Kay Bailey Hutchison: “last Congress, we made substantial progress toward enacting ocean shipping reform. The House passed a bill and, under…”

“last Congress, we made substantial progress toward enacting ocean shipping reform. The House passed a bill and, under the leadership of Senators Lott and Pressler, we in the Senate were presented with a very workable framework for ocean shipping reform. I am pleased to make it the framework upon which we base the bill which Senators Lott, Gorton, Breaux, and I are introducing today. It is my hope that we can develop the consensus necessary to pass this measure in a timely way. The next step in this process is the hearing later this month before the Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Subcommittee, which I chair. I am looking forward to hearing from those who will be impacted by our legislative efforts. Ninety-five percent of U.S. foreign commerce is transported via ocean shipping. Half of this trade, which is carried by container liner vessels with scheduled service and is regulated under the Shipping Act of 1984, is affected by these reforms. This legislation represents an important opportunity to ease the hand of regulation on a significant sector of commerce, and eliminate a regulatory agency altogether. Our bill terminates the Federal Maritime Commission and consolidates remaining maritime regulatory responsibilities into a renamed Surface Transportation Board. Thus, we will eliminate one regulatory agency and improve another by making its mission more reflective of the shipping world where commerce moves intermodally--over rail, road, and ocean.”