Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. LANDRY. Thank you, Madam Chairman.

My amendment is simple. It says that if another country is fine with having an offshore supply vessel carry a certain cargo in that country's water, then Coast Guard cannot object to it.

I bring this amendment because a company in my district is trying to get a vessel certified to operate in Mexico trying to preserve American jobs. Mexico has okayed the vessel and the AVS has said it has no objection. The only holdup is the Coast Guard. As a result, the company in my district currently has my vessel sitting at the dock and workers sitting at home and capital tied up fighting the regulation.

Again, my amendment is simple. It allows an offshore supply vessel to carry as much oil as it does drilling fluids when that vessel is operating outside of U.S. waters if that vessel is in compliance with the international safety standards for that class vessel.

This is a commonsense change. Drilling fluids have the same flash point as oil, as such, an equal risk. Thus, there should be a uniform standard for how much of that type of cargo the vessel can carry outside of U.S. waters.

Unfortunately, I don't believe that Congress needs to act on this matter. I believe that the Coast Guard can easily make the necessary changes by simply adopting commonsense language and listening to the host country.

For this reason, I would offer to withdraw my amendment if the chairman will promise to help me work with the Coast Guard to get this commonsense approach made and American workers back at work.

I yield to the chairman.

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