When Congress moved to increase funding for the United States Coast Guard, the American maritime industry spoke up in support, and Transportation Institute helped lead the way.
The letter
The American Maritime Partnership, the largest legislative coalition in the history of the U.S. maritime industry, sent a formal letter of support to the leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee thanking them for their efforts to secure increased Coast Guard funding. AMP represents shipping companies, shipyards, maritime labor, and pro-defense organizations from across the country, and Transportation Institute’s own Sara Fuentes serves as the coalition’s Vice President.
The letter’s argument is one TI has made for decades: the reason for the Jones Act, and for a strong domestic maritime industry, is American security in every sense of the word. National security. Economic security. Border security. Supply chain security. And the Coast Guard sits at the center of all of it, from enforcing the Jones Act on our waters to safeguarding the ports and waterways that carry the nation’s commerce.
Why it matters
The men and women of the Coast Guard are the American maritime industry’s everyday partners. They inspect our vessels, credential our mariners, respond when things go wrong, and keep watch over the waters where our fleet operates. A well-resourced Coast Guard is not an abstraction for this industry; it is the difference between a marine transportation system that is secure and resilient and one that is not.
That is why the industry, through AMP, put its collective voice behind this funding, and why Transportation Institute is proud to be part of that coalition. [Optional: add a line noting the funding was ultimately enacted; TI to confirm final outcome and figures before publishing.]
Read the full letter: https://transportation.house.gov/uploadedfiles/amp_los.pdf