Lawmakers to Biden: Prioritize U.S. maritime

Image: Architect of the Capitol

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Senator Mark Kelly (D.-Ariz) and Rep. Mike Walz (R. Fla), have written President Biden urging him to prioritize U.S. maritime and strengthen U.S. maritime power at a moment when China is extending its influence in the South China Sea and the Houthis are attacking shipping in the Red Sea.

Significantly, the letter is not just another call for more Navy ships.

Kelly, a U.S. Merchant Marine Academy graduate and 25-year Navy veteran, and Walz, a combat-decorated Green Beret, have been joined by a group of 17 bipartisan, bicameral lawmakers in calling on the president to establish an interagency maritime policy director, designate maritime infrastructure as “critical infrastructure,” invoke the Defense Production Act for shipbuilding, and develop a whole-of-government maritime “de-risking” strategy to reduce dependency on Chinese maritime infrastructure and industry.

“U.S. maritime infrastructure is aging, including in our naval and commercial shipyards, which once produced the world’s finest ships. We have allowed the U.S. flagged international trading fleet to decline precipitously, underinvesting in our Merchant Marine and maritime workforce to man our ships and shipyards,” the lawmakers point out in their call to prioritize U.S. maritime.

The letter also highlights America’s strong maritime tradition and that changing the trajectory of our shipbuilding and shipping industries won’t be quick after years of neglect.

They continue, “We stand at an inflection point. We must act now—before it is too late—to reinvigorate American and allied maritime power on the seas.”

Co-signers of Kelly and Waltz’s letter are Senators John Boozman (R.-Ariz), John Cornyn (R.-Texas), Tammy Duckworth (D.-Ill), Marco Rubio (R.-Fla.), and Rick Scott (R.-Fla.), along with Representatives James R. Baird (R.-Ind.), Jack Bergman (R.-Mich.), Byron Donalds (R.-Fla.), Neal P. Dunn (R.-Fla.), Brad Finstad (R.-Minn.), C. Scott Franklin (R.-Fla.), John Garamendi (D.-Calif), Nick LaLota (R.-N.Y.), Doug Lamborn (R.-Colo.), Richard McCormick (R.-Ga.), James C. Moylan (R.-Guam), John H. Rutherford (R.-Fla.).

• Read the letter to President Biden HERE