[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 60 (Monday, May 13, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4268-S4269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO JOHN MORAN

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I rise today to take a moment to recognize 
the public service of John A. Moran, who resigned from the Federal 
Maritime

[[Page S4269]]

Commission on April 15 to return to private life. While I want to 
congratulate John on his recent move, I also want to acknowledge and 
thank him for his service at the FMC.
  John was born and raised in a port and shipbuilding community, 
something I consider a good start for any young man. I live in a port 
and shipbuilding community, and there is no better way to understand 
the importance of the maritime industry to the Nation's economy that to 
grow up in the presence of the businesses and people that daily bring 
the goods of our trading partners to our door and carry America's 
products to the world. While John was born in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 
not Mississippi, he is redeemed somewhat in my eyes by the fact that 
his parents and family are good Mississippians.
  John developed an interest in maritime law at Washington and Lee 
University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia. This interest was 
encouraged during the year he clerked for the Honorable Richard B. 
Kellam in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of 
Virginia. Judge Kellam shared with John his own love and enthusiasm for 
Admiralty Law and encouraged John to continue to maritime studies at 
Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana.
  I first met John when he served as Republican Counsel to the Merchant 
Marine Subcommittee and the National Ocean Policy Study of the Senate's 
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. He came to this 
position after serving in the House of Representatives as Republican 
Counsel to the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Counsel and as Legislative 
Counsel to Virginia's Senator John Warner. While working for the 
Commerce Committee, John worked on issues as varied as the Oil 
Pollution Act of 1990, a review of the Shipping Act of 1984, cargo 
preference, the Jones Act, vessel safety and Coast Guard programs, the 
Magnuson Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, seafood safety and 
inspection, ocean driftnet legislation, the Coastal Zone Management 
Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. John worked with Committee 
members from states as diverse as Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, 
Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Virginia. I always was impressed with 
John's knowledge and experience, and with is effort to make sure that 
the concerns of all of the Republican members of the Committee were 
understood and addressed.
  John left the Commerce Committee in 1995, first working for the 
government and public affairs firm of Alcalde & Fay, and then for the 
American Waterways Operators, the trade association representing the 
United States tug, towboat, and barge industry. In 1998, Congress was 
nearing completion of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 (OSRA). As 
I described it at the time, OSRA truly was a paradigm shift in the 
conduct of the ocean liner business and its regulations by the Federal 
Maritime Commission (FMC). Along with other members of the Commerce 
Committee who worked for over four years on OSRA, I wanted to ensure 
that there were Commissioners at the FMC who understood that Congress 
wanted to foster a more competitive and efficient ocean transport 
system by placing greater reliance on the marketplace. I thought of 
John and his interest and experience in maritime matters. John's 
experience and philosophy made him the right choice to help the FMC 
implement OSRA.
  Confirmed by the Senate in October, 1998, John's efforts during the 
past three and a half years, especially his contributions during the 
FMC's rulemaking, helped establish the foundation making the paradigm 
shift possible. John worked closely with Chairman Harold Creel and the 
other commissioners, the staff of the FMC, the carriers, shippers, and 
transportation intermediaries to implement OSRA as Congress intended. I 
am pleased to report that, under the Commission's administration, the 
reforms are working much as Congress hoped. John should be proud of his 
work and the contribution he made during his tenure as a Commissioner.
  I congratulate John for his exemplary career at the FMC and salute 
his contributions to the maritime industry. He is to be commended for 
the productive use of his insights and talents and appreciated for his 
years of public service. As he returns to private life, where he will 
continue working on the maritime issues he loves, I wish John, his wife 
Medina, and their two children fair winds and following seas.

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