Page 32: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2004)

65'" Anniversary Edition vided the basis upon which enormous investments have been made by U.S. domestic maritime industry owners and operators. For all these reasons, no issue is more important to the American maritime industry than assuring that the integrity of the Jones Act remains intact.

The Jones Act has withstood several challenges in the past few years. In 1995. the Jones Act Reform Coalition (JARC) was established to promote the elimination of the Jones Act. In response, the Maritime Cabotage Task

Force (MCTF) was formed to bring together vessel operators, shipyards, and labor unions in an effort to defend U.S. cabotage laws. Despite an aggressive public relations campaign, the JARC failed to achieve a weakening of the

Jones Act and the JARC is now disband- ed. A new threat emerged in the form of a challenge to the U.S.-citizen owner- ship requirements of the Jones Act when foreign vessel owners tried to exploit a 1996 statutory change to the lease financing provisions of the Jones Act.

The MCTF. of which AWO is a Board member, has worked vigorously to close the loophole by which foreign vessel owners were trying to gain access to the

Jones Act trade. Other challenges to the

Jones Act continue to exist in interna- tional trade negotiations. In a post-9/11 world, the Jones Act seems even more relevant, and with the bipartisan support it has enjoyed from U.S. Presidents and

Members of Congress, it is hoped that it will continue to be recognized for its vital importance to U.S. homeland secu- rity, economic and environmental inter- ests.

Infrastructure — Maintenance and

Modernization

Proper maintenance and moderniza- tion of U.S. ports and waterways infra- structure is a critical issue for the towing industry and vital to America's economy, environment, and quality of life. Locks and dams that were built in the 1930s have outlived their useful lives and are in many cases crumbling, causing costly delays for the industry and negatively impacting the economy. Since barges carry over 50 percent of America's export grain, inefficiencies caused by poor infrastructure affect America's position as breadbasket to the world and erode American farmers' ability to get their products to market in the most affordable way. The system is aging while demands on it are growing. The

U.S. Department of Transportation has projected that demand for waterways transportation will double by 2020, making a world-class ports and water- ways infrastructure more important than ever. At the same time, the maintenance and modernization of the system is under attack from well-funded, vocal opponents who oppose these projects - from modernizing the 60-year old locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi

River to dredging in coastal ports and harbors, to maintenance of the dams on the Columbia/Snake river system in the

Northwest -- and misunderstand the projects' fundamental value to the nation.

Inland towing vessel operators pay more than $100 million a year into the

Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) to pay for 50 percent of all capital con- struction and major rehabilitation on the inland waterways system. The IWTF currently has a $400 million surplus.

Support for a modern, well-maintained waterways infrastructure is a priority for

AWO, which coordinates with other

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