Chuck Grassley: “I rise to respond to what the Senator from Alaska said, where he is right and where he is wrong. He is right that we are…”

“I rise to respond to what the Senator from Alaska said, where he is right and where he is wrong. He is right that we are paying in corporate welfare $2.1 million per ship to have these ships available, and the responsibility to the companies to provide shipping to meet their contracts, to meet our national defense needs. That is under section 652. But when those ships are called up to deliver materiel to the war zone, then you move to page 19, and this is where the Senator from Alaska is wrong. It says: Compensation. In general, the Secretary of Transportation shall provide in each Emergency Preparedness Agreement fair and reasonable compensation for all commercial transportation resources provided pursuant to this section. That is above that $2.1 million. So we are going to pay more if these ships are used. Then it goes on to specific requirements. Compensation under this section shall not be less than the contractor's commercial market charges for like transportation resources; shall include all the contractor's costs associated with provision and use of the contractor's commercial resources to meet emergency requirements; in the case of a charter of an entire vessel; shall be in addition to and shall not in any way reflect amounts payable under section 652.”