Energizing American Shipbuilding Act of 2021
Floor Speech
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Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, today I reintroduce the ``Energizing American Shipbuilding Act'', which I have sponsored since 2016 as part of my ``Make it in America'' agenda. I thank my bipartisan original cosponsors for their support, as well as U.S. Senators Roger F. Wicker (R-MS) and Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA) for sponsoring the companion bill.
Our bipartisan legislation seeks to recapitalize America's strategic domestic shipbuilding and maritime industries by requiring that increasing percentages of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil exports be transported on U.S.-built, flagged, and crewed vessels. In total, our bill would require that 15 percent of total seaborne LNG exports be exported on vessels built in the United States by 2043 and 10 percent of total seaborne crude oil exports by 2035.
In total, the ``Energizing American Shipbuilding Act'' is projected to result in the construction of more than 40 American ships: approximately 28 LNG carriers by 2043 and 12 oil tankers by 2035. This work will support thousands of new well-paying jobs in American shipyards, as well as the domestic vessel component manufacturing and maritime industries.
Unless Congress acts, all U.S. seaborne LNG and crude oil exports will be on foreign-flagged vessels, operated by foreign crews. American shipyards and mariners are ready for the job, and our bill ensures they are no longer expected to compete against heavily subsidized foreign shipyards in Korea, China, and elsewhere.
There is strong precedent for this policy. In 1995, Congress enacted the Alaska Power Administration Asset Sale and Termination Act (Public Law 104-58). This federal law allowed the export of crude oil from Alaska's North Slope but required that those exports be transported on U.S.-flagged vessels to preserve the tanker fleet essential to our national defense. It was good policy then, and it is good policy now.
The ``Energizing American Shipbuilding Act'' would implement a similar requirement that fixed percentages of seaborne U.S. LNG and crude oil exports be on U.S.-built, flagged, and crewed vessels. These same vessels, once built under our bill, would be available to meet the U.S. military's sealift and supply needs around the globe.
Like many members of Congress, I am deeply troubled that our military, namely the Defense Logistics Agency, relies on foreign-owned oil tankers, including state-owned enterprises closely linked to the Chinese government. Our bipartisan bill also counters other export countries' similar requirements, including the Russian-flagged vessel requirement for arctic oil and natural gas exports announced by the Kremlin in December 2018.
The United States projected to become a net crude oil exporter and the top LNG exporting nation in the coming years. Exports of these two strategic national assets--LNG and crude oil--should be on American vessels, which is exactly what our bill would require.
Madam Speaker, I urge all members of the House to join us in cosponsoring the ``Energizing American Shipbuilding Act.'' Lastly, I want to thank my former Chief of Staff, Ms. Emily Burns, for her instrumental role in developing this legislation during the 114th and 115th Congresses while on my staff.
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