Political Quotes

“last year, I was a Chair of the Budget Committee working group looking at this part of the budget. We recommended the elimination of the Federal Maritime Commission. I'm glad to support this bill to do that today. The Federal Maritime Commission, established in 1961, is charged with maintaining a cartel formed by the steamship lines to increase ocean transportation rates above market levels. The FMC also enforces an extraordinarily burdensome tariff filing scheme and restricts the negotiation of contracts for the transportation of goods. This burdens out exporters and contributes to our negative balance of trade. Dr. Alan Furgeson an economist under contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, calculated that FMC regulations and restrictions increase transportation costs by an average of 18 percent above the market level. He also estimated that U.S. exporters lose hundreds of millions of dollars of sales due to these additional transport costs. The bottom line is that the FMC is costing Americans jobs by rendering U.S. products less cost-competitive. This proposal would deregulate Federal maritime policy, terminate the Commission, and transfer critical functions to the Department of Transportation. It deserves our support.”