House to upper chamber: Leave Jones Act alone

Members of the House are asking the Senate to leave U.S. goods on U.S. ships.   

Rep. Steve Palazzo (R-Miss.), Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and 30 other House representatives sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) this week asking the upper chamber not to pass an “unrelated” and “harmful” amendment that’s been submitted as part of the Keystone Pipeline Act debate.

Introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the amendment would eliminate the requirement under the Jones Act that only ships built in the U.S., owned by the U.S. and operated by U.S. crews carry goods shipped between U.S. ports. 

{mosads}The House members said the Jones Act is what secures an industrial base for the Navy.

“This measure, however, would gut the nation’s shipbuilding capacity and have far reaching impacts across the nation,” said the letter, which included signatures from Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.) and Ted Poe (R-Texas). 

“Building and maintaining these complex naval vessels, and retaining a capable and experienced U.S. workforce are essential to the safety and security of our nation.” 

Citing data from the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration, the letter said 400,000 jobs are supported by the United States’s shipbuilding industry.