S.Amdt. 2479

1. Adds SEC. 3502. REPORT ON THE READY RESERVE FORCE OF THE MARITIME ADMINISTRATION at the end of title XXXV

   Adds a section

   In S. 1197 · Placed on Calendar Senate

   "(3) Training vessels.--Amounts may not be appropriated for the purchase or construction of training vessels for State maritime academies unless the Secretary has approved a plan for sharing training vessels between State maritime academies.".

   Inserted: SEC. 3502. REPORT ON THE READY RESERVE FORCE OF THE MARITIME ADMINISTRATION.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:

   Inserted: (1) It is in the interest of United States national security that the United States merchant marine, both ships and mariners, serve as a naval auxiliary in times of war or national emergency.

   Inserted: (2) It is important to augment the readiness of the United States merchant fleet with a Government-owned reserve fleet comprised of ships with national defense features that may not be available immediately in sufficient numbers or types in the active United States-owned, United States-flagged, and United States-crewed commercial industry.

   Inserted: (3) The Ready Reserve Force of the Maritime Administration, a component of the National Defense Reserve Fleet, plays an important role in United States national security by providing necessary readiness and efficiency in the form of a Government-owned sealift fleet.

   Inserted: (4) A successful dual-use vessel program could provide--

   Inserted: (A) private sector benefits for the domestic shipbuilding and maritime freight industries; and

   Inserted: (B) an opportunity to outfit vessels with natural gas engines, lowering long-term fuel costs and emissions.

   Inserted: (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--

   Inserted: (1) the United States should maintain a shipbuilding base to meet United States national security requirements;

   Inserted: (2) the Ready Reserve Force of the Maritime Administration should remain capable, modern, and efficient in order to best serve the national security needs of the United States in times of war or national emergency;

   Inserted: (3) Federal agencies should consider investment options for replacing aging vessels within the Ready Reserve Force to meet future operational commitments; and

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   Inserted: (4) investment in recapitalizing the Ready Reserve Force should include--

   Inserted: (A) construction of dual-use vessels, based on need, for use in the America's Marine Highway Program of the Department of Transportation, as a recent study performed under a cooperative agreement between the Maritime Administration and the Navy demonstrated that dual-use vessels transporting domestic freight between United States ports could be called upon to supplement sealift capacity;

   Inserted: (B) construction of tanker vessels to meet military transport needs; and

   Inserted: (C) construction of vessels for use in transporting potential new energy exports.

   Inserted: (c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of the Navy, jointly, shall submit to the congressional defense committees and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the cost-effectiveness of the recapitalizing methods for the Ready Reserve Force described under subsection (b)(4) that includes an assessment of the risks involved with Federal financing of dual-use vessels.

   Original wording

   At the end of title XXXV, add the following:

Read automatically from the Congressional Record. Check the original before relying on it.

As printed