Nov. 8, 2016, brought an end to a tumultuous election campaign season and some of the uncertainty that comes with not knowing who will lead the nation. With the elections behind us, the domestic maritime sector will turn its attention to educating policymakers, old and new, about the value of the industry to the nation.
The US maritime industry has long received strong, bipartisan support in Congress and from the president. That is because the US-flag maritime sector provides important national security, homeland security, and economic benefits to the United States. It is a sector that sustains nearly 500,000 American jobs and generates nearly $100 billion in economic output. It is a sector that helps to protect the homeland by keeping foreign workers from transiting our internal and coastal waterways. It is a sector that enhances national security by ensuring a cadre of qualified seafarers for times of war or national emergency; ships and intermodal assets for national defense sealift; and a defense shipbuilding, maintenance and repair industrial base.
The domestic US maritime industry will be working overtime, primarily through the American Maritime Partnership, to ensure that our newly elected leaders and appointed officials understand and appreciate these points. And we are confident that, as has been the case with prior Congresses and prior administrations, these leaders will recognize the importance of the US maritime sector and the laws (such as the Jones Act) that support the industry.
While the year 2017 may be a time of change in Congress and in the administration, the domestic US maritime industry will continue to be a steady engine in the nation’s economy, transporting millions of tons of cargo between domestic ports, employing hundreds of thousands of American workers, and generating billions of dollars in economic activity.