[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 77 (Wednesday, June 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1032-E1033]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THE NATIONAL DEFENSE FEATURES PROGRAM ENHANCEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. RODNEY P. FRELINGHUYSEN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 6, 2001

  Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the National 
Defense Features Program. As my colleagues may know, Congress created 
this program in 1992 response to a report by the Department of Defense 
describing a shortage of sealift capacity during military 
contingencies. At that time, Congress decided the best way to solve the 
shortage of shipping space for heavy military vehicles and other cargo 
would be the NDF program, providing a cost-effective way to

[[Page E1033]]

augment the substantial investment that was being made in new sealift 
ships by the Navy.
  Within the last several years, Congress has authorized and 
appropriated funds to install special defense features in new 
commercial vessels to be built in the shipyards of the United States. 
Most recently, as a result of the leadership of my colleague from 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Weldon, Congress included in the National Defense 
Authorization Act for FY 2001 a provision that would expand the 
Secretary of Defense's ability to fund militarily useful projects under 
the NDF program.
  Since the NDF program was launched, Congress anticipated that our 
allies would recognize the mutual defense benefits of promoting the 
program on their trade routes with the United States. One particular 
project that has received attention called for ten commercial vessels 
to be built in the United States based on a design funded and approved 
by DARPA's Maritime Technology Program. These vessels would normally 
operate in the Japan-United States vehicle trade, which is at present 
entirely dominated by Japanese carriers. This project is also important 
to maritime labor and our new domestic shipyards, which continue to 
support our NDF program and to look for new, viable commercial 
projects.
  Notwithstanding past expressions of support by senior government 
officials, this expectation has not been realized. Unfortunately, the 
Government of Japan
  In view of the US role in providing security for our allies in the 
Far East, it hardly seems appropriate that defense concerns expressed 
by our government should not have been met with a more positive 
response by our allies in the region. Past discussions with the 
Japanese government have not yielded desired results, as the NDF 
program continues to be characterized as one with limited military 
value. This position has been contradicted by two US Navy reports on 
the NDF program. Given our past history of military cooperation with 
the Japanese government, the reluctance encountered on the NDF program, 
especially in light of its military value, has been somewhat 
surprising.
  Unfortunately, the Japanese government's position appears to have 
been driven by commercial rather than governmental factors. Japan, like 
other nations, supports its merchant marine with financial assistance, 
including direct construction loans at artificially low rates of 
interest.
  The reason our carriers are effectively being excluded from this 
market is the Japanese kereitsu system of doing business. It is not 
price, but rather the interwoven industrial and financial structure 
that closes this market, like so many other sectors of the Japanese 
economy, against international competition. This situation makes it 
quite difficult for a fleet of US built and operated ships which are 
commercially competitive and have significant defense value to both 
nations to break through the economic fence encircling the Japanese 
vehicle trade.
  Despite this resistance, I continue to hope that the Government of 
Japan and the vehicle manufacturers will ultimately recognize the 
merits of supporting the NDF program, especially given the longstanding 
support of the Department of Defense. Last year, the former Secretary 
of Defense and the
  Given past experience, these new communication channels may not prove 
enough. That is why today, along with my colleague from Pennsylvania, 
Mr. Weldon, I am introducing the National Defense Features Program 
Enhancement Act. Under this bill, if the Federal Maritime Commission 
finds that vessels built under the NDF program are unable to obtain 
employment in a particular trade route in the foreign commerce of the 
United States for which they are designed to operate, and if that 
sector of the trade route has been dominated historically by citizens 
of an allied nation, the Commission can take action to counteract the 
restrictive trade practices that have led to this situation.
  I wish it were not necessary to introduce legislation to encourage 
support for a program so self-evidently in the mutual security 
interests of allied nations, and that through consultation between our 
Nation and Japan we can begin to undertake the much-needed 
recapitalization of our aging Ready Reserve Force. Should that not 
prove the case, I look forward to working with my colleagues to move 
forward this legislation.

                          ____________________