I want to thank all of you, just for all you do, all the time and effort you put in, and for doing something that is more important than just business.

What do you think is behind--you might even call it a deep state in our own Government with CBP and the administration. Why do you think that U.S. officials, or U.S. Government employees that work for the American people, want to get rid…

the Jones Act is intrinsic to that. It is the cornerstone of all of them.

We would like to know who is manning those ships and, at the same time, we are curious as to why you are allowing them at all.

We want to be in the lead, and we want to maintain that as long as we can.

I appreciate the subcommittee's continuing support for maritime programs, and will be happy to respond to any questions you and the members of the subcommittee may have this morning.

The Jones Act makes that possible, period.

The absurdity of trying to take away America's cabotage laws...

You don't know who they are, which means the Department of Homeland Security doesn't know who they are.

Amen. I would like to close here by yielding to the ranking member, Mr. Garamendi.

What is a failure of imagination here?

It would be a mistake--and one that we would vigorously oppose--to weaken the application of longstanding labor protections.