[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4678 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4678

 To authorize conveyance of each of two National Defense Reserve Fleet 
     vessels to The Victory Ship, Inc., located in Tampa, Florida.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 1, 1998

Mr. Davis of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on National Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize conveyance of each of two National Defense Reserve Fleet 
     vessels to The Victory Ship, Inc., located in Tampa, Florida.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE OF VESSELS S/S AMERICAN VICTORY AND S/S 
              HATTIESBURG VICTORY.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary of 
Transportation (referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') may 
convey the right, title, and interest of the United States Government 
in and to each of the vessels S/S AMERICAN VICTORY (Victory Ship VC2-S-
AP2; United States official number 248005) and S/S HATTIESBURG VICTORY 
(Victory Ship VC2-S-AP2; United States official number 248651) to The 
Victory Ship, Inc., located in Tampa, Florida (in this section referred 
to as ``the recipient''), and the recipient may use the vessels for the 
purposes of a memorial to the American Merchant Marine, if--
            (1) the vessel is not used for commercial transportation 
        purposes;
            (2) the recipient agrees to make the vessel available to 
        the Government if the Secretary requires use of the vessel by 
        the Government for war or a national emergency;
            (3) the recipient agrees to hold the Government harmless 
        for any claims arising from any exposure to hazardous materials 
        (including asbestos and PCB's) occurring after conveyance of 
        the vessel, except for claims arising from use by the 
        Government under paragraph (2);
            (4) the recipient has available, for use to restore the 
        vessel, in the form of cash, liquid assets, or a written loan 
        commitment, financial resources of at least $100,000; and
            (5) the recipient agrees to any other conditions the 
        Secretary considers appropriate.
    (b) Delivery of Vessel.--
            (1) In general.--If a conveyance of a vessel is made under 
        this section, the Secretary shall deliver the vessel at the 
        place where the vessel is located on the date of enactment of 
        this Act.
            (2) Completion of phase cycle.--Upon request of the 
        recipient, before delivering a vessel under this section, the 
        Secretary shall complete one phase cycle of the vessel with an 
        engineer representing the recipient present to observe the 
        condition, operation, and maintenance techniques of the 
        shipboard systems.
    (c) Other Unneeded Equipment.--The Secretary may convey to the 
recipient any unneeded equipment from other vessels in the National 
Defense Reserve Fleet for use to restore to museum quality each vessel 
conveyed under this section.
    (d) Retention of Vessels in NDRF.--The Secretary shall retain in 
the National Defense Reserve Fleet each of the vessels authorized to be 
conveyed under subsection (a), until the earlier of--
            (1) 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act; or
            (2) the date of conveyance of the vessel under subsection 
        (a).
                                 <all>