Political Quotes

“I feel I am compelled to speak on this particular bill because I had the fortune of being the last chairman of the late, great Merchant Marine subcommittee. H.R. 2149, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, provides badly needed reform to the ocean shipping industry. The ocean shipping industry is one of the only transportation industries still heavily regulated by the U.S. Federal Government. By substantially deregulating the ocean shipping industry, this bill has the potential to restore the competitiveness of the American shipper. The United States is the only country in the world that maintains a Government agency to regulate ocean shipping. For this reason, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act sunsets the Federal Maritime Commission--a Federal agency which has clearly outlived its usefulness. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act also eliminates the detrimental tariff-filing and enforcement requirements. It preserves common carriage for all sizes of U.S. shippers who choose that method of ocean transportation. Most importantly, the bill also strengthens the laws that prohibit unfair trade practices on behalf of foreign carriers.”