McCain’s amendment “would gut the nation’s shipbuilding capacity and have far reaching impacts across the nation.”
A Jones Act ship built at the Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, where Local 19 members are employed.
Amendment would have threatened jobs, national security
AN EFFORT BY Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to strip away protections for the American shipbuilding industry failed to get traction during Senate debate on Keystone XL Pipeline legislation in late January. McCain had offered an amendment to the Keystone bill seeking to scuttle the Jones Act, but the amendment was not brought up for a vote.
There was substantial opposition to the measure from organized labor, the shipbuilding industry and national defense experts. Many lawmakers also opposed McCain’s amendment, charging that it would risk thousands of jobs and negatively impact national security.
Congressmen Joe Courtney (D-CT 2nd) and Steven Palazzo (R-MS-4th), joined by 30 bipartisan House colleagues, sent a letter to the Senate leadership arguing against the amendment, saying it “would gut the nation’s shipbuilding capacity and have far reaching impacts across the nation.”
Established in 1920 as the Merchant Marine Act, the Jones Act requires that ships transporting goods and passengers between U.S. ports be built in the United States and crewed and owned by U.S. citizens. Thousands of Boilermaker members benefit from the act’s protections.
