Political Quotes

“my amendment would provide Jones Act status to a vessel that is U.S.-built, U.S.-owned, and U.S.-flagged, but which is not eligible for the coastwise trade of the United States because at one time it was flagged foreign. Simply stated, my amendment would provide a Jones Act waiver for the tug ``Norfolk'' before January 1, 2001 only if before that date the vessel undergoes a major conversion in a shipyard located in the United States and the cost of this major conversion is more than three times the amount the owner of the vessel paid to purchase the vessel. I emphasize again that the vessel is U.S.-built, U.S.-owned, and U.S.- flagged. I offer the amendment on behalf of Bay Gulf Trading Company, a locally owned Virginia corporation with its headquarters and principal place of business in Norfolk, Virginia. Jerry McDonald, a former U.S. Navy captain, is the chairman of the company. Bay Gulf is wholly owned by U.S. citizens. It is a small business that owns and operates 8 tugs and 10 tanker barges, and employs about 75 persons. The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 provides that a U.S. vessel once sold foreign or placed under foreign registry cannot engage in U.S. coastwise trade.”