[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 4, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E17]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    INTRODUCTION OF THE STATE MARITIME ACADEMY LICENSING RELIEF ACT

                                 ______


                            HON. JACK FIELDS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 4, 1995
  Mr. FIELDS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce today a 
bill to provide relief to the young men and women who attend our State 
maritime academies: Texas A&M University at Galveston, the California 
Maritime Academy, the Great Lakes Regional Maritime Academy, the Maine 
Maritime Academy, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and the New York 
Maritime Academy.
  These academies educate and train licensed officers for service 
during war and peace in the maritime industry, the Navy, the Coast 
Guard, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Unlike 
students enrolled at the national service academies, cadets at our six 
State maritime academies pay their own tuition and fees for their 
education, including training cruises and naval science courses. In 
addition, their academic year lasts 11 months, which deprives them of 
the opportunity for summer employment. In order to get a maritime job, 
graduates have to take and pass examinations for a license as an engine 
or deck officer.
  Regrettably, in 1990, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act--Public 
Law 101-508--removed longstanding prohibitions against the collection 
of fees or charges for these examinations and licenses. While I
 oppose any fee or charge for the issuance of a maritime license, I am 
particularly distressed that there are no exemptions from these fees, 
and that they even apply to cadets graduating from our State maritime 
academies. In response to that act, the Coast Guard has imposed a 
number of new fees requiring these fine young men and women to pay up 
to $500 to obtain their licenses and merchant mariner documents.

  Mr. Speaker, State maritime academy cadets, who normally take a 
licensing examination within 3 months of graduation, do not have the 
financial resources to pay these fees. They have just completed 4 years 
of college, have spent thousands of dollars on college expenses, and 
have yet to earn a penny in their chosen profession. The fees place a 
heavy burden on cadets at a time when they can least afford it. These 
fees are a disincentive to those contemplating a career in the U.S. 
maritime industry and they are patently unfair, in that other 
transportation professionals, like airline pilots and railroad 
engineers, are not required to pay licensing or examination fees.
  These fees will do little to reduce our Federal deficit; they will 
cause tremendous pain for our State maritime academy graduates; and 
they will further strain the U.S. merchant marine industry, which is 
struggling for its survival.
  Superintendents at the State academies strongly recommend that the 
user fees for licenses be repealed for
 all cadets taking an entry level examination. These superintendents 
have previously testified during congressional hearings that ``it is 
unconscionable to mandate to young men and women who pay for an 
education which clearly supports our national security to take and pass 
a licensing exam, and then charge them a fee to take it. In essence, 
the user fee is a graduation tax which is exorbitant in relation to an 
entry level cadet's income history.''

  While my preference would be to either repeal these onerous fees or 
waive them for first-time recipients, unfortunately, the Congressional 
Budget Office has indicated that either approach would create a pay-as-
you-go [PAYGO] budget problem. Since I am not interested in increasing 
anyone's tax burden, I have decided to solve this problem in a 
different way.
  Under my bill, our six State maritime academies would each receive a 
portion of a $300,000 authorization to pay any Cost Guard user fees 
associated with the cost of a cadet obtaining an original license and 
merchant mariner document. Furthermore, this reimbursement system would 
only be activated when Congress appropriates the additional money 
required to satisfy this purpose. Until that occurs, State maritime 
cadets will have to pay their own fees. In this way, Congress can ease 
the financial burden on these maritime cadets without forcing their 
academies to reduce funding for vital training or educational programs.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of the State 
Maritime Academy Licensing Relief Act.


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