Jones. In addition to cosponsoring these bills, I have introduced H.R. 3399, legislation to establish a Maritime Redevelopment Bank of the United States. This legislation will assist shipbuilders and operators through the restructuring of certain credit programs to promote innovation, increased productivity, competitiveness, and capital investment in maritime endeavors. Clearly, this committee is seeking solutions to the serious problems that confront our merchant marine. The legislation we consider today incorporates the promotional programs developed by the Administration. It seeks to assist the ship operators of our Nation, primarily by reducing the costs associated with acquiring and repairing vessels. (1) |