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▶ 0:18:36the subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation will come to order I ask unanimous consent that the chairman be authorized to declare a recess at any time during today's hearing without objection so ordered I also ask unanimous consent that members not only subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at today's hearing and ask questions without objection so ordered as a reminder if members insert a document into the record please do so that email it to
▶ 0:19:06documents mail.house.gov I now recogize recognize myself for the purpose of an opening statement for five minutes before I get to my remarks on the topic of the hearing today I first want to send my condolences to all who were impacted by the tragic last week DCA Airport crash susette and I send our thoughts and prayers and thank all First Responders including the Coast Guard that were there in the immediate
▶ 0:19:37aftermath today the subcommittee meets for its hearing of the 119th Congress and continues the transportation and infrastructure committees America bills series to discuss the nation's Maritime infrastructure it is clearly critical that we must build a safer and more efficient system I'm also happy to say this is my first hearing as subcommittee chairman I'm excited to lead the subcommittee this Congress in addressing the many important issues facing the maritime
▶ 0:20:08industry I look forward to working under the leadership of chairman graves in this position continuing on today's topic America's Marine transportation system consists of navig navigable waterways commercial ports and Landslide connections landside connections which help to move millions of passengers and billions of dollars worth of cargo every year nearly all the country's inbound or outbound cargo is transported by ships
▶ 0:20:38requiring a robust of Maritime infrastructure to ensure the movement of goods porch play a prominent role within this system providing access to connections for cargo to move Inland to final destinations and outb outbound for export overseas Marine ter terminals within each Port load and unload cargo that cargo is then transported both domestically and to other points in the United States which is also known
▶ 0:21:08as coastwide trade or it is moved internationally to foreign markets in order to participate in coastwide trade between two domestic points a ship must be Jones act qualified meaning the ship is US built us crewed and US owned the Jones Act is a fundamental statute for the domestic Maritime industry the Jones Act is quite literally the Bedrock and Foundation of our nation's ship building
▶ 0:21:38industrial base because it helps to maintain a pool of qualified American Mariners that we rely on to transport goods and our military in times of peace War unfortunately the rise of ship building industries of global competitors has led to the decline in our own ship build building capacity Coastal Mississippi and the Gulf Coast as a whole is home to several shipyards employing thousands of Americans I look forward to discussing
▶ 0:22:09ways to reinvigorate this critical industry in order to promote the domestic Maritime industry the maritime Administration and the United States Department of Transportation administers several programs that fund projects to construct and expand Maritime infrastructure and US ship building I hope to look at the current operation of each of these programs to find ways we can improve them and look forward to recommendations from our stakeholders here today
▶ 0:22:39additionally autonomous Maritime Technologies are creating new challenges requiring us to reassess current Maritime infrastructure to ensure their safe operation United States Coast Guard is in charge of developing a framework from which these new technologies can safely operate however the velopment of these Technologies outpaces the regulatory Ru making process we understand the Coast Guard will need to focus on developing regulatory standards that provide for
▶ 0:23:09the adequate testing safe inte inte integration of these Technologies in the Marine transportation system and appreciate any insights you can provide thank you for all being here today and I look forward to discussing the build out of America's Maritime infrastructure I now now recognized and ranking member carbahal for an opening statement for 5 minutes good afternoon and thank you uh chairman elel for calling today's
▶ 0:23:39hearing and congratulations on your new post as chair of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation subcommittee I look forward to working together with you to get things done I hear that we already share the same value on the Jones act so I I appreciate your position on that uh before I turn to the matter at hand I have to uh express some concern and discuss what I consider was an outrageous executive action directed at the Coast
▶ 0:24:09Guard specifically the unprecedented misguided and clearly political firing of Coast Guard commandant Admiral Linda Fagan as the first female Service Chief of any branch of the military Admiral Fagan served with honor and distinction and exhibited a true commitment to making things better for the service as a whole it is deeply unfair for this Administration to invent a false narrative for her termination and use
▶ 0:24:40that as a basis to engage in political theater and retribution while we have made great strides in recent years in B bolstering our ports waterways and Maritime industry we cannot take our foot off the pedal the bipartisan infrastructure law alone invested more than $17 billion in our ports and waterways this funding has been used to fund repairs upgrades and Replacements to reduce port and vessel congestion and to strengthen
▶ 0:25:10our supply chain in addition cutting emissions near ports by boosting electrification and investing in other low carbon Technologies to reduce overall environmental impacts is critically important as we continue to battle climate change since Bill funding expires in 2 years I look forward to working together to draft Bill 2.0 us porch accounted for almost $3 trillion in gross domestic product
▶ 0:25:40in 2024 the sheer volume of cargo moving in out in and out of ports would not be possible without robust infrastructure and strong Workforce to support it another area that is primed for robust us investment is offshore wind adding clean energy production into the maritime domain is a win-win for the US Maritime industry creating jobs for Mariners business at ports and ship building opportunities for companies
▶ 0:26:10and shipyards many of which have already made a significant investment I believe we are at a Crossroads in the maritime domain facing a critical deficit in the number of us shipyards us Mariners and US vessels and every Mariner who does business in the United States knows the Jones Act is the foundation of the United States Maritime industry at its core it is designed to protect the US commercial ship building industry and requires any vessel
▶ 0:26:41participating in coastwise trade to be United States own United States crud and United States built we have an opportunity now more than ever to leverage its built in barriers and Revitalize the maritime industry if the United States intends on keeping Pace with capacity and Technology to maintain the steady state flow of goods we must continue to prioritize programs such as the port infrastructure development program
▶ 0:27:11the small Shipyard grant program and the federal ship financing program cargo preference and tile 11 building our shipyards is a top priority for our nation's Maritime governance and also our national security our commercial Mariners and our military depend on reliable shipyards to build and repair our us Fleet we know that having only four shipyards left in America is not sustainable but building ships is not enough to remain competitive internationally
▶ 0:27:42we must ensure that us flagships have cargo to carry even more so I am concerned that the administration manufactured turmoil at the Coast Guard will lead to Serious risks in the maritime transportation system risk that we cannot afford to make I am hopeful that this hearing Can Shed light on the positive impacts that the loan and Grant programs have had on this industry also I want you to be critical and honest what is going to take what is it going to take to
▶ 0:28:13return the US to Global competitor in shipping and ship building thank you uh and I back and now recognize uh Mr lson uh the ranking uh the ranking member of the full Comm committee Mr lawon for 5 minutes for an opening statement uh thank you thank you chair for calling this hearing and congrats on your new role thank you your history of bipartisanship and support for the maritime industry and Coast Guard will greatly benefit the subcommittee before we dive into the topic of the
▶ 0:28:43hearing I want to address uh news of a few weeks ago which was a sudden termination of common on Coast Guard Admiral Linda Fagan uh I think what the president did was ad Justified it was Reckless never before in the history of the service has a commant been relieved let alone for political purposes I want to thank Admiral Fagan for all that she has done for this country acting commant Lund and the next commant must continue to move the coast Coast Guard forward building upon the foundation Admiral Fagan built the Coast Guard needs to continue
▶ 0:29:13to make significant Improvement regarding sexual assault and sexual harassment needs a continue Improvement on recruiting and retention and ensuring that the service is more inclusive for every everyone that work has to continue it is My Hope for today's hearing that though that we focus on the important work of building America's Maritime infrastructure but I am concerned that work that work is being undermined the president's executive order to pause infrastructure funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law and INF
▶ 0:29:43inflation reduction Act is putting billions of dollars hundreds of thousands of jobs and tens of thousands of projects at risk while last week's broader memorandum from The Office of Management budget to freeze all federal assistance programs was rescinded being Vil funding including the port infrastructure development program grants remain in limbo continued threats and actions to clawback infrastructure funding are sewing chaos and will have devastating impacts on the maritime industry National Security and economic security across the
▶ 0:30:13country there are over 300 ports of these 20 handle the vast majority of container cargo and only two US ports are in the top 20 ports globally while China has seven of the top 10 this is not due to the lack of maritime ity in the US is because China heavily subsidizes port and maritime operations while the US does not during the supply chain crisis in 2021 the Biden Administration mobilized funding to increase capacity and productivity these efforts by the
▶ 0:30:43Biden Administration coupled with the hard work of Longshore workers and many others in Maritime pulled us out of the supply chain crisis since then over $2.18 billion in Port infrastructure development program funding has gone to Ports across the country to bolster safety and reliability ports like Houston Texas receive $25 million B uh bay St Lewis Mississippi uh received 4 million the state of Alaska has received over 50 million for uses across the entire State just in this FIS
▶ 0:31:14Jus fiscal year 24 alone the states are benefiting from the bipartisan infrastructure law let's keep it going and I want to mention the clean ports program that the Environmental Protection Agency administers and has assisted in the deployment of shore power to Ports across the country including a $63 million Grant to the port of anoris in my own District um and which includes not just bringing Shore power but a total Redevelopment of wholly underutilized
▶ 0:31:45area of the port of anoris to uh create jobs and bring private sector jobs there including having a signed Grant agreement that now the EPA has inexplicably paused and is delaying the creation of these private sector jobs this is inexplicable and I ask the EPA to provide an explanation of what it is doing to uh to get this grant going again as well as the ones that are going to the Port of Bellingham uh also in my district and any other
▶ 0:32:15Port that is expecting these these uh these grants uh from uh a signed Grant agreement investing in Shore power not only improves air quality and reduces pollution it's consistent with standard operations of ports around the globe shipping companies want to cut pollution ports want to be competitive resending funding for ports that were passed as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law and the inflation reduction act puts our ports at a disadvantage it is shortsighted and we will not go quietly
▶ 0:32:46um uh letting this happen America shipyards are an essential piece of Maritime infrastructure that are falling behind due to this International competition due to unfair and subsidized competition ition larger shipyards have no dedicated grant program and rely heavily on government and commercial contracts to stay afloat by America requirements and the Jones Act help ensure shipyards maintain steady business by requiring ship building and Manufacturing to take place in the US and I was heartened to hear secretary Duffy's support for the Jones act during his confirmation
▶ 0:33:16hearing the Jones act has strong support among members of this committee it's critical to the maritime industry thanks to the historic levels of federal investment this nation's transportation system and and its infrastructure are better today than they were four years ago continuing this progress requires ongoing investment especially in the maritime industry let's keep it going thank you I yield back gentleman yields I now would like to welcome and thank our Witnesses for being here today
▶ 0:33:46briefly I'd like to take a moment to explain the lighting system to our witnesses there are three lights in front of you green means go yellow means you are running out of time and red means to conclude your remarks in my previous career I explained Lighting systems many times to people that ran a red light I ask unanimous consent that Witnesses full statements being included in the record without objection so order I ask unanimous consent that the record
▶ 0:34:17today's record hearing remain open until such time as our Witnesses have provided answers to any questions that may be submitted to them in writing that objection so ordered I also ask unanimous consent that the record remain open for 15 days for any additional comments and information submitted by members or witnesses to be included in the record of today's hearing without objection so ordered as your written testimony has been made part of the record the committee asks that you limit your oral
▶ 0:34:47remarks to five minutes with that Mr Paul Anderson with the port Tampa Bay you'll recognize for five minutes for your testimony thank you Mr chairman ranking member Carvajal thank you for the invitation to testify this morning on a topic that is important to both the nation's economic growth and our security America's Maritime infrastructure and congratulations on your first meeting as chairman uh and your appointment to
▶ 0:35:17lead this important committee as a president and CEO of Port Tampa Bay and the current chairman of the Coalition for America's gateways and trade corridors the immediate past chair of the American Association of Port Authorities and as a former Federal Maritime commissioner the work and growth of America's seaports is deeply personal to me and I'm honored to be here today at the outset let me thank two fora members of this subcommittee Congressman Dan Webster
▶ 0:35:47and Brian mass for their tremendous ongoing support for Port Tampa Bay and all of Florida's ports they recognize the critical role that ports and port operations play in ensuring the efficient movement of cargo to Florida's supply chain to serve our rapidly growing population of 23 million residents we are proud of the role that Port Tampa Bay plays as Florida's largest and most diverse cargo sea port and is West centrals Florida's
▶ 0:36:18largest economic driver according to our most recent economic impact study we have an almost $ 35 billion annual impact on our region in support more than 192,000 jobs ship building and repair is also an essential operation at Port Tampa Bay and is W woven into the history of the port today we are home to four ship building and repair facilities at our port and generate nearly 3,000
▶ 0:36:48full-time jobs with an economic impact of $233 million our Port continues to make strategic Investments for our future including improving the resiliency of our Port facilities growing and expanding our containerized cargo and with this committee support in W 2024 the undertaking of a major new project to deepen our shipping channels to accommodate the growing Fleet of large ships that will call
▶ 0:37:19at Port Tampa Bay through the foresight and support of our champions in Congress especially members of this committee American America's ports such as ours have Acquired and updated key equipment and modernized births and operations and undertaken large projects that expand our ability to move the cargo for a nation for instance Grant programs such as the port infrastructure development program have enjoyed bipartisan support since it was founded
▶ 0:37:49in 2009 and PP is a critical tool for ports to upgrade their infrastructure to keep Pace with advancements and compete with ports around the world I would also be remiss if I didn't mention how important the banial W process is to our nation's ports for economic and INF progress it was a great privilege for me to testify before the house transportation and infrastructure Committee in December 2023
▶ 0:38:19to help the committee kick off the development of Warda 2024 and I commend the members of the committee for their leadership in crafting and passing this Hallmark legislation to keep W on its banial schedule ports abroad both Allied and adversarial are investing heavily in their port infrastructure and rightly recognize ports as critical infrastructure and America must respond in kind by investing in our ports to handle more exports
▶ 0:38:50and imports I was heartened to hear secretary Duffy in his confirmation hearing commit to doing all he can do do to find ways in which to accelerate the processing of federal grants reform bureaucratic processes at all levels and deliver funds more efficiently so that ports like ours can deliver important projects on time and at or under budget I was also very pleased to hear his support for the Jones act thank you for your support of the men and women of the
▶ 0:39:20United States Coast Guard who are unheralded Partners in our work to secure America's ports and waterways particular in the growing threat of cyber security we have a seamless working relationship with our Coast Guard Partners in the greater Tampa Bay area and we truly appreciate the work the men and women of the Coast Guard do for our nation thank you for your time your consideration and your pivotal role in shaping the future of our nation's Maritime industry
▶ 0:39:50thank you Mr Anderson we now recognize Mr Joe rea with St John ship building Incorporated you are recognized for five minutes for testimony can you hear me now okay so uh that was good 10 seconds remaining I'll hope I'll be as good with that chall yeah uh chairman easel uh ranking member carbahal and distinguished members of
▶ 0:40:20subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of the US Shipyard industry my name is Joella I am president of St John ship building uh based in Paka Florida I'm here to to discuss the critical role us shipyards play in America's Marine transportation system the economic impact of our industry the importance of investment and Maritime infrastructure and the state of the US ship building industrial base before diving in I would like to share a bit about myself and
▶ 0:40:51St John shiing I'm a former enlisted US Navy nuclear power school graduate with degrees from the US Merchant Marine Academy in Marine engineering and uh Spring Hill College MBA Mo Spring Hill in Mobile Alabama IED a commission in Navy uh Reserve upon graduation from The Merchant Marine Academy I have sailed on in the US Merchant Marine as a licensed engineer and participated in the Strategic sea lift supporting Operation Desert Shield
▶ 0:41:21my experience in ship building and repair includes US Navy and Commercial vessels and both blue and brown Water Service I am a former president and Chief Operating Officer at also USA and now president of St John ship building St John's ship building is a fullservice ship building and Marine repair company specializing in new construction and repair of a wide variety of aluminum and steel vessels while the shipyard's history has been primarily
▶ 0:41:52commercial we recently were awarded a contract with the US Army Corp Engineers for two stoplog barges which signifies our entry into supporting the uh US government with new construction and Repair Service the US Shipyard industry is diverse and operates in several sectors including government new construction government new construction government repair and modernization government repair and modernization Commercial repair and modernization and Commercial new construction
▶ 0:42:23according to the maritime Administration there are active shipyards in the United States spread across 27 states with Shipyard related and induced jobs touching all 50 states Shipyard companies have Diversified their waterfronts to contribute to multiple sectors and some are also utilizing their skilled Workforce to contribute to non-maritime construction a 2021 study by the US Maritime Administration found that
▶ 0:42:53the industry supports more than 390,000 Direct and indirect jobs across the United States and contributes $ 42.2 billion annually to the GDP from our industry's perspective the Jones Act is absolutely essential to the commercial ship building sector the Jones act which comes at no cost to the government helps maintain a Merchant Marine to carry out our domestic waterborne Commerce the law also ensures
▶ 0:43:23that the US maintains critical Shipyard infrastructure and Associated skill Workforce they can build repair modernize and maintain more than 40,000 vessels of the domestic Jones act uh Fleet this industrial base also ensures there is sufficient Workforce to support the construction repair of our critical National Security fleets us shipyards built some of the most techn technologically advanced vessels in the world for example the world's first LG powered container ship
▶ 0:43:54was built in the US and is now serving to Puerto Rican trade our shipyards also build worldclass Offshore Service vessels for oil and gas exploration offshore wind development and production in vessels of all types for the Coast Guard and the most advanced and lethal Fleet for the United States Navy as we look at the current state of the US flag Maritime industry we need to ask ourselves what's next at the end of the 118th Congress bipartisan and bamal
▶ 0:44:24legislation was introduced the ships America Act sponsored by Senator Mark Kelly Senator Todd young Senator Trent Kelly congressman John gamani and Congressman Mike Waltz who was happened to be our Congressman at time the proposed legislation would provide the for the first time a national Maritime strategy to grow the entire Maritime industrial base from ship building to Maritime Logistics to the merchant Mariner Workforce
▶ 0:44:55the bill proposed the construction of a fleet of strategic commercial assets including 250 vessels for international Commerce and 100 tankers for the tanker security program among many other leg legislative proposals to better support the US industry and infrastructure for the education facilities that are in dire need of infrastructure Improvement such as the Merchant
▶ 0:45:25Marine if we were to undertake such a ship building campaign there will need to be substantial expansion in both shipyard facilities and Workforce Private Industry will make the commitment based on the signals provided by the Congress and the administration and the legal certainty provided under this this comprehensive legislative proposal in conclusion the US Shipyard industry plays a vital role in supporting the nation's economic and National Security
▶ 0:45:55needs continued investment in Maritime infrastructure and support for the domestic ship building industrial base including the Jones act bill build requirement is essential for maintaining a robust and competitive Maritime industry I urge the subcomittee to continue its support for these critical initiatives thank you for the opportunity to testify today I look forward to answering any questions that you may have
▶ 0:46:26and I a minute and 16 seconds to go took some of his time thank you chair I recognize Mr Reynolds with seats you're recognized for four and a half minutes for your testimony chair chairman Isel ranking member uh you know carbajal uh and distinguished members of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to testify today I'm Tom Reynolds the uh Chief strategy officer at uh seats uh Inc
▶ 0:46:56uh small business base in California which develops and manufactures unmanned surface vessels for defense scientific and Commercial customers I am a uh member of the association for uncrewed Vehicle Systems International uh on their board of directors and the founder and the first chairman of auvsi Maritime advoc committee uh I am testifying today on behalf of auvsi uh the world's largest non-for-profit organiz
▶ 0:47:26organization dedicated to the advancement of uncrewed systems autonomy and Robotics by way of background I have over 22 years of operational and developmental experience uh with Maritime unmanned systems I'm a retired US Navy explosive ordinance disposal officer and service Warfare officer a former EOD branch chief at joint Special Operations Command the former fifth Fleet EOD and Diving task group Commander the former fifth Fleet Maritime intelligence task
▶ 0:47:57group commander and the former commanding officer of the world famous deep sea divers at mobile diving in salvaging 2 in Little Creek Virginia uh I became involved with unmanned systems as a member of an experimental Navy Marine Corps uh unit established uh in the late 990s I began working with them in 2002 uh to develop uh new unmanned underwater vehicles uh which we then I then planned and executed their first combat use in 2003 during the invasion of Iraq
▶ 0:48:27I went on uh I went on to conduct five additional uh combat tours in Iraq and a few more combat deployments to other locations in 2012 notably all of these included the use of unmanned systems uh maritime air and ground I now have 13 years in Industry all of these have been dedicated to the design and manufacturer of Maritime robotic and unmanned systems with the end user in mind I have served as an executive in the largest unmanned
▶ 0:48:57underwater vehicle company in the world as an executive with a leading US ship Builder and now with a terrific small business there in Southern California cessat Inc what I hope to express in this testimony is that robotic systems have a value to the United States in the maritime domain that regardless of uh views or or our position on them our competitors are developing and deploying them faster and more effectively than we are because they have recognized this value value yet
▶ 0:49:27our current regulatory framework has not kept up with this advance in technology and our current rules are impeding the development and operation of a modern Maritime economy in addition the principal leader in our national Maritime regulatory framework the US Coast Guard operates no robotic or autonomous ships or boats or underwater vehicles of its own zero it is unfair to expect that our Coast Guard can effectively regulate something it has
▶ 0:49:58not been equipped to experience itself finally on behalf of auvsi I offer our association's full support and commitment to work with the government to develop responsible uh standards for safety certification update to the rules of the road as well as support the development of a Workforce needed in this modern Maritime economy thank you and I'm looking forward to your questions thank you gentleman yields I now
▶ 0:50:28finally recognize Mr Brian shanman with sea far's International Union of North America you are recognized for five minutes welcome aboard chairman eel and thank you ranking member carbahal and the rest of the Coast Guard subcommittee for holding this hearing my name is Brian shanan and I serve as political and legislative director for the sea fars International Union I'm also chair of USA Maritime the Coalition of shiing companies associations and unions that make up the fully man US flag International
▶ 0:50:58Fleet the goal of this hearing is to discuss the current state of our Maritime infrastructure I would rate our infrastructure a solid seat there's much work to be done if we're going to catch up to the rest of the world particularly China who has invested billions if not trillions into their Maritime sector in less than 30 years China has emerged as the dominant commercial Maritime power they are the world's largest ship owner they are the world's largest ship Builder and they control most of the world's trailer chassis Maritime
▶ 0:51:28cranes and shipping container Supply in that same time period the United States has invested a pittance and our industry scrambles each year to convince Congress to spend the money needed to adequately fund our handful of government programs like the maritime security program and I would ask each of you to join us in that effort this year so that Congress will again give us full funding for these programs now while we aren't failing when it comes to our infrastructure we are on the brink of failure why because we as a nation
▶ 0:51:58have not made Maritime a priority our strategic opponents have and the proof is all around us so how do we fix it fortunately we have all the tools we need we just need to use them America needs more Mariners we need more cargo and we need more ships of all types from Ice Breakers and fireboats to oceangoing commercial vessels we can fix these problems by making Maritime a priority again like it has been in our past we continue to work hard to solve our
▶ 0:52:28current Mariners shortage even before covid-19 made a bad problem worse the industry was focused on Recruitment and Retention since covid we've worked hard to claw back our losses and bring new Mariners into the fleet some of this required legal changes including a pilot program that helped us cut the time needed to create able seaf fares in half which we urg Congress to make permanent the rest required a change in how we recruit the world has changed in the past the Merchant Marine sold itself
▶ 0:52:59see the world visit exotic locations and get paid to do it that was the message and it brought in all the Mariners we needed today your average Mariner doesn't care nearly as much about pay or where they're going they're more likely to ask is there Wi-Fi on the ship quality of life more than anything else is the name of the game now where we train Mariners also needs work and Joe alluded to this the United States Merchant Marine Academy needs significant investment to repair crumbling infrastructure and while our private
▶ 0:53:29sector training schools particularly our Union schools are worldclass Kings Point and the various State eies have long suffered from too little attention a lack of funding and declining enrollments when it comes to ships we're not living up to our aspirations current law says America must have a Merchant Marine sufficient to carry a substantial portion of our waterborne foreign Commerce we don't do this our Fleet carries less than 2% of our foreign Commerce and represents less than 0 .4% of the world shipping Fleet
▶ 0:53:59we saw the damage over Reliance on foreign shipping creates during the most recent supply chain crisis more US flag market share will help to Res strengthen the resilience of our national supply chain the Jones act keeps our domestic industry strong but we have no such protections for the international Fleet American ships have become too dependent on government cargo this cargo was barely enough to maintain the handful of ships we currently have defense cargo is down as we are supporting fural War Fighters across the
▶ 0:54:29globe and in one of the first acts of the new Administration they suspended foreign aid cargo let me be clear there is no more America first set of foreign aid programs out there than the title 2 p480 food for peace program and the food for Progress programs these are programs that work they are programs where you buy food grown by Americans carried by Americans on American ships to feed hungry people around the world food for peace supports American Mariners and farmers
▶ 0:55:00and it helps expand demand for our products overseas these aren't just giveaway programs these programs must be restarted before it costs us even more ships and jobs than it already has America also needs new sources of commercial cargo the best way to get new cargo on our view is the creative use of the tax code providing tax incentives and discriminating tariffs that benefit shippers when they put America First like bi American laws we create want to create ship American incentives that get businesses to contract with US carriers to carry more cargo
▶ 0:55:31for us to compete against China we must change our priorities and it needs to start today we can't afford to wait any longer each day we wait the price tag increases the potential downside of doing nothing increases and each day we wait our strategic opponents grow stronger the time for half measures and incremental progress is over we need bold decisive action and it must be now thank you and I look forward to your questions thank you sir I'd now like to recognize the former chairman of the subcommittee Mr
▶ 0:56:01Webster for his opening five minutes of question thank you Mr chairman and congratulations to you and thanks for putting this panel together it's really awesome uh it's a good hearing um I ask my good friend Paul Anderson from uh Port of Tampa um two hurricanes last year a good portion of the uh Coast Guard's equipment
▶ 0:56:31and some of it was damaged some of it was actually destroyed and um we uh they're only limited this partial nighttime operations and so I was wondering um what are your thoughts are on ways we could repair or replace uh that this equipment uh um in a timely manner yeah thank you very much chairman Webster
▶ 0:57:02uh the uh double impact of two hurricanes in a 12-day period was truly both extraordinary unprecedented uh and cause great damage to uh not only people's lives but uh the impacts on the ability of Port Tampa Bay uh carry cargo into the port uh we Supply over 10 million residents of the State of Florida and over 60 million visitors the fuel supply our fuel terminals were damaged uh all seven of them
▶ 0:57:32uh they were restored very quickly but the most long-term damage we're still dealing with today as you alluded to is the aons the AIDS of navigation uh the uh the range lights uh the channel markers and it's causing restrictions on our 45m Channel operations uh they're restricting container vessels but these are Asian service the largest ships that come into the Gulf of Mexico are restricted to daytime operations due to the fact that
▶ 0:58:03uh while the Coast Guard is uh doing everything they can do within their process to restore the navigational AIDS uh the process itself is holding the coast guards back to be uh expedient and Nimble in responding to Resto uh repairing these uh aons uh and I would propose today the committee consider uh that uh for future Federal uh heavy weather events uh uh natural disasters that are declared as a federal emergency
▶ 0:58:33potentially we could have repaired these with our contractors working with the Coast Guard and had those done here we are five months later uh while the Coast Guard did have the emergency funding uh it's going to take them at least until the end of summer where we're going to be here almost a year without full operations and uh I think uh we are great partners with the the Coast Guard they are doing everything they can but as we all know there are certain uh regulations they do not have the authority to do a public private
▶ 0:59:03partnership in this instance I know um chairman zel we talked about this last year in the W hearing uh they can be very powerful multipliers of exped uh Expediting projects and in this case it would get us back to full operations at Port Tampa bag very much uh there's not a lot of talk about also um the cranes in in the port um being manufactured by China
▶ 0:59:34and uh you were uh you were the president of the full Association American Association of ports and uh what do you what do you think uh the security risk is in using those cranes and what does it mean for America's ports and their supply chain well yes you're referring to the American Association of Port Authorities uh we did a study among American Port members and over 80% of the ports in the United States are
▶ 1:00:05manufactured by zpmc a CCP controlled and funded uh uh company um our Port ourself because we had low bid uh state laws required us to buy our first two post panamax heavy lift cranes from China but we are preparing to buy two additional cranes three additional cranes that will be uh by Allied partner there's only three in the world this will be a German company but manufactured in Ireland uh and we're doing that
▶ 1:00:36um uh because of the security risk that we feel there will be I know that uh agencies within the government that have oversight of this also have looked uh deeply into this and I I do believe there is an ongoing risk uh with the uh uh in the competitive aspect Mr Larson outlin uh his concerns about the uh China and their subsidies uh unfair competitive Advantage G it gives and works against American companies I do believe
▶ 1:01:06we should also move boldly quickly as I heard from my fellow testifier down at the table to support the American manufacturing not only of shipyards because cranes are built at shipyards we have the capacity and the know how to build these we just need to move and really it needs to be led by all of you here in congress not only as authorizers but as appropriators thank you very much uh y back Mr chairman gentleman yields chair now recognizes
▶ 1:01:36Mr lson for his five minutes a question thank you thank you Mr chair uh Mr Anderson you're going to be highlighted a little bit uh early on here uh so I noted uh during my initial statement that the port ofan ctis and Port of Billingham as well had their uh cleanport grants uh Frozen or paused or we're not we're not quite sure what the right verb is yet uh it's it's a dumb move it's disastrous I noted uh Tamp Port Tampa Bay has a $1.8 million
▶ 1:02:07planning Grant under the under the program uh and there's ports in Alaska with having $45 million uh ports around the country I have no idea if all those are frozen or Paws can you give me the status of your particular Grant yeah so thank you Mr lson um you know our entire industry is uh very alarmed and concerned about the pause on on grant funding there's a lot of uncertainty in fact just last week uh we had an emergency board call
▶ 1:02:37of many of our members representing the West Coast great lakes east coast uh and the gulf ports uh and uh uh I it it will be very uh difficult and burdensome for ports that have had planning and strategic uh planning involving uh the use of federal GR grants uh you know I believe we're very very early on in in this uh new Administration I think uh and and we discuss we just need to I think patient let this work its way
▶ 1:03:07out we we just can't stop delivering uh funds I think once they're re-evaluated and looked at um you know pragmatism will win the day uh we believe that these grants including uh all the grants in the bipartisan infrastructure law uh the port infrastructure development program uh and the other grants are critical to competing on the world stage with ports around the country yeah I think these Investments the administration's been clear
▶ 1:03:37they don't believe in climate change or don't want to fund climate change and if that's their view it's fine but like my dad was a lineman for the stowage county public utility district they put electric wires up everywhere and we didn't call it anything but utilities that's all it is it's nothing but nothing more than that and getting it's getting wrapped up in this other discussion when in fact moving forward in our case let supp Port of anoris redeveloped a wholly undeveloped uh underdeveloped piece of property that's been
▶ 1:04:08sitting um un unused to its maximum jobs potential for a long long time and now that's on pause I imagine that story is being told in every de Democratic and Republican District in this country right now because of this um uncalled for uh uncalled for pause um Mr uh Mr Chan man you discussed somewhat uh the uh issue of p480 um have you heard concerns specifically about the Trump administration's
▶ 1:04:38say my my question say changes I wouldn't say changes uh destruction of us Aid I mean right now for us this is a major issue U we've had at least I talked to our our biggest one of our biggest food Aid carriers and they've got ships that are currently sailing uh one of them's already been laid up because they don't have cargo another one is on its way back from Africa and it'll get laid up when it gets here uh and every time they lay a ship up that's you know 20 30 jobs for my members and for the rest of the industry
▶ 1:05:08and we don't know how long those ships are going to be out of service uh in addition the company has owed like $6 million on these contracts and they're worried about never getting paid and I mean we're talking about we're not talking about big massive corporations here we're talking about small family own businesses that need that money that are that are operating in a pretty Sho string and uh I want to make sure my Mariners get paid I want to make sure my Mariners are not trapped in Africa for months at a time if if they get a stop work order while they're unloading a ship and they just got to sit there I mean we've had that happen before it happened a couple years ago
▶ 1:05:38on a food for Progress uh uh trip and my Mariners were stuck for months so we're we're really concerned about this and I think you know as as the president is looking at Aid and I'm I'm regardless of what happens to Aid I think these programs food for peace food for Progress they are critical to to not only us Farmers but to the US Merchant Marine and they are one of our major cargo bases and if it goes away I'll tell you in 2013 the percentage of cargo that we carried under
▶ 1:06:09law uh we we pre previously had carried 75% minimum food Aid cargo it was cut to 50% and over the next 10 years we lost more than a dozen ships from the fleet permanently because the cargo just wasn't there to sustain the work and if this continues for a while I expect that's going to happen again So yeah thank thanks I I I don't want to misquote I certainly I think I'm paraphrasing accurately our former colleague Roger wicker who's the Senate chair of the house senate armed services committee yesterday when he outlined the fact that
▶ 1:06:39usaid um he believed was a good counter to the Belt Road initiative China China's Belt Road initiative and now that tool is potentially if not already been taken away to to counter China absolutely I mean the bottom line is wherever we walk away China walks in and we can't afford to be putting ourselves in a position where we take a step back on the world stage I was talking to some of my La labor colleagues yesterday at the solidarity Center we we've been working on a lot of these
▶ 1:07:09USA IDE has been working along with us on a lot of these issues overseas trying to raise quality of life and provide Union uh support for workers in other countries and that's the best way for us to raise the standard of living so that our American workers can compete against foreign workers is to make sure that they're getting the same pay and benefits and treatment that our guys get so that that that isn't an issue so not having Aid out there doing that is is is pretty bad all right thank you I yield back except to say I love the small Shipyard grant program too Mr Ella
▶ 1:07:40gentleman yields uh I now recognize myself for five minutes for questions Mr Anderson you mentioned in your testimony the catastrophic damage uh caused by hurricanes Helen and Milton has devastated navigational age in your shipping channel there's been discussion on how public and private Partnerships may be used to benefit both the Coast Guard and ports uh can you expand on this just a little bit yes Mr chairman um I believe that um if the Coast
▶ 1:08:10Guard had the uh authorizing language uh to be able to rapidly respond during uh post uh hurricane heavy weather natural disaster events to repair facilities with the port partner as a public entity but delivering private we have private contractors on on retainer ready to go we have um uh emergency disaster the largest companies in the world belf for others uh that could
▶ 1:08:41respond in days uh instead of months or even a year uh this is not in no way a criticism of the men and women of the Coast Guard we have had meetings with the Admiral last Monday we've had with the uh captain and sector commander of the Coast Guard uh it's their ability to be able to work through the rules so I think this committee could allow them uh in a in a future Bill to give them the flexibility uh and the authorization uh and
▶ 1:09:11a mechanism to be able to be much more responsive and and your ports uh Mr chairman and your they they are are potential at risk for the same type of um uh issues uh all the G ports at risk Atlantic Coast where you have hurricanes so I think it would be U bit very prudent for the committee to that uh last Congress Mr Anderson I introduced legislation to expand the eligible uses of the Capital
▶ 1:09:41Construction fund to include Marine Terminal operators MTO in your opinion how would this legislation improve the efficiency at our ports Mr chairman clarify that you authorization for marine terminal operators yeah to expand the Capital Construction fund to include Marine Terminal yes uh I think it would be very important um you know I mentioned earlier that uh you know the
▶ 1:10:12terminals that um China is building they're all subsidized right uh our nation needs to do more to work there are American terminal operators that could expand much more quickly more rapidly uh they could fill the voids uh again I heard one of my fellow test firers here talk about when we pull out or we don't invest China fills the void and I believe that uh capitalizing and supporting uh the capitalizing of marine terminal for example
▶ 1:10:42uh in our case we have ports America as our terminal operating partner they're the largest in North America 44 terminals I believe and and they they um co-invest with us in our terminal operations uh they're we're a landlord Port they're the operator uh when we buy these cranes I mentioned in my earlier testimony uh they are co-investing with us as a private terminal having and they also invest with us on the warehouses on the build the the the the infrastructure for the
▶ 1:11:12cranes the power uh and all of the other Marine infrastructure so I believe that would be a very positive step for marine terminals thank you Mr Rel there's been an increased attention on revital izing the United States Maritime industry and increasing competitiveness of the domestic ship building industrial base relative to foreign uh competitors what do you see as the biggest challenge into accomplishing this for our ship
▶ 1:11:44industry um well it's really not a Level Playing Field that's the biggest problem right we have uh you know our ship builders wear steel toe shoes they wear hard hats they we OSHA oversight uh to make sure our employees are safe we have permitting requirements inspections for uh uh contaminants and hazardous waste management uh we have uh uh us L&H Insurance requirements so we have uh you know a heavy burden to run a shipyard in the US for
▶ 1:12:14the right reasons right not necessarily for the wrong not but we care about our people a lot more than some of our competitors do so you know we need to understand that number one it's about the people that work in the shipyards too um so the the um you know there are ways uh for example one of the easy things to do is with government contracts where um does that mean I only have six seconds go ahead now finish up okay
▶ 1:12:44so the uh government contract um uh entity where uh large shipyards uh are building Navy vessels or larger vessels uh and uh for any of the agent uh government defense sectors uh a small business component requirement now that exists but it doesn't always have teeth right so you can have a small Shipyard uh and um that includes uh you know set aside for uh
▶ 1:13:14disabled you know disabled veterans women-owned businesses uh Hub Zone entities you know so building those in to the um contracts with te a Mand mandatory compliance with the set aside work for small businesses will stimulate the the overall Maritime economy it'll help the small shipyards out it'll build the feed stock of employees for the future for the bigger yards because a lot of times small shipyards are where ship builders start
▶ 1:13:44and then they it becomes their profession right and then they go into you know larger shipyards where there's a steady flow of business because the biggest reason people we have a hard time retaining employees in the small Shipyard world is the lack of a a horizon you know on on the work you know what what is the how do we know how do I know I'm going to have a job I want to buy a house how do I know I'm going to have a job when we only have two ships to build and it's for a it's for an osv operator right and you know we need block buys we need consistent build programs
▶ 1:14:15and um the ability to uh tag uh into through the contract mods with small business Clauses for the swaller shipyard component of it that's a start thank you chair now recognize Mr carbahal for his five minutes of questioning thank you Mr chairman Mr Anderson I appreciate the information you provided in your testimony quote increases in infrastructure spending could spur the economy wide returns of $2
▶ 1:14:45to3 for every dollar spent this statement really lends itself to the benefit of the federal investment in programs like the port infrastructure development program and the Marine highways as you know these programs were funded by the bipartisan infrastructure law the Trump Administration has released conflict in information calling on funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law and the inflation reduction act to be paused while also exempting some programs this subcommittee
▶ 1:15:16has yet to be to get clear answers from Meritt regarding the St status of current Grant programs can you detail what that would mean for ports if the port infrastructure development program were paused and two are you aware of any ports that have been ordered a work pause and unable to recoup Grant Awards thank you Mr carbal I am not aware of any specifically any ports that have been told to pause directly as of as of last week
▶ 1:15:46I think this is an evolving situation uh that we are all um patiently waiting further guidance uh at you know ports do strategic planning uh our plan is a 2030 plan we're amending it to a 2035 it's not a next year plan we need to plan projects with confidence that our federal and our state Partners will co-invest with the ports because typically our federal grants are a 50% we're investing 50% we count on those dollars
▶ 1:16:16so in general I absolutely think that it's critical that ports continue to receive funding and I'll go back to my comments when you have an adversary we're in economic war with uh a nation that is building ships faster than us building cranes building ports and we're not investing in our ports to maintain our competitive stature as well as for strategic National events uh it it's it's very concerning thank you Mr Anderson on January 29th the new secretary
▶ 1:16:47of Transportation directed the department to prioritize projects that quote give preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average I'm having trouble understanding how birth and marriage rates contribute to making Grant awards that strengthen our national Supply let alone the legality of it I would venture to Guess that this panel uh of witnesses combines over a 100 Years of Maritime experience does anyone know how
▶ 1:17:17marriage and birth rates help determine sound Maritime Investments anybody anybody on the panel your silence says it all uh Mr Anderson do you know how Port Tampa Bay and the surrounding area compares to the national birth and marriage rates and does this concern does it concern you that such factors are being considered in awarding
▶ 1:17:48Grants I have no uh information or knowledge of what that would be um I I was very pleased to see uh the now secretary support the Jones act which is critical to our Port our shipyards the workforce the men and women who wear those hard hats uh the Steel Toad shoes the welders uh Anderson I appreciate your pivot but didn't quite answer the issue thank you very much Mr shanaman as we discuss Maritime infrastructure
▶ 1:18:19we have to include the Jones Act without it domestic Comm Commerce would be controlled by foreign shipyards would disappear and Mariner jobs would follow can you discuss the importance of the Jones Act and the impact the waivers 100% I mean the bottom line is and I I believe chairman isale mentioned this in his opening statement the Jones Act is a Bedrock Foundation of American maritime law it has been forever uh at least since 1920 and there have been laws in the books since the first Congress that provide preferences to American
▶ 1:18:49ships and restricted domestic Commerce to American ships we wouldn't be here as a country if there was no Jones act we wouldn't be here as a Merchant Marine with no Jones act we would have no shipping at all and my Mariners would have no jobs so for us protecting the Jones Act is fundamental it's about it's about making sure that the United States maintains its status as a maritime power uh and regardless of of who is opposing it or saying nasty things about it uh the bottom
▶ 1:19:19line is even even the most hardcore of of conservative thinkers Adam Smith The Wealth of Nations man himself flat out said that when it comes to and I have a quote here it comes to defense however is of much more importance than opulence and that's what the Jones act proves the bottom line is all of all the laws that you can put on the books if you're going to if you're going to be protection is do it for national security reasons and the Jones Act is that is that fundamentally for so for us we we have to do everything we can to protect it because we wouldn't be here without it
▶ 1:19:49thank you Mr chair out of time I yield back chair now recognizes Mr McDow for his question five minutes thank you Mr chairman and thank you to the witnesses for testifying before the subcommittee today we appreciate you joining us um and and my first question is for you Mr Ella uh of the financial assistance programs that the maritime Administration administers that you mentioned in your testimony uh which do you feel is the most valuable to the ship building
▶ 1:20:22industry this the small Shipyard grant program progr is probably one of the more significant ones the um uh Title 11 program is good for the operators to to contract the build ships and especially for foreign operators I I participated in the construction of a foreign built uh or a vessel for a foreign operator through the ti 11 program uh back in my day uh so it brings it brings folks to the shipyards in the US so TI 11 is good uh but for smaller yards uh the uh Shipyard
▶ 1:20:52small Shipyard grant program is great uh it would be great if it was more of a 25% match instead of a 50% match but uh still it's it's very helpful to allow Shipyard to and it's productivity it's about productivity right so anything we do has got to be earmarked against a productivity Improvement and that's that's how small shipyards you know we've been scrapping and fighting for many years now we've gotten pretty good at doing it and diversifying our product mix so uh uh and the way you do that is
▶ 1:21:22through keeping you know getting the best keeping the good best people you have but also Innovation and Technology right so advancing with the latest greatest in uh metal fabrication sure and ship building what are what are ways that Congress can work to improve uh the existing funding programs or or take action to help bolster this industry could you repeat the question sure yeah so what are ways that Congress
▶ 1:21:53can work to improve existing funding programs or take other action to help bolster the industry um it's it's a that's an easy one to answer I think the ships for America Act is probably the best way to do that right that's the most comprehensive broad-reaching you know uh bill that or you know initiative I would call it because you know I wasn't always involved in all the bills that come through but I can tell you the ships for America Act engages all and all components of the maritime
▶ 1:22:23industry from the education institutions to all the way through to the ship operators and it it's a it's a path to us getting the ships that we're we need to support our overseas you know theaters of operation sure Mr Anderson a question for you according to your testimony your organization has $ 34.6 billion dollar in economic impact on the region how can Congress Provide support for growth and and shippers
▶ 1:22:54cargo business capacity yeah thank you uh Congressman the uh very again very easy support for continue I believe the the as I've previously testified uh a regular banial water bill is so important that this committee do for our nation's ports for Port Tampa Bay it included during the last water bill uh authorization for the deepening of our Channel which we absolutely will need to continue to handle the larger
▶ 1:23:25ships that are are are waiting to come into the Gulf of Mexico um our other our adversary Nations uh are making these in Investments we need to be more competitive I think the speed of delivery on how grants come out the door is very critical the the the awards that we've received um uh in the port infrastructure development program for example uh was from award to delivery of the check was two years in the meantime
▶ 1:23:55inflationary pressure increased the cost of the project by 40 or 50% so uh finding efficiencies in that process could be very helpful as well gotcha so I don't have much time left Mr Reynolds what do you see as as the biggest barriers to continued us leadership in Maritime Robotics and autonomous systems so I thank you for the question I I uh say the the first barrier I I would think
▶ 1:24:25of relevant to this subcommittee would be you know regulations uh the regulatory framework and again I I point to the fact that the US Coast Guard is uh our our leading body when it comes to um the development and then enforcement of those regulations and uh I think they're they're great Guardsman out there I they they serve uh uh they're always you know operating while I was in the Navy sometime I would be at peace but then i' would go and operate our Guardsmen
▶ 1:24:55are always uh operating and yet it still frankly it surprises me a bit that they do not have uh any you know robotic systems um I will point to one success they have on the National Security cutter the scan eagle has been deployed and I think it's being replaced by a different uh unmanned aircraft and uh that's been very successful I understand they like it very much i' suggest that when it comes to unmanned underwater or unmanned surface vessels um they would gain some some
▶ 1:25:25wisdom and want gain some operational capability but also really appreciate uh how to how to better regulate this technology thank you sorry I went over no worries thanks sir chairman gentleman yields chair now recognizes Mr puppet for five minutes thank you Mr chairman and congratulations on taking the Helm of this subcommittee and I want to thank all of our Witnesses for their testimony today I I do think that strengthening us Maritime has to be the highest priority uh in the halls of Congress because the status quo simply
▶ 1:25:56is inadequate to meet our economic challenges and our national security needs um in New Hampshire uh my state is home to a number of uh Merchant Mariners who have chosen to call my state home helps to have no state income tax uh but I'm concerned about the number of individuals that are pursuing this career the US flag Fleet is as small as it's been historically and the Mariner pool has shrunk to near record low so I was glad that Congress has passed funding last December to ensure that our government invests in Capital
▶ 1:26:26Improvements for the Merchant Marine Academy and also language requiring the Navy to uh create a recruiting campaign on behalf of the Merchant Marine the first since World War II in terms of a major campaign uh Mr shanan I appreciate your testimony today um as we think about Workforce we continue to face uh a historically tight labor market this is the case across various sectors of our economy certainly the case with Maritime can you assess some of the efforts around um Workforce Development post-pandemic
▶ 1:26:56uh some of the investments in the maritime uh the Merchant Marine Academy and uh where Congress should really focus its attention with respect Workforce absolutely I think we've made a lot of progress since covid-19 I think as I mentioned we we've been dealing with a mariner shortage for a while now and it's caused by a variety of things not the least of which is a lot of our Mariners are older they're getting older they're they're aging out and they're retiring and we're replacing them as quickly as we need to be
▶ 1:27:26um we were very happy to see that the uh language was passed in the NDA uh to create the uh the recruitment drive and we're hoping that we can work with the Navy Department to to put something together I me as I mentioned in my testimony you know we've been telling American Kids be all you can be and aim high and be one of the few the proud forever but since World War II we haven't talked about the Merchant Marine at all and our biggest issue as we find is people don't know what we do they have no idea that the jobs are even available uh and when we go into
▶ 1:27:56the community and say look we we can take I can take a a kid off the street 18-year-old kid put them through our training program in a year we'll make him a merchant Mariner we'll give him his first job guarantee it out of school and in two or three years he's going to be making a solid middle class living and by the time he ends his career he's going to make a lot of money and these are these are tough jobs they're hard jobs but they are good jobs and for most part our guys will work six months of the year they have the other six months to do whatever they want uh we cover their vacation we provide them with Benefits the pay is
▶ 1:28:26good uh the food is getting much better that's one of the things the guys want on the ships a lot and and a lot of the vessels in the fleet have started putting on uh Wi-Fi and things like that so we're doing our best to make sure that we are putting ourselves in a good position to be able to recruit what Congress can help us with obviously is the recruitment Drive uh fund funding for the for the all of the training schools is critical fully funding the centers of excellence program uh that mayad put together is is important I think um and just making sure things like uh student incentive payments that
▶ 1:28:57the uh the maritime acmy provide uh the statey and everything those are always fully subscribed and they don't cover the entire cost we need we need to expand those programs and make sure that we're not passing on and making it harder for Mariners to join the industry because they got to pay for things like fuel for their ships when they go on on a sea cruise over the summer which no other college kid is going to have to pay so there's a lot of I think a lot of room for improvement there uh and we're looking forward to working with you guys on that well thank you and I appreciate your comments as well Mr shanan
▶ 1:29:27with respect to the food for peace program um and Reflections on the important role that government cargo plays in strengthening us Maritime obviously um it can't begin and end there um but uh that's a critical component it's a win-win uh for our national interests uh as well as for our farmers and for our economy so I hope we can continue to find ways to support uh that and so many other critical programs uh that are life line for us Maritime thank you for all of your comments and I yield
▶ 1:29:57Back My Time gentleman yields chair now recognize Mr vandrew for five minutes thank you Mr chair congratulations look forward to working with you as always um while autonomous vehicles vessels present both opportunities and challenges for the maritime Transportation industry I'm concerned about safety security and Regulatory oversight it's important there are Workforce implications that are important
▶ 1:30:28that come along with this technology safety must remain our top priority I think that is goes without saying Mr Reynolds thank you for being here today how will these vessels interact with crude ships ships that have cruds on them Port operations and emergency response efforts thank you for your question uh Congressman I I uh so I think safety at Sea is safety at se whether there are
▶ 1:30:58people on Border or not um I believe that the uh the coal rggs although they have not been updated in a in you know uh quite some time um are very well suited just for considering man vessels but consider also the state of sensors and artificial intelligence and other advances that have um that have you know gone into the industry you know already um
▶ 1:31:29in a Comm SE uh you know the the sensors work very well and and are very comparable to what you have on a man vessel um but in Heavy Seas uh because you don't need to worry about the human element about being seasick about being tired about being uh you know rocked around on a vessel um there they're actually some um artificial intelligence and sensor you know on board vessels that can make uh ships at Sea uh you know even
▶ 1:31:59even even safer uh I would though defer to uh the US Coast Guard to really uh work out you know how to how to do that and an auvsi is is committed to working with the Coast Guard to come up with uh those regulations thank you for the answer so I mean if I was to summarize that or capsulize that there's tremendous potential but we do have to be careful of course yes yes sir uh you know um cyber cyber security Protocols are they
▶ 1:32:29adequate to protect these vessels from emerging cyber threats which again is another concern yes sir actually uh auvsi is a trusted partner in cyber security with uh particularly with the with the US Navy um and I would also submit that cyber security is an issue whether it's a man vessel or or or not that's that's an issue for for all systems on on every vessel okay you know I've been vocal in the past about autonomous vehicles whether they're on ground or in the
▶ 1:32:59water I do think we have to be careful the technology I believe has and I'm stating the obvious I think you would agree I think you would all agree that it must be further researched we still need to be careful we still need to know more we have to see what could go sideways because we don't want that to happen uh there also must be a viable regulatory framework for these vessels I'm a guy that doesn't love regulations but in this case obviously you need them we need to be careful and I know there's
▶ 1:33:30uh already efforts to do this but there are in my opinion some significant gaps Mr Reynolds back to you for a minute what specific regulatory changes are needed to test Maritime robotic and autonomous systems What specifically would you like to say well yeah thank you again for that so um So currently uh there there are no uh uh you know overall you know regulations that would uh you know you know govern this
▶ 1:34:00currently the captains of a port of a of a of a coast guard Port are just given uh you know I guess delicated the authority to allow whether a vesicle can go out to sea and and do any testing or not based on their judgment um I I again most of these uh the captain support have never operated or or been around on man systems before and and it is just something that um you know they're they're trusted or expected to work out so they work closely with
▶ 1:34:30industry uh very much at a personal relationship and it's actually a patchwork you have a captain a port in one area that'll be different from a captain port in another real quick Mr reyolds it are we where we should be in other words are I I'll talk about something else that falls under transportation Aviation we're definitely we're about a decade at least a decade behind in drone technology in uas technology compared to China and some other countries are we behind are we where we should be are we are ahead if you had to quickly give me a
▶ 1:35:00word what would that word be so so I'll give it two-part answer to that um yes we're definitely behind but we're also behind because there's not enough I guess incentive by uh by industry to really go out and develop this technology there's so many roadblocks not your fa forgive me for interrupting and I know my time is up I'm going to yield back I'm so tired in every committee that we talk about technology in the United States Congress I asked that question about a myriad of things you know the word is always
▶ 1:35:30we're behind we're behind America leads it's time we take the lead we've been behind for the last four years hopefully now we're going to move forward Mr rolds I thank you for your answers and I yield back chairman thank you gentleman yields chair now recognize Miss scon for five minutes a question thank you Mr chairman and congratulations wonderful to have you uh at the at the Helm here in this committee um I want to thank our panel of witnesses today uh for your commitment
▶ 1:36:01uh to this incredibly important topic uh we appreciate your insights in this thoughtful conversation about Maritime infrastructure uh as a representative uh from uh Grand Rapids Michigan Coast Guard City USA uh making sure that we have a strong and Su successful Maritime industry is important to me like many of my colleagues on this subcommittee I'm concerned with the rise of global competitors uh ship building Industries adversarial Nations like China have bolstered their ship building capabilities while demestic
▶ 1:36:32capacity has decreased that is why the maritime administration's federal assistance programs to boost us Shipyard competitiveness are absolutely critical not only to our nation's economy but to security Mr Relic can you speak to how any potential freeze in the maritime administration's federal assistance programs could hinder progress in domestic Shipyard activities and undermine our competitiveness
▶ 1:37:02yes so uh the small Shipyard grant program is the one most obvious I think that if that's you know Frozen for this year that would delay any uh new uh you know productivity improvements that would be assisted with the government with that program T I mentioned tit 11 you know sort of a similar thing for uh other for ship Builders or operators to come and build with us uh and and the um uh you know just essentially uh any any
▶ 1:37:32uh assistance in training and education uh would would also potentially hamper you know with our uh Workforce Development so the uh we'll find you know we find a way to get by it just uh delays our progress and getting by doesn't necessarily put us at The Cutting Edge of competitiveness I would imagine no uh supporting our ports including ports like uh mosan and Grand Haven in my district is also critical to
▶ 1:38:02our national security as well as the smooth operation of our supply chains while the bipartisan infrastructure law made historic investments in our ports we have to keep Pace to unlock Port capacity across the country especially in our Great Lakes Mr Anderson how can Congress build on previous Investments to ensure our ports can accommodate our commercial and recreational needs in addition to protecting our supply chains yes as I previously mentioned I believe
▶ 1:38:32uh regular passage of Warda is vital to all of our nation's ports I think uh I can speak for all of our nation's ports uh as a member of the American Association Port Authorities and past chair that we will support any type of programs that support uh Port infrastructure that is as you mentioned strategic to our National Defense our competitiveness in a global Marketplace and we are in many cases behind
▶ 1:39:03uh particularly adversarial countries so Grant programs uh uh efficiencies uh in regulatory uh regimes that sometimes have slowed the delivery of uh Grant uh of Grant related projects that are in many cases hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars that get delayed uh so looking at how we can improve those making sure whatever Administration is administering those grants that we get velocity through the grant programs
▶ 1:39:34they don't get hung up in the bureaucratic process I think this committee could look at some of those encourage uh and whatever name that program turns out to be and I think we we all recognize that funding is an absolutely lynchpin to the competitive of competitiveness of our nation's ports today and going forward thank you in addition to investing in our infrastructure it
▶ 1:40:04is incumbent on Congress to uplift our Workforce uh making sure that we have this capacity to do these projects means nothing if we don't have the workers uh to actually do them these are skilled laborers who are at the forfront of our Maritime industry however we know that there is a critical labor shortage AG right now Mr shanaman I know you have been active in calling out our Mariner shortage how can we adjust our Recruitment and Retention efforts I know we uh saw incredible
▶ 1:40:34gains uh in the Coast Guard uh under uh Admiral Fagan's leadership um and we want to make sure that we can keep that going in our Coast Guard and match it with uh Mariners uh across the country um particularly so that we can leverage increasing Trends uh of gen Z entering the skilled trades which is a great thing well absolutely I think from our perspective I mean number one and I mentioned it before is we just got to make sure people know these jobs exist they don't you
▶ 1:41:04see a truck on a road you know there's a truck you see an airplane flying in the sky you know there's an airplane if you are not on a port if you're not in a district like conference and mass or somewhere where you're going to see ships all the time you don't think about it you know how does how does something get to to Walmart well it goes on a truck no it goes on a ship first and trying to get people to understand that is heart so we have to do our better a better job uh in in promoting ourselves and I think that's something the industry really needs to focus on uh and I'm looking forward hopefully with uh with this new Navy program that was in last year's NDA that we can start
▶ 1:41:35doing that I think other than that it's just working on quality of life we we need to make it make it clear that we are not recruiting the same people that we have been over the years they have different priorities uh and we need to make sure we're meeting those priorities otherwise they're going to find something else to do that's not going to take them away from their home as often as as uh this job does yeah thank you you've got strong Partners uh on this committee and certainly in me to make it happen so thank you I yield back gentle lady yields uh
▶ 1:42:05chair now recognizes Mr mass for five minutes thank you Mr chairman appreciate you all taking the time to be here today share your expertises uh with each and every one of us I want to talk a little bit about Trucking I want to speak specifically to you Mr Anderson right now a little bit about the uh Port of Tampa and help you guys to help me understand as we go through different driver classifications CDL in you know in the class A Class B Class C all the different endorsements that we could look at out there for an individual and I want to ask very specifically related to
▶ 1:42:35drivers that are 18 years old not yet 21 years old right that a lower age driver do you have a problem with 18-year-old drivers coming in and out of your Port moving moving goods from A to B whether it just be to uh another location just outside the port because that's where it's going to be uh you know let's say Circle in the wagons to to bring it across the state or across the country or whether directly out of the port directly to interstate commerce Somewhere Over The Road to out to Texas or who
▶ 1:43:05knows where do you have a problem in general with somebody being 18 years old doing that and thank you Congressman first no don't have a problem want to thank you for your support for everything we have done in our port and uh um as we look at it as many of uh our Tes Mone has talked about today there's a gray in the workforce particularly uh in the maritime industry uh uh trkking industry and we would wholeheartedly support we average about
▶ 1:43:3510,000 truck moves a day in and out of our Port complex it's a critical function our trucking companies are having difficulty finding uh truck drivers getting a CDL at a young age with a with the proper training safety uh you know we ask 18y olds to uh Sail on the bridge of an AIS class destroyer and uh drive that ship in and out uh of our Port uh or other ports uh we ask 18-year-olds to get behind an abrs tank and drive
▶ 1:44:05it uh I think they can drive a truck with the proper training I think we need to do a better job as a nation in promoting the quality of life that can be in today's trekking world it's not the trucking that our mom and dad's thought of when these are long hauls are gone for weeks uh there are really quality trkking opportunities you're home every night the benefits are good uh and these can be long-term careers and they can turn in to owning your own operation and business all I can say to that is damn right
▶ 1:44:35I couldn't have said it any better myself right you're moving across the seas as a part of our Navy or moving a tank across uh you know the desert somewhere you name it um I think you have the opportunity to go out there and serve over our roads as well but let's be a little bit uh and I think this comes down to do we have trust in our training system systems or do we not do we have trust in The Lure or do we not because whether you're 18 28 38 48 whatever it might be either we believe in the training that you have and then the experience that you've garnered thereafter or we
▶ 1:45:05don't believe in it right so let's go more specific you don't have a problem with somebody handling over 26,000 being 18 years old I do not anybody have an issue with that don't have a problem if somebody can go out there and get their Hazmat credentials you're not worried about the the age for them as as long as they go through the proper vetting get the proper clearance to do it as long as they get the proper training I do not and there's somebody on this panel I believe who was an EOD they didn't ask him his age when he was doing that training
▶ 1:45:36yeah we just got to be able to kick well right we just kick it with the end of our boot so no that's not how we do EOD work but uh don't have a problem with uh you know in h endorsement or an X endorsement for somebody regardless of age as long as they have the proper training say so I can't keep my mouth shut because I hire people all the time for the shipyards right you know they have to they have to meet certain criteria clean record uh drug testing uh you know and make sure that uh
▶ 1:46:07you know they're doing the right things too right sometimes the biggest problem is finding someone you got to get them young because before they have a chance to screw up too much well that's certainly that's a part of the credentialing right you're not going to get that Hazmat credentialing if you haven't lived know the proper lifestyle in that way what about let's go to one other thing you kind of touched on it with uh you know your Navy and and tanker analogy uh what about uh let's speak a little bit military training transferring over to uh those that want to start moving Goods over the
▶ 1:46:37road just compare and contrast to me a little bit where do you think our military truck driving training is at should somebody be able to come right out of service take off the uniform put on a different pair of boots and and step into the rig or do you think they're not meeting the the military is failing somewhere not getting them up to the same level or they are anybody again I'll chime in uh so it it has
▶ 1:47:07to be comparable equipment right so I mean if they're training on a military piece of equipment if you could learn to drive a tank yes yeah but you need to learn how to drive a truck military drives 916s they call so you just to make sure there's you know uh apples for apples sort of match to that where you feel the training is comparable I I don't honestly I can't um comment on that I don't really I can't really comment on that but I can tell you that what we look for is uh when we hire welders is weld certifications right
▶ 1:47:37and have they you know is there a standard by which we can hire them as a second class or a first class welder right so they come in with credentials we we look at them and we we even test them right before we hire them to make sure they can do what they say they can do yeah and do you'll just indulge me for one point Mr uh chairman and it would simply to say for our military if they're not being trained at a level that is commensurate to everybody else that's an issue for our military to be looking at because it's nonsensical to have somebody trained at a lower level and if they are being trained at
▶ 1:48:07the appropriate level and we're putting a roadblock in front of them from getting immediately into the workforce after they've served their country then that's very nonsensical as well so on the maritime side that mean that's something we've been working on for a while like the bottom line is military and Maritime we've been working on this for years if a guy gets out of the Navy it's been 20 years as a boosa in the Navy there's no reason why he should not be able to come over in the Merchant Marine and sale and be at that level immediately the same one guys and and with their licenses so for us this has been critical and it all comes down to making
▶ 1:48:37sure that regulations and uh and the rules the Coast Guard puts together and all that stuff makes sense and that they take into account the fact that you can have 20 years at Sea and that should count for something when you come back into the industry damn right thank you Mr chairman gentleman yields chair recognized representative strickler five minutes thank you chairman eel ranking member carbahal I have the privilege of representing this South Puget Sound in Washington state and we have lots of ports there and I appreciate all of your testimony today
▶ 1:49:07because you've talked about a lot of things the need for more ship building but I would say more importantly the Workforce Development part of this and they're all connected to each other and every industry or every panel I'm on I always hear a conversation about worker shortage and I'm going to quote Mr umbrella who said get them while they're young and I think that's a really smart strategy um can you talk a bit Mr shenan about what concrete steps we at the federal government can take to make the Merchant Marine and Maritime supporting skilled trades
▶ 1:49:37a more viable career path for younger people when I host my Academy night there are students who show up they don't even know what the Merchant Marine Academy is or that it exists and so just some ideas about what you think we can do better to reach out to younger people I think I think obviously you know number one is make sure they know what it is and I think you know when it comes to Kings Point Kings Point is is the is the is the diamond and the rough like people just don't realize they think about the service they think about Annapolis and Colorado Springs and they think about West Point but they don't think about Kings Point and it's it's one of these things where
▶ 1:50:07I I I told my son I was like you're looking for colleges I know one that's pretty good how about you check over here right uh when it comes to to what Congress can do I think obviously uh making sure that we have the ships and the cargo and and the long-term jobs that's the number one thing nobody wants to get started in an industry that people think is dying right you know and I mean Joe talked about it like you you when you have series Construction in the shipyard that means you got to work for a long time people are going to want to do those jobs and the merchant Maring is the same way my guys want to know that that ship is going
▶ 1:50:38to be moving and that's it's going to have cargo and that that those routes are going to exist and if they get started they're not going to end up spending 10 years and then have to transition into another job so from our perspective anything Congress does that supports the maritime security program that supports the tank program uh increase funding for those programs getting the funding so that it's done properly every year that keeps those jobs in existence and that makes it possible for us to go out and recruit and the same thing for when it comes to the recruitment thing I've been mentioning over and over again
▶ 1:51:08we we we got to get that stood up so that we're telling people hey this is a viable career and you should try it out and I think once we do that and we and we we put the money uh that we need to into our training into the serviceis and the statey I think we'll be in a much better position than we are right now yeah so what I just heard you say is investing in our Maritime manufacturing industrial base so there's certainty and also I would say good trade policy to make sure that we know Commerce is going to be there Mr renolds did you want to add something sir yeah yes ma'am so I mean think I spent uh a
▶ 1:51:38couple weeks this past uh uh well about a year ago up at uh the main Massachusetts Maritime Academy and and working with the the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and actually bringing unmanned systems to that campus and and I want to point out that we talk about unman systems um the first thing I I suggest we we think about is they're not in lie of man systems I'm not trying to threaten my friend here to my my left you know one one bit but they're very complimentary Y and
▶ 1:52:08and they're and they um and unmanned systems can go where we already don't send people yeah uh and they can provide some of the it's it's trit I'll just say the dull dirty dangerous tasks and I also believe that you young people are are interested and attracted to uh flying an unmanned area vehicle to inspect AIDS of navigation um uh operating on man underwater vehicles to go uh do uh surveys around uh you know wind farms or subc infrastructure and
▶ 1:52:38so I I just wanted to add one we're not trying to replace people we think we can augment uh you know the uh the maritime industry and that um including this at at Merchant Marine cies or or or education I think would attract you know a younger generation absolutely and we have a younger generation that is very techsavvy and so to your point it's not meant to supplant it's meant to supplement and make us more effective and I just want to do one plug in I'm G to come to you Mr umbella re that you know in Tacoma Washington
▶ 1:53:09where I'm from and I'm the former mayor so I did a lot of work with the ports Tacoma Public Schools and the port of Tacoma are partnering to create a maritime Skill Center Maritime 253 and I say this because I hear Lings about this Administration trying to eliminate the Department of Education the Department of Education provides a lot of funding to our public school system so if we're talking about supplementing and enhancing programs that help us solve these problems as well we have to think about the Department of Education
▶ 1:53:39local school districts and how our ports which are local taxing districts all need to work together Mr y sure uh we we talked about the uh um Maritime cies and they certainly are a pipeline for leaders in the the maritime industry uh but then you have the needs say for example in a shipyard the skills trades that you need to to build ships and when I ran all we I started uh and we had 700 employees at the time and when I left we had 2500 in five years
▶ 1:54:09so we um had a really great um State uh and uh uh support and and also local support local government support they helped fund a lot of our training programs they put up a maritime training center right next to the shipyard so having uh incent maybe federal state Partnerships in the maritime where there's some incentives for the state to help support that Maritime industry growth the training growth you know Alabama and I speak for Alabama because I spend
▶ 1:54:39a lot of time there but it's I live in Florida now but it's the Alabama Industrial Development training aidt and they they trained uh folks to our to our procedures to the to the shipyards procedures and they had to qualify uh to that and then we made the hire decision right so so and it was all free of charge to the uh potential employee so those sorts of things are really how you can build a Workforce quickly it comes from different angles yeah it's the state it's the county it's the city and the federal government participating
▶ 1:55:09together to to build that Workforce AB yeah and in public schools and so thank you all for your testimony and um again we have to let more young people know that this is even a career option because it's such a vast industry thank you Mr chair I yield back gentle lady yields I want to recognize myself for one question uh Mr Anderson we've had some conversation about low bid uh you were telling me about an issue you had with having to buy two cranes from China because of low bid I have uh over a course of many years in public
▶ 1:55:39service uh had my issues with low bid uh could you tell me the problem that you had with the cranes that you bought uh that you had to buy because of the low bid yeah so Mr chairman we are required under Florida statute to uh when we do procurement over a certain amount we go throughout an RFP process and the statute requires that you accept a low bidder in that process um and it in in that instance the other crane manufacturers
▶ 1:56:10recognizing in a bidding process with a low bid requirement the Chinese company being subsidized by the CCP that they could not compete on a price basis so they just didn't bid uh on this second go around we are piggybacking off another uh bid that was done which we are allowed to do uh but there needs to be just like uh was asking earlier for the Coast Guard to have some flexibility and authorization to use some private
▶ 1:56:41uh public partnership to expedite things there are situations where low bid isn't when it comes to National Security you shouldn't be required to have a low bid requirement uh we we are using the existing law to purchase these cranes from that'll be built in Ireland so we've navigated around that uh but I I believe that that is sometimes harmful to our nation's interest would anybody else like to say anything about having to deal with low bid and National Security or anything else with low
▶ 1:57:14bid okay thank you very much and I recognize Mr caral for five minutes thank you Mr chairman Mr re I understand that one of your business lines is constructing offshore wind support vessels the current Administration has a stated goal of dismantling offshore wind projects how do you expect the termination of offshore leases to affect your businesses if that's the case uh we we did have a focus and have delivered three uh crew transfer
▶ 1:57:44vessels for the allshore industry we're building two more and we're close to signing a contract for another so it's still uh you know vibrant for us but any future builds might be you know in question uh the shipyard has Diversified into other product lines uh you know not just relying on the offshore wind uh including commercial uh steel vessels the ctvs that we're building for the offshore wind or aluminum H so they're they highspeed craft typically multi-hole so uh we're um
▶ 1:58:14so we've Diversified our product mixed for commercial steel and also commercial aluminum vessels such as research uh and uh other other uh uh types of types of vessels for uh the Marine industry uh and we're also looking to the obviously I mentioned earlier you know we're entering the government sector with the Army Corps of Engineers so so well there there are things that were attractive um and the
▶ 1:58:44the uh investment tax credits were were uh something that we enjoyed the benefit of as a ship Builder so uh you know that's a good program wherever it goes you know however it's applied I think you know for the shipyard to uh to receive uh an in you know the tax credit to that effort is good um so that's goes with the wind when right currently with the uh Wind Farm uh future to see where that goes so
▶ 1:59:14uh but but we have already flexed in what the what the wind farm industry had done has done for us in the ship build sector at least is um enable the shipyard to gain the expertise in aluminum ship welding right aluminum aluminum fabrication so we can take that expertise and fle move it to other other markets which is what we're doing thank you uh Mr Reynolds with 10% with a 10% shortfall in the Coast Guard's Workforce and a budget that is significantly below the
▶ 1:59:45needs of the service can you discuss in more detail the opportunity that autonomous technology could offer and and understanding the constraints on the Coast Guard's budget what is the fastest and most costeffective way for the Coast Guard to adopt these Technologies thank you uh you know Congressman I I'll say the first thing U here is that the Coast Guard only has a R&D budget of about 18 million you know a year and and that's for for the entire coast guards budget
▶ 2:00:16um the the US Navy as well as actually uh Department of Commerce Noah um are already investing and operating uh a wide range of unmanned systems in various states of of development uh I would suggest close collaboration between DHS uh DOD as well as doc to to leverage these existing government uh you know in Investments um I'll also add that
▶ 2:00:46the uh the investment on the on the commercial side you know uh basically industry wants to lean forward industry believes that that there is something here and so you see quite a bit of of private you know investment uh going into this technology and I think our first uh thing we we believe is that if you get it in the hands of the Guardsmen just to uh you know uh develop their own you know Comfort level uh you know with this kind of Technology
▶ 2:01:17they will then understand what requirements they need and understand you know how to best utilize this this technology again I'll point to what the National Security you know cutter has done with a unmanned you know air vessel it was con aircraft contractor owned contractor operated so the Coast Guard doesn't actually own this technology but it is employed on the National Security Cutters and from what I understand from past testimony the Coast Guard uh is is thrilled with how this has really improved
▶ 2:01:48and really extended the uh the capability of that platform without removing any people it's been it's been additive and so um the Coast Guard mission is extremely arduous they go into places that uh a lot of people won't want to go they conduct uh missions that maybe your robotic system could uh go do uh maybe more safely or or help them do it so my first thought would be partner with the uh the US Navy uh and and Noah uh I think they'd be I hope they'd
▶ 2:02:18be be open to that and then um you know let work with with industry about maybe what we could deliver and just get in the hands of their uh hands of the Guardsmen for something like a pilot pro pro you know project for them to learn about themselves thank you Mr chair ybe thank you gentleman yields um if there are any other members of the subcommittee uh who've not been recognized seeing none that concludes our hearing today I would like to thank each and every one of you today for being
▶ 2:02:48here and providing us this important testimony subcommittee stand a jarn thank you we'll see you
▶ 2:03:20later for