Page 22: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 1984)

AWO (continued from page 23) third of construction costs of seven projects through the trust fund.

AWO will be further exploring this proposal, which, if modified, could be a breakthrough for poten- tial Senate floor action.

While AWO's membership sup- ports enactment of omnibus water resources legislation this year, it does not support imposition of higher user fees as a quid pro quo.

Other Legislation Affecting the

Barge and Towing Industry

AWO support amendments to the Staggers Act to more ade- quately protect water carriers against rail predatory pricing practices. The Association testified last summer during Senate Sur- face Transportation Subommittee

Staggers Act oversight hearings and submitted written comments to the House Subcommittee on

Commerce, Transportation and

Tourism. On June 29 of this vear,

Sen. John C. Danforth (D-MO),

Senate Surface Transportation

Subcommittee chairman, intro- duced S. 2837 which would give standing to water carriers to chal- lenge rail contracts on the basis that they are predatory or other- wise anti-competitive and to re- quire the ICC, in regulating the rail industry, to be guided by a policy that clearly prohibits anti- competitive or predatory pricing and practices.

AWO has been meeting with shipper groups who are concerned that the Interstate Commerce

Commission is half hearted in its implementation of the Staggers

Act to address railroad abuses of the Act. A strong united front call- ing for Staggers Act reform in the next Congress is now being organized.

Additionally, AWO will con- tinue to oppose efforts to ease pro- hibitions against rail ownership of water carriers, prohibitions which have been in force since enact- ment of the Panama Canal Act of 1912. The proposed acquisition of

American Commercial Barge Line by CSX Corporation is the great- est threat to the survival of an in- dependent barge industry and to the ability of shippers to enjoy competition in transportation (see map).

Longshore Act Amendments

Another major legislative prior- ity for the Association is enact- ment of amendments to the Long- shoremen's and Harbor Workers'

Compensation Act. Details of this proposal are covered in the AWSC report, elsewhere in this issue.

Jones Act

AWO has always opposed legis- lative and regulatory efforts to un- dermine the Jones Act, which is the cornerstone of U.S. maritime tradition. The major battle which

AWO and AWSC has been in- volved in during this Congress is legislation to re-flag two foreign- built passenger ships so that these vessels can compete in the domes- tic coastwide trade. The House

Merchant Marine and Fisheries

Committee twice approved differ- ent versions of this proposal, both introduced by Rep. Clay Shaw, with House Merchant Marine Sub- committee Chairman Mario

Biaggi as the leading proponent of this effort on the basis of jobs it will create in the maritime indus- try. (Once these vessels are re- flagged, the crews must be U.S. citizens.)

Companion legislation intro- duced by Sen. Ted Stevens was narrowly defeated in the Senate

Commerce Committee by one vote.

Because House parliamentary rules made it virtually impossible to bring this bill to the House floor, supporters were successful in attaching a revised version to FY 85 defense authorization legisla- tion as a national defense "troop transport" amendment. The Sen- ate Defense Authorization bill contains no comparable provision; a House-Senate conference will de- termine whether the amendment survives. Meanwhile, both propo-

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Circle 145 on Reader Service Card Circle 146 on Reader Service Card 24