Congressman Garamendi: President's India Trip Shows Maritime Job Opportunity for America

Statement

Today, Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA-03), released a letter he wrote to President Obama, urging the Administration to use any future exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to strengthen our domestic shipbuilding and merchant marine sector. This letter comes at the same time as the President's trip to India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a "Make In India" effort analogous to Democrats' "Make It In America" agenda. The letter from Garamendi, who is Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, is linked here and its full text is included below.

"American LNG is a strategic national asset, and must be used to bolster another strategic national asset, our domestic shipbuilding industry and merchant marine personnel," Ranking Member Garamendi writes in the letter. "It is time for the United States to recognize this global trend and use its LNG as leverage to bring to our shores new industries, hundreds of thousands of jobs, and national security modernizations befitting a global climate in which trade by sea will be a critical vulnerability for those nations who do not build, own, or operate ships…. The potential is vast, and I urge you to stand strong for American shipbuilding as Prime Minister Modi has for India's."

This week, the House of Representatives will consider H.R. 351, a bill to expedite the export of LNG. Today at the House Rules Committee's hearing on the legislation, Garamendi offered an amendment that would require that American LNG be exported on United States-flagged vessels until 2020 and on United States-built and flagged LNG vessels thereafter. The amendment text is linked here. While the Committee did not authorize consideration of the amendment on the House Floor, there was support for the amendment's concept, including from the Chair.

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