00                         HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 7                                                                         
01 Supporting the repeal of the Jones Act.                                                                                 
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:                                                                         
03 WHEREAS 46 U.S.C. 55102 (sec. 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920),                                                 
04 commonly known as the Jones Act, is a federal cabotage law that restricts the surface carriage                          
05 of cargo by water between coastwise points in the United States to vessels that are built,                              
06 flagged, owned, and crewed by the United States; and                                                                    
07       WHEREAS the requirements of the Jones Act dramatically increase the cost to                                     
08 purchase, staff, and maintain shipping vessels; and                                                                     
09       WHEREAS the high cost of constructing shipping vessels in the United States                                     
10 diminishes the size of the United States shipping fleet, increases its age, increases fuel costs                        
11 caused by age, increases maintenance costs caused by age, and increases crewing costs caused                            
12 by age and a lack of automation; and                                                                                    
13 WHEREAS other modes of domestic transportation in the United States are permitted                                     
14 to use equipment made by foreign manufacturers for commercial operation without                                         
15 restriction, including aircraft, railroad cars and locomotives, trucks, automobiles, and mass                           
16 transit vehicles; and                                                                                                   

01       WHEREAS both the United States commercial shipbuilding industry and domestic                                    
02 shipping fleet have experienced significant declines under Jones Act protectionism; and                                 
03 WHEREAS a 2013 report issued by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with                                        
04 Bain and Company and the World Bank described the Jones Act as the "most restrictive                                    
05 example" of a cabotage law and that "such barriers actually damage local economies and                                  
06 saddle businesses and consumers with significant costs"; and                                                            
07       WHEREAS, because of the high cost of domestic transport, the Jones Act has been                                 
08 cited as a key factor behind United States refineries choosing to purchase Russian oil instead                          
09 of domestic supplies; and                                                                                               
10 WHEREAS, because of the total lack of gas tankers compliant with the Jones Act that                                   
11 are needed to transport liquefied natural gas domestically, New England and Puerto Rico must                            
12 import liquefied natural gas; and                                                                                       
13 WHEREAS numerous useful types of vessels, including gas tankers, livestock                                            
14 carriers, and heavy-lift vessels, do not exist in the fleet qualified under the Jones Act; and                          
15 WHEREAS the high cost of Jones Act transport and the lack of appropriate vessel                                       
16 types serve as a barrier to commerce within the United States and discourage domestic supply                            
17 chains; and                                                                                                             
18 WHEREAS, in retaliation for the refusal of the United States to modify the Jones Act                                  
19 and open its domestic shipping and shipbuilding markets, United States trading partners                                 
20 restrict their markets to United States exports; and                                                                    
21 WHEREAS the high costs associated with the Jones Act have many domestic                                               
22 businesses using the nation's highways and rail systems to transport goods to various markets,                          
23 leading to increased wear and tear on the nation's roadways and railways, increased                                     
24 maintenance costs on roadways and railways, increased fuel consumption, and increased                                   
25 vehicle congestion on the nation's roadways; and                                                                        
26 WHEREAS a repeal of the Jones Act would allow domestic businesses to realize cost                                     
27 savings by using the nation's waterways as a safer and easier method of transporting goods to                           
28 market, would reduce the number of vehicles on the nation's highways, and would permit                                  
29 goods to arrive to markets in a more timely fashion; and                                                                
30 WHEREAS the Jones Act was adopted before Alaska statehood with no true                                                
31 representation for Alaska in Congress and was sponsored by former United States Senator                                 

01 Wesley Jones of Washington for the benefit of Washington state and to the detriment of                                  
02 Alaska; and                                                                                                             
03       WHEREAS a primary purpose of the Jones Act was to give Washington state a                                       
04 monopoly on shipping lines to Alaska;                                                                                   
05       BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives urges the United States                                        
06 Congress to consider repealing the Jones Act.                                                                           
07 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President                                   
08 of the United States; the Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                        
09 Representatives; the Honorable Steve Scalise, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of                                      
10 Representatives; the Honorable Pete Buttigieg, United States Secretary of Transportation; and                           
11 the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the                                     
12 Honorable Mary Peltola, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.