[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 151 (Wednesday, October 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S12893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      OECD SHIPBUILDING AGREEMENT

  Mr. BREAUX. Mr. President, I rise to announce that I look 
forward to working with my colleagues in the next Congress to pass 
legislation to implement the OECD Shipbuilding Agreement, an 
international agreement that will finally allow our commercial 
shipyards to compete on equal footing with those of our foreign trading 
partners.
  With the hard work of Members both in the House and Senate, 
especially my friend the Majority Leader, we were able to craft 
implementing legislation that was passed and reported out of both the 
Senate Commerce Committee and the Senate Finance Committee and had the 
strong support of the Department of Defense. If a floor vote had been 
possible this Congress, I am confident we could have passed this 
important legislation and the President would have signed it into law.
  Unless we as a country are content to concede the international 
commercial shipbuilding market to our trading partners and rely instead 
only upon the limited and protected U.S. Jones Act market for 
commercial shipbuilding orders, we must ratify and implement the OECD 
Shipbuilding Agreement.
  So again, I look forward next Congress to working with the Majority 
Leader, Finance Committee Chairman Roth, Commerce Committee Chairman 
McCain, and my Democratic and Republican colleagues, including the few 
Members who remain opposed to the Agreement, to implement the OECD 
Shipbuilding Agreement for the benefit of the country and our U.S. 
entire commercial shipbuilding industry.
 Mr. LOTT. I share the sentiments of my colleagues from 
Louisiana. I am frustrated over the Senate's inability to complete this 
legislation. Indeed, he and I have championed this bipartisan effort 
for some years now. I will resume our joint efforts early in the next 
Congress to secure final ratification of this critical Agreement.
  U.S. participation in the OECD Shipbuilding Agreement and the 
elimination of foreign subsidies is essential. U.S. commercial 
shipyards cannot successfully compete with the treasuries of other 
nations. Of course, our implementing legislation must also make it 
clear that our vital Jones Act interests and our national security 
prerogatives will never be compromised.
  The implementing legislation developed in this Congress represents a 
consensus product with input for many Senators who carefully weighted 
and balanced these important objectives of OECD. The legislation was 
reported by the Finance Committee on two separate occasions and by the 
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on yet another. It 
enjoys the strong support of both Chairman and vast majority of their 
Committees.
  Let me be clear: Navy ships are unequivocally exempted from coverage 
by this Agreement in fact this legislation gives unlimited authority of 
the Secretary of Defense to exempt from coverage of any other vessels 
deemed necessary for national security purposes.
  Similarly, extraordinary steps were taken to protect our Jones Act. 
That is why this legislation received the strong endorsement from the 
vast majority of the Jones Act shipbuilding and ship operating 
companies.
  On a final note, I hope our OECD Shipbuilding Agreement parties will 
take note of my intention and commitment to move this legislation early 
next before taking any action on their own which might forever 
compromise this historic opportunity to rationalize the global 
shipbuilding market.

                          ____________________