Peter King News

The retirement of veteran Federal Maritime Commission senior executive Mr. Vern W. Hill, who has served as the Managing Director of the agency since 2013, has set in motion staff changes in three key offices. In consultation with his fellow Commissioners, Chairman Mario Cordero has appointed Ms. Karen V. Gregory to serve as the Commission’s Managing Director and Mr. Peter J. King to serve as the Deputy Managing Director. In their most immediate previous positions Ms. Gregory was the Secretary of the Federal Maritime Commission, while Mr. King was the Director of the Bureau of Enforcement. Both are members of the Senior Executive Service. Ms. Gregory and Mr. King begin their new roles today, September 1, 2016.

Last week, the Transportation Security Administration began nationwide implementation of a program that reforms the burdensome process by which mariners and other transportation workers receive required Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC). The TWIC OneVisit program eliminates the requirement that workers make two trips to a TWIC enrollment center to pick up and then activate their TWIC. Under the new, streamlined process, a mariner can apply for a TWIC at an enrollment center and opt to receive the credential by mail.

Six vessels and two individual mariners were recognized for courageous acts at sea at the 44th annual United Seamen's Service (USS) 2013 Admiral of the Ocean Sea Awards (AOTOS) attended by more than 700 guests at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel in New York City. The AUTOS award was presented to Philip W. J. Fisher, President of Chas. Kurz & Co; U. S. Representative Peter King, Republican of New York; and Emanuel Rouvelas, maritime attorney and partner at K & L Gates. The Honorable…

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) this week received the 2013 Champion of Maritime Award from the American Maritime Partnership (AMP), a group representing the domestic maritime industry in New York and across the United States. AMP provides the prestigious annual award to recognize an individual who has displayed extraordinary dedication to and consistent support for the American maritime industry. As a member and former chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, Rep.

The United Seamen's Service (USS) 2013 Admiral of the Ocean Sea Awards (AOTOS) will be presented to Philip W. J. Fisher, President of Chas. Kurz & Co; U. S. Representative Peter King, Republican of New York; and Emanuel Rouvelas, maritime attorney and partner at K & L Gates. The maritime industry's most prestigious awards will be presented at a gala industry dinner and dance to be held at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, New York City, on November 15, 2013. Recognition will also be given to American Seafarers for specific acts of bravery and heroism while at sea. In announcing the recipients, General Kenneth Wykle, USA(ret.), Chairman of the USS AOTOS Committee…

The fight against global piracy is as old as the seas themselves. Recent years have seen huge increases in pirate attacks against commercial shipping and, while the risk of piracy off East Africa is now believed to be somewhat diminished, the threat remains in the region and the cost to the global economy has been estimated to be as much as $6 billion by Oceans Beyond Piracy in their 2012 report. Piracy in West Africa and the South China Sea, meanwhile, is very much on the increase.

The House Homeland Security Committee today approved needed reforms to the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program that would eliminate financial and logistical burdens faced by transportation workers under this federal security program. The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) supports language in the Securing Maritime Activities through Risk-based Targeting Act, known as the SMART Port Security Act (H.R.4251), which would postpone requiring workers to renew TWIC cards in the absence of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) final regulations mandating biometric card readers. The bill also includes essential reforms to the enrollment, activation, issuance and renewal process.

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.

Annual funding to protect the perimeters of New York's and New Jersey's ports will be boosted nearly fourfold, the Department of Homeland Security was to announce Monday. The increase, from $6.6 million to $25.7 million, follows a public outcry sparked in June, when the agency decided to slash New York City's share of terror grants for cities by 40 percent, or $83 million. The new money is meant to help ports guard against attacks by land or sea but is not designed to pay for cargo screening or container inspections. The change in funding was confirmed Sunday by Rep. Peter King, R-Long Island, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee. In justifying their decision to cut New York's share, federal authorities said their review process found no national monuments or icons in the city.

Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee have postponed work on the fiscal 2007 Homeland Security Department authorization bill, prompting heated criticism from Democrats who say the move might undermine the committee's credibility and prevent the measure from being completed this year. According to a committee aide, Republican committee leaders say the delay is temporary while they work to pass a maritime security bill. All 15 Democrats on the panel fired off a letter Thursday to Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., opposing the move. The committee did the first-ever authorization bill for Homeland Security last year, which overwhelmingly passed out of the House by a 424-4 vote.