Political Quotes

“We have challenges in the United States with the notion of how we are going to protect American-flagged ships, the capacity to be able, in times of national emergency, to provide the transport services that we need. I have been a supporter of the Jones Act. I think it is important to have cargo preference. I think it is important to be able to manage. I am interested in other areas that we might explore to be able to make sure that the United States is not at the mercy of other nations in times of emergency. I will say that I have been dismayed at recent activities to force, in the Coast Guard reauthorization, to increase the cargo preference for American food aid from its current level of 50 percent to 75 percent. This is outrageous, and it is not the answer. The situation we face today is that we require this food to be delivered in American ships. It increases the delay in terms of when the food gets there, and we are competing with local communities. Mr. Speaker, in an ideal world, we would do what most international aid countries do when they deliver assistance. They use money to buy local products. This helps support local agriculture, and it provides the food when it is needed, not months later. The United States primarily delivers surplus commodities that we produce in the United States that are shipped halfway around the world, that arrive often too late, and it is in direct competition to local producers.…”