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Tammy Baldwin News

14 Jan 2022

Senator Cruz's Nord Stream 2 Sanctions Bill Fails in U.S. Senate

Credit:  Николай Батаев
/AdobeStock

The U.S. Senate on Thursday failed to pass a bill to slap sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline sponsored by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, a day after Democrats unveiled their own legislation.The tally was 55 in favor and 44 against the bill that needed 60 votes to pass, a major hurdle in the 50-50 Senate. The vote spanned nearly seven hours as Majority Leader Chuck Schumer considered options on voting rights legislation.Senator Robert Menendez won the support of many of his fellow Democrats, including President Joe Biden, for an alternative bill he introduced on Wednesday.

04 Mar 2021

New Bill Aims to Boost Great Lakes Icebreaking

(Photo: Nick Gould / U.S. Coast Guard)

Lawmakers in the U.S. are reintroducing legislation aiming codify the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking mission on the Great Lakes and increase the icebreaking capacity of the Great Lakes fleet.“Inadequate icebreaking capacity in the Great Lakes is costing us thousands of American jobs and millions in business revenue. We must boost our icebreaking capacity in the Great Lakes to keep our maritime commerce moving,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who introduced the bipartisan Great…

16 Sep 2020

New Legislation Aims to Boost Great Lakes Icebreaking Capacity

File photo: The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw (WLBB-30) breaks ice and maintains Aids to Navigation across the Great Lakes. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

New legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) will codify the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking mission on the Great Lakes and increase the icebreaking capacity of the Great Lakes fleet.The Great Lakes Winter Commerce Act aims to increase Great lakes icebreaking capacity, which the lawmakers say will help the businesses and workers that rely on the maritime industry to transport their goods to market and grow the regional economy.“In recent years…

30 Apr 2020

Fincantieri Wins $795 Mln US Navy Guided Missile Frigate Contract

An artist rendering of the guided-missile frigate FFG(X). The new small surface combatant will have multi-mission capability to conduct air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, electronic warfare and information operations. (U.S. Navy graphic)

Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard has been selected to build a class of up to 10 multimission guided-missile frigates (FFGs) for the Navy’s FFG(X) program, the U.S. Navy announced on Thursday.The Navy awarded a $795 million contract to the Marinette, Wis. shipbuilder for the design and production of one base ship plus nine option vessels, as well as post-delivery availability support, engineering and class services, crew familiarization, training equipment and provisioned item orders…

02 May 2019

Senator Baldwin (D - WI) Introduces 'Buy America' Bill for WI Small Yards

File Image: AdobeStock / © sunnyS

Legislation would close a loophole to strengthen Buy America standards that will support Wisconsin businesses, manufacturers and workers.U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin today introduced the bipartisan Strengthening Buy America for Small Shipyard Grants Act to strengthen Buy America requirements for federal Small Shipyard Grant funding to support American businesses, manufacturers and workers. The bill is cosponsored by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA).While Buy American requirements already apply to the Small Shipyard Grant Program…

15 Apr 2019

WASHINGTON WATCH: A Tale of Two Fleets

Jeff Vogel, a Member in Cozen O’Connor’s Transportation & Trade Group.

Mixed Government Support for U.S. Shipbuilding.It has been a busy start to the 116th Congress for the U.S. shipbuilding industry, with three congressional hearings in early March focused on the industry’s role as a critical component of the U.S. national security industrial base. In addition, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, which was signed into law on February 15, contained mixed news for shipbuilding programs. Through the congressional hearings and enacted legislation, two opposing themes have emerged.

07 Mar 2019

On the Hill: Advocacy for Domestic Maritime

File Image: AdobeStock / © sunnyS

Bipartisan Congressional Leaders Highlight Importance of Jones Act, Employing 650,000 Americans incl. Veterans, for National & Economic Security. Following the signing of an Executive Order by President Donald J. Trump to create an easier pathway for veterans to transition into maritime careers in the U.S. Merchant Marine, congressional and maritime leaders convened for two hearings exploring the state of the domestic maritime industry and the role of the Jones Act. These hearings…

19 Jul 2018

Wisconsin Shipyards Awarded Nearly $2 Mln in Grants

(File photo: Bay Shipbuilding)

Wisconsin shipyards Bay Shipbuilding and Fraser Shipyards have been awarded nearly $2 million in 2018 Small Shipyard Grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin today.The Small Shipyard Grant Program helps small shipyards, like Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay and Fraser Shipyards in Superior, repair and modernize equipment, and train workers.“In Wisconsin, and across America, small shipyards are considered the lifeblood of the maritime economy.

10 Nov 2017

U.S. Senate Approves Maritime Centers of Excellence

Photo: San Jacinto College

A Center of Excellence designation would allow San Jacinto College to expand maritime training. San Jacinto College is one step closer to having a Maritime Center of Excellence. The U.S. Senate recently voted to approve maritime workforce centers of excellence legislation as part of the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This follows a vote made by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year to approve the legislation. While there are slight differences between the House-passed maritime workforce centers of excellence provision and the Senate-passed provision…

17 Sep 2016

Navy Christens Littoral Combat Ship Wichita

The Navy will christen its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, USS Wichita (LCS 13), during a 10 a.m. CST ceremony Saturday, Sept. 17 in Marinette, Wisconsin. Wichita, designated LCS 13, honors the city of Wichita, Kansas. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the junior senator from Wisconsin, will serve as the principal speaker. Novelist and editor Kate Lehrer, the wife of former PBS news anchor and Wichita native Jim Lehrer, will serve as the ship’s sponsor. The ceremony will be highlighted by Lehrer breaking a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow to formally christen the ship, a time-honored Navy tradition. “The christening of the future USS Wichita brings this warship one step closer to joining our nation's growing fleet,” said the Honorable Ray Mabus, secretary of the Navy.

07 Jun 2016

New Great Lakes Icebreaker Nearing Reality

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw breaks ice in Whitefish Bay, Mich., in March 2009 (U.S. Coast Guard file photo by George Degener)

Plans for a second heavy icebreaker for service on the Great Lakes have taken another step toward reality with Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) including $2 million for initial survey and design work for a vessel that is at least as capable as the current icebreaker Mackinaw in the committee report on the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill. The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 had previously authorized a new heavy icebreaker for Lakes service. Senator Baldwin’s…

23 Jan 2015

Captains' Union Blasts McCain’s Keystone Amendment

International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots Asks: If Keystone is a “Jobs Bill” Why Would Congress Want to Send 400,000 Maritime Jobs in 26 States Overseas? S.1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act, has been described as a “jobs bill” by the pipeline’s proponents since Keystone XL was first proposed, but according to the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, a new amendment introduced by Arizona Sen. The Sea Captains’ Union claims the amendment would gut a significant part of the Jones Act, a set of laws dating back to the 1920s that has helped build and maintain a domestic shipbuilding industry. Maritime unions and maritime industry groups are now mobilizing against the amendment’s passage.

15 Dec 2014

Bill Introduced to Protect Great Lakes from Invasive Species

The Guarding Our Great Lakes Act, a bipartisan legislation designed to protect the Great Lakes from the threat of invasive Asian carp, has been introduced by U.S. Congressman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.). Additional cosponsors of the bill include Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Congresswoman Candice Miller (R-Mich.) and Congressman Gary Peters (D-Mich.). In 2012, Rep. Camp and Sen. Stabenow secured passage of the Stop Invasive Species Act, to expedite the Great Lakes Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) being conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, which was supposed to formulate a plan to prevent Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

30 Jun 2014

Bill Introduced to Assess Great Lakes Marine Sanctuaries

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, and four colleagues introduced legislation requiring a federal assessment of Great Lakes waters with significant cultural, historic or archaeological value for possible preservation as federal marine sanctuaries. The Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Assessment Act would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to submit to Congress a report and recommendations on possible Great Lakes sanctuaries. Today, the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary on Lake Huron near Alpena, Mich., which protects scores of historic shipwrecks, is the nation’s only freshwater federal sanctuary. Cosponsors are Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., a vice chair of the Great Lakes Task Force; Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Sen.

07 Feb 2014

Senators Seek Funding for Great Lakes Maintenance

Photo: Chad Scott

A bipartisan group of Great Lakes senators, led by Great Lakes Task Force co-chairs Sen. Carl Levin and Sen. Mark Kirk, wrote today to Army Corps of Engineers leaders, urging them to direct additional funding for harbor maintenance projects to reduce the backlog of projects in the Great Lakes. The letter, from members of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy and Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, asks that…

28 Aug 2007

Fairbanks Morse Engine Secures Funding

Fairbanks Morse Engine, an EnPro Industries company, will install low load upgrade kits on the LSD - 41/49 class of U.S. Navy ships following a $4 million federal spending plan secured by Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. The decision to upgrade the engines is based on a successful proof-of-concept trial of low load upgrade kits on the U.S.S. Oak Hill (LSD-51) for its Fairbanks Morse Opposed Piston (OP) engines that provide ship electrical service. Bay (WTGB 107). The upgrade kit extends the service life of the engines, while at the same time reducing emissions and lowering lube oil and fuel consumption rates. This technology will result in substantial cost savings and increased reliability for the U.S. Navy.