[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 46 (Thursday, March 11, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E239-E240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              ENERGIZING AMERICAN SHIPBUILDING ACT OF 2021

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                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 11, 2021

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, today I reintroduce the ``Energizing 
American Shipbuilding Act'', which I have sponsored since 2016 as part 
of my ``Make it in America'' agenda. I thank my bipartisan original 
cosponsors for their support, as well as U.S. Senators Roger F. Wicker 
(R-MS) and Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA) for sponsoring the companion 
bill.
  Our bipartisan legislation seeks to recapitalize America's strategic 
domestic shipbuilding and maritime industries by requiring that 
increasing percentages of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil 
exports be transported on U.S.-built, flagged, and crewed vessels. In 
total, our bill would require that 15 percent of total seaborne LNG 
exports be exported on vessels built in the United States by 2043 and 
10 percent of total seaborne crude oil exports by 2035.
  In total, the ``Energizing American Shipbuilding Act'' is projected 
to result in the construction of more than 40 American ships: 
approximately 28 LNG carriers by 2043 and 12 oil tankers by 2035. This 
work will support thousands of new well-paying jobs in American 
shipyards, as well as the domestic vessel component manufacturing and 
maritime industries.
  Unless Congress acts, all U.S. seaborne LNG and crude oil exports 
will be on foreign-flagged vessels, operated by foreign crews. American 
shipyards and mariners are ready for the job, and our bill ensures they 
are no longer expected to compete against heavily subsidized foreign 
shipyards in Korea, China, and elsewhere.
  There is strong precedent for this policy. In 1995, Congress enacted 
the Alaska Power Administration Asset Sale and Termination Act (Public 
Law 104-58). This federal law allowed the export of crude oil from 
Alaska's North Slope but required that those exports be transported on 
U.S.-flagged vessels to preserve the tanker fleet essential to our 
national defense. It was good policy then, and it is good policy now.
  The ``Energizing American Shipbuilding Act'' would implement a 
similar requirement that fixed percentages of seaborne U.S. LNG and 
crude oil exports be on U.S.-built, flagged, and crewed vessels. These 
same vessels, once built under our bill, would be available to meet the 
U.S. military's sealift and supply needs around the globe.
  Like many members of Congress, I am deeply troubled that our 
military, namely the Defense Logistics Agency, relies on foreign-owned 
oil tankers, including state-owned enterprises closely linked to the 
Chinese government. Our bipartisan bill also counters other export 
countries' similar requirements, including the Russian-flagged vessel 
requirement for arctic oil and natural gas exports announced by the 
Kremlin in December 2018.
  The United States projected to become a net crude oil exporter and 
the top LNG exporting nation in the coming years. Exports of these two 
strategic national assets--LNG and crude oil--should be on American 
vessels, which is exactly what our bill would require.
  Madam Speaker, I urge all members of the House to join us in 
cosponsoring the ``Energizing American Shipbuilding Act.'' Lastly, I 
want to thank my former Chief of Staff, Ms. Emily Burns, for her 
instrumental role in developing this legislation during the 114th and 
115th Congresses while on my staff.

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