Corrine Brown News

On November 8, speaking at the Port of New Orleans, President Obama said “… corn and wheat is coming down from my home state of Illinois down the river, ending up here and then going all around the world. This was a victory for the inland waterways industry because while the President has recognized ports, dams, levees, trains, trucks and other transportation infrastructure, he has not, heretofore, underscored the value of the inland waterways. The President’s recognition of the…

A big push for deeper water at Jacksonville's port has fallen short in the U.S. House of Representatives as the House Rules Committee voted against allowing the full House to consider an amendment offered by U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, that would have authorized a future 47-foot ship channel in Jacksonville, reports 'The Florida Times-Union' online. The rejection means when the full House begins debate soon on the Water Resources Development Act, there will be no chance of adding the deepened ship channel to the massive bill.

Working to create and preserve American jobs, Congressmen Elijah E. Cummings (D, MD-7) and Jeff Landry (R, LA-3) today introduced the American Mariners Job Protection Act (H.R. 3202), a bill with bipartisan support that will increase government transparency surrounding the issuance of waivers allowing non-Jones Act-qualified vessels to carry cargo between U.S. ports. Under current law, when the head of the agency responsible for the administration of the Jones Act believes it necessary to waive the Act’s requirements in the interest of national defense, the agency must request the Maritime Administration to assess whether Jones Act-qualified vessels are available to carry the cargo under consideration.

Bipartisan legislation that authorizes approximately $8 billion for the U.S. Coast Guard in Fiscal Year 2005, including $1.1 billion for the agency’s efforts to modernize its operational assets (Deepwater Project), was approved today by the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (H.R. * Rep. * Rep. * Rep. * Rep. * Rep. The bill was unanimously approved without amendment. The Senate recently passed H.R. 2443, the Committee’s FY 2004 Coast Guard Authorization legislation which the House passed last November. The Senate amended H.R. 2443 to include an FY 2005 authorization. Committee Members expect a conference on H.R. 2443 to begin soon and will work to include today’s legislation in the final Coast Guard package.

"Maritime Domain Awareness" is the new watchword for the maritime community. The discovery of a well equipped, suspected Al-Qa'eda member in a cargo container in Italy was one of the recent stark lessons in the vulnerability of maritime transportation security. In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard temporarily denied entry to the liquefied natural gas tanker Matthew to Boson for insufficient security and a crew member on another vessel who jumped ship in New Orleans was later found to have the telephone number of an Al-Qa'eda terrorist. Congress and the Executive branch are now turning their attention to improving seaport security in ways that could disrupt the movement of ships, freight, crews, and passengers and result in major operational changes for companies in the industry.

Bipartisan legislation that establishes a comprehensive national system to increase anti-terrorism security at U.S. ports and waterways was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on June 4. “The Maritime Transportation Antiterrorism Act of 2002” (H.R. 3983) was approved by a voice vote. - Rep. - Rep. - Rep. - Rep. The legislation approved by the House today also included the provisions from “The Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002” (H.R. 3507) which authorizes $5.9 billion for Coast Guard programs and operations during fiscal year 2002. H.R. 3507 was approved by the House in December 2001, but the Senate has continually refused to consider the bill.