Keystone XL Pipeline Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in opposition to an
amendment offered by Senator McCain pertaining to the Merchant Marine
Act of 1920, popularly referred to as the Jones Act.

I will, of course, start by saying that the chairman of the Armed
Services Committee, Senator McCain, has a distinguished record of
support for our men and women in the military and cares deeply about
our national security, but on this amendment I respectfully disagree
with our chairman.

I wish to take a few minutes this morning to remind my colleagues why
the Jones Act is an essential component of our national security policy
and shipbuilding is a foundational component of American manufacturing.

The Jones Act requires that our maritime vessels engaged in shipping
goods between U.S. ports must meet three requirements: They must be
built in the United States, at least 75-percent owned by U.S. citizens,
and operated by U.S. citizens. The Jones Act helps to shore up our
national security by providing reliable sealift in times of war. It
ensures our ongoing viability as an ocean power by protecting American
shipbuilders. As a result, the Jones Act provides solid, well-paying
jobs for nearly half a million Americans from Virginia to Hawaii.

In short, the Jones Act promotes national security and American job
creation. Therefore, I am unclear why some of my colleagues are opposed
to this commonsense law. I don't say this simply as a Member from an
island State where we depend on the reliability offered by American
shippers for fresh food, energy, and other everyday goods, but I say
this as a Senator who cares deeply about supporting our strong and
growing middle class and creating American jobs.

First, shipbuilding is a major job-creating industry. According to
the Maritime Administration, there were 107,000 people directly
employed by roughly 300 shipyards across 26 States in 2013.
Additionally, shipyards indirectly employed nearly 400,000 people
across the country. This amendment would specifically knock out the
Jones Act provision that requires that U.S.-flagged ships be built in
the United States, jeopardizing good-paying, middle-class jobs. To me,
that is reason enough to oppose this amendment.

Secondly, this is not the time to create the instability this
amendment would directly cause. After struggling through tough times,
America's shipbuilding industry is coming back. Both this Congress and
the administration have long stressed the need for creating and keeping
manufacturing jobs here at home in the United States. According to the
Navy League, there are 15 tanker ships being built here in the United
States right now and slated to join our U.S. flag fleet. These ships
don't create quick-turnaround jobs but hundreds of thousands of well-
paying, long-term manufacturing jobs. If these ships are not built here
in U.S. shipyards by U.S. workers, where will they be built? Where will
these jobs go? China? Other Asian countries? Europe? The shipbuilding
industry in our country is rebounding.

Repealing the Jones Act is a step in the wrong direction. Instead of
dismantling a policy that supports American jobs, Congress should be
focused on doing more to promote and grow American jobs and American
manufacturing.

Repealing the Jones Act's requirement to build ships here in the
United States will unquestionably cost U.S. jobs and weaken our
position as a manufacturing leader. Those are two strikes against the
amendment.

The third and final strike is the fact that the amendment would
undermine our national homeland security. The Jones Act's
requirements--along with American shipbuilding and the maritime
industries they underpin--provide American-built ships and crews for
use by the Department of Defense in times of need. It is easy to see
why the Navy and Coast Guard strongly oppose repeal of the Jones Act
and all of its components.

The Defense Department has concluded:

We believe that the ability of the nation to build and
maintain a U.S. flag fleet is in the national interest, and
we also believe it is in the interest of the DOD for U.S.
shipbuilders to maintain a construction capability for
commercial vessels.

Therefore, there are three strikes against this amendment.

If adopted, the amendment would dismantle the Jones Act, costing
American jobs, hurting American manufacturing, and undermining our
national security. I ask my colleagues to stand with me--and I
certainly ask the chair of the Armed Services Committee to change his
mind on this amendment--and nearly half a million middle-class
Americans and vote against this amendment if it is brought up for a
vote.

I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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