[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 198 (Wednesday, December 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H14372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   GET YOUR HANDS OUT OF OUR POCKETS

  (Mr. UNDERWOOD asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2539, the ICC Termination Act of 
1995, which passed the House and Senate and is now in conference 
committee, has as its noble purpose the deregulation of the trucking 
and rail industries. The shipping industry remains regulated, and for 
offshore areas like Guam, our consumers remain a captive market for the 
shipping lines.
  Buried deep in the details of H.R. 2539, in the Senate version, is a 
provision that would raid the wallets of consumers in Guam and other 
offshore areas. The shipping companies cut some sort of deal to allow, 
by statute, rates to increase by 7.5 percent every year for these port 
to port movements. They created a loophole to allow the rates to be 
increased in a zone of reasonableness, which is so wide you can drive a 
ship through it.
  The shipping companies are not hurting for profits in the captive 
domestic offshore markets. They are literally rolling in dough. They 
charge four times more for a shipment to Guam than they do to Japan.
  Shame on the American President Lines, Sealand, and Matson. They 
should get their hands out of our pockets.

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