[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      REINTRODUCTION OF THE FEDERAL SHIP FINANCING IMPROVEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 8, 2023

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today I reintroduced my ``Federal Ship 
Financing Improvement Act,'' expanding the Maritime Administration's 
(MARAD) federal ship financing program--commonly referred to as ``Title 
XI'' of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936--to include re-flagging, 
repair, or conversions of U.S.-flagged civilian vessels for commercial 
and military purposes.
  Currently, MARAD's Title XI program only provides federal loans and 
loan guarantees for the construction of new civilian vessels in U.S.-
based commercial shipyards or facility and equipment upgrades at those 
shipyards. My bill would allow MARAD to also provide loan guarantees 
for corrective or preventative maintenance or re-flagging work at U.S.-
based shipyards, including to convert a commercial vessel to a more 
useful military configuration to carry out federal contracts. The bill 
would also require that all shipyard improvement projects with loans or 
loan guarantees from MARAD use construction materials produced or 
manufactured in the United States. In the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92), U.S. 
Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and I implemented these ``Buy America'' 
requirements for MARAD's small shipyard grant program.
  As chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and 
the former ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure 
Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, I have long 
supported our domestic shipbuilding and U.S.-flagged international 
fleet. The bill I reintroduced today builds upon my work in the William 
M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2021 (Public Law 116-283), in which I helped to secure Congressional 
authorization for the new tanker security fleet and strengthened the 
military's US-flagged preference for seaborne cargo contracts. In the 
117th Congress, my ``Federal Ship Financing Improvement Act'' was 
partially incorporated as Section 307 of the Chairman's mark of the 
House's ``Don Young Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022'' (H.R. 6865) 
but removed from the final law.
  Mr. Speaker, American shipyards are ready, willing, and able to take 
on this additional work. Expanding MARAD's Title XI loan guarantee 
program to support that work means more well-paying jobs for American 
workers and better maintained vessels flagged in the United States, 
useful for military and commercial purposes. I urge all members of the 
House to cosponsor the ``Federal Ship Financing Improvement Act.''

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