[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 10, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E946-E947]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. DUNCAN HUNTER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, June 9, 2014

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4745) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, Housing 
     and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes:

  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Chair, I rise to express my appreciation for all the 
good work that has gone into in the FY 2015 Transportation, Housing and 
Urban Development Appropriations Bill. I know a lot of difficult 
decisions had to be made but I wanted to express my concern over a $20 
million reduction in funding for the Maritime Security Program (MSP).
  The U.S. flag fleet is critical to our military in delivering cargo 
overseas to our military to ensure proper readiness and sustainment. 
The Department of Defense (DOD) for well over a decade has relied on 
MSP-enrolled vessels for sealift of necessary cargo into conflicts in 
Iraq and Afghanistan as well as other troubled areas in the world, all 
at a fraction of the cost of what it would cost DOD to replicate that 
sealift if it had to build its own vessels. These military-sensitive 
cargoes are handled by U.S.-flag ship operators and mariners that must 
meet DOD and homeland security standards. They have a demonstrated 
record of delivering these cargoes efficiently and safely.
  I would like to encourage the bill's managers to bring the program's 
funding level to $186 million in conference with the Senate. This 
program also has significant support from House members and I am 
including a letter signed by members in support of this funding. 
Finally this is the same amount appropriated in FY 2014, authorized by 
the Armed Services Committee in the NDAA, and requested by the 
President.

                                Congress of the United States,

                                      Washington, DC, March, 2014.
     Hon. Tom Latham,
     Chairman, Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban 
         Development, and Related Agencies, Committee on 
         Appropriations, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Ed Pastor,
     Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and 
         Urban Development, and Related Agencies, Committee on 
         Appropriations, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Latham and Ranking Member Pastor: We are 
     writing to request that $186 million in funding for FY 2015 
     for the Maritime Security Program (MSP) be included in the FY 
     2015 appropriations bill for the Departments of 
     Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related 
     Agencies. This is the congressionally authorized amount 
     necessary to ensure that the U.S. Maritime Administration, in 
     conjunction with the Department of Defense, has the necessary 
     funds available to fully implement the MSP. It is the same 
     amount appropriated by Congress for the program in FY 2014.
       The MSP was originally enacted to ensure that the United 
     States has the U.S.-flag

[[Page E947]]

     commercial sealift capability and trained U.S. citizen 
     merchant mariners available to crew the government and 
     privately owned vessels needed by the Department of Defense 
     in time of war or other international emergency. Most 
     importantly, the Maritime Security Program and the 
     uninterrupted operation of its maritime security fleet of 60 
     U.S.-flag militarily useful commercial vessels ensures that 
     America will in fact be able to support and supply our troops 
     overseas. It guarantees that American-flag vessels and 
     American crews will continue to be available to transport the 
     supplies and equipment our troops need to do their job in 
     behalf of our nation.
       Failure to approve the requested funding for the Maritime 
     Security Program not only will put American troops at risk 
     but will weaken America's overall security interests and will 
     cost the American taxpayer significantly more than the amount 
     requested for FY 2015 for the MSP. Without having the MSP and 
     its maritime security fleet to rely upon, the options 
     available to the Department of Defense and to our country to 
     meet America's commercial sealift capability requirements are 
     totally unacceptable.
       On the one hand, our country would be faced with the option 
     of giving foreign-flag shipping interests and their foreign 
     mariners--interests who may not share America's goals, 
     objectives and values--the responsibility for supporting and 
     advancing America's security interests overseas. These 
     foreign-flag shipping services will have to be paid for by 
     the United States, and it means our country will be 
     encouraging the outsourcing of American maritime jobs as we 
     spend taxpayer dollars on foreign-flag ships and their 
     foreign crews.
       On the other hand, our country would be faced with the 
     option of having the Department of Defense build, maintain, 
     and operate the requisite vessels itself, at a tremendous 
     cost to the American taxpayer. In fact, a 2006 report 
     prepared for the National Defense Transportation 
     Association--Military Sealift Committee concluded that ``the 
     likely cost to the government to replicate just the vessel 
     capacity provided by the MSP dry cargo vessels would be $13 
     billion.'' In addition, the United States Transportation 
     Command has estimated that it would cost the U.S. Government 
     an additional $52 billion to replicate the ``global 
     intermodal system'' that is made available to the Department 
     of Defense by MSP participants who are continuously 
     developing, maintaining, and upgrading their systems. In 
     contrast, the commercial maritime industry, through the MSP, 
     will provide the Department of Defense with these same 
     vessels and global intermodal system at a cost to the 
     taxpayer of $186 million in FY 2015, a fraction of what it 
     would cost our government to do the job itself.
       In other words, without funding the MSP and ensuring the 
     continued operation of its maritime security fleet, America 
     would either have to place the safety of our troops and the 
     security of our nation in the hands of foreign shipping 
     interests or be forced to spend billions of dollars more of 
     the taxpayers' dollars to achieve the commercial sealift 
     capability that will be lost if the requested funds for MSP 
     are not appropriated.
       During congressional consideration of the reauthorization 
     of the MSP in 2003, General John W. Handy, then-Commander in 
     Chief, United States Transportation Command, told Congress 
     that: ``As we look at operations on multiple fronts in 
     support of the War on Terrorism, it is clear that our limited 
     defense resources will increasingly rely on partnerships with 
     industry to maintain the needed capability and capacity to 
     meet our most demanding wartime scenarios . . . MSP is a 
     cost-effective program that assures guaranteed access to 
     required U.S.-flag commercial shipping and U.S. merchant 
     mariners when needed . . . MSP is a vital element of our 
     military's strategic sealift and global response 
     capability.''
       We again ask that you support this highly efficient and 
     low-cost public-private partnership by including $186 million 
     in your Subcommittee's FY 2015 appropriations legislation in 
     order to fully implement the MSP. In so doing, you will be 
     saving the American taxpayer billions of dollars because the 
     Department of Defense will be able to utilize privately owned 
     U.S.-flag vessels to meet its commercial sealift requirements 
     rather than buying and maintaining this capability on its 
     own.
       Thank you for your consideration of this request.
           Respectfully,

                                    Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon,

                                                         Chairman,
                                      Committee on Armed Services.

                                                   Adam Smith,

                                                   Ranking Member,
                                      Committee on Armed Services.
         Duncan Hunter; Corrine Brown; Scott Peters; Frank 
           LoBiondo; Elijah Cummings; Nick Rahall; Bennie 
           Thompson; John Garamendi; John Duncan; Don Young.
         Dutch Ruppersberger; Gary Miller; Rick Larsen; Randy 
           Forbes; Robert Wittman; Derek Kilmer; Jim Brindenstine; 
           Scott Rigell; Peter King; Leonard Lance.
         Suzanne Bonamici; Carol Shea-Porter; Michael Michaud; 
           Daniel Lipinski; Suzan DelBene; Michael Grimm; 
           Frederica Wilson; Cedric Richmond; Sean Maloney; Chris 
           Gibson.
         William Enyart; David Joyce; Brian Higgins; Linda 
           Saanchez; Howard Coble; Paul Cook; Janice Hahn; David 
           McKinley; Tim Bishop; Jim McDermott.
         Joe Courtney; Steve Israel; Michael Turner; Alan 
           Lowenthal; Tulsi Gabbard; Denny Heck; Marc Veasey; Lois 
           Frankel; Madeleine Bordallo; Albio Sires.
         Peter DeFazio; Karen Bass; Pete Gallego; Rick Nolan; Tim 
           Walz; Ed Perlmutter; Ron Barber; Andree Carson.

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