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Code · BILL · 118th Congress · S. 5611 (Introduced in Senate) — To support the national defense and economic security of the United States by supporting vessels, ports, and shipyard... · Sec. 301

Sec. 301. Sealift capability

1,775 words·~8 min read·/bill/118/s/5611/is/section-301·

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Subtitle V of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: Sec. 59101. Objectives and policy. 59102. Procurement, maintenance, and operation. 59103. Sealift prioritization. 59104. International agreements. 59105. Briefing on shipbuilding capacity. 59106. Briefing on privileging fleet. 59107. Report on privilege. 59108. Report on requirements for sealift force deployment. 59109. Assessment on marine infrastructure readiness. It is necessary for the national defense and economic security of the United States that the United States have a fleet of vessels of the United States capable of providing and supporting strategic sealift— sufficient to meet defense deployment and essential economic activities for the United States in times of crisis or war; sufficient to respond unilaterally to national security threats in geographic areas not covered by alliance commitments and ensure economic security resilience for United States trade; and built, operated, and maintained during peace, crisis, and war primarily in the United States to protect and ensure national security resiliency and avoid foreign coercion of critical supply chains.
It is the policy of the United States to encourage and aid the development and maintenance of a fleet of vessels of the United States with strategic sealift capabilities satisfying the objectives described in subsection (a). The Maritime Security Board shall annually develop a strategy to leverage the financial assistance programs established under part C of this subtitle to expand the fleet of vessels of the United States to meet the minimum number of vessels needed to accomplish the objectives described under subsection (a).
The strategy developed by the Maritime Security Board shall include— annual goals for the number of vessels that will be brought into the fleet of vessels of the United States capable of providing strategic sealift utilizing the Maritime Security Fleet under chapter 531 of this title, the Cable Security Fleet under chapter 532 of this title, the Tanker Security Fleet under chapter 534 of this title, the Strategic Commercial Fleet under chapter 536 of this title, and the Shipbuilding Financial Incentives program, consistent with the most recent Mobility Capability Requirements Study produced by United States Transportation Command; and an assessment of domestic shipbuilding capacity and a strategy to increase the capacity of the domestic shipbuilding industry utilizing the Shipbuilding Financial Incentives program.
The strategy developed by the Maritime Security Board under paragraph
(1)shall be consistent with the National Maritime Strategy developed under section 50114. Upon completion, the Maritime Security Board shall transmit to the appropriate committees of Congress a summary of the strategy developed under subsection (c), with a classified annex as necessary. In this part, the term appropriate committees of Congress has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the SHIPS for America Act of 2024 . The Maritime Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall build, acquire, maintain, coordinate, support, and operate a sufficient and privileged fleet of vessels of the United States with commercial and military sealift capability. In developing sealift capability under this part, the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Defense shall continue to operate a sufficient Maritime Security Fleet under chapter 531 of this title, a Cable Security Fleet under chapter 532 of this title, a Tanker Security Fleet under chapter 534 of this title, the Strategic Commercial Fleet under chapter 536 of this title, a Military Sealift Command of the Department of the Navy, and a Ready Reserve Force component of the National Defense Reserve Fleet under section 57100 of this title, to provide capacity and resiliency for unilateral United States strategic sealift in peace, crisis, and war. No court shall have jurisdiction to review decisions made by the Maritime Administrator, the Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to this section. In building, acquiring, maintaining, coordinating, supporting, and operating a fleet of vessels capable of providing sealift capacity during wartime and crisis, the Maritime Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall ensure the availability of vessels, in the following order of priority: Commercial vessels of the United States. Vessels of the United States that are owned and operated by the United States Government. Vessels of countries that are defense treaty allies of the United States. Vessels of countries that are strategic partners of the United States. No court shall have jurisdiction to review decisions made by the Maritime Administrator or the Secretary of Defense with respect to this section. To support the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Transportation in building, acquiring, maintaining, coordinating, supporting, and operating a fleet with sealift capability under this part, the Maritime Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, shall identify opportunities to establish and update agreements with treaty allies and strategic partners of the United States to— meet wartime sealift requirements of such allies and partners; augment the strategic sealift capabilities of the United States during crisis and war; and support the maritime industries of both the United States and treaty allies and strategic partners. Not later than March 1, 2025, the Maritime Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, shall provide to Congress an evaluation of the status of agreements described in subsection (a), including— an assessment of international agreements described in such subsection and recommendations for updating such agreements to reflect the global security environment; and an assessment of the extent to which such international agreements include the vessels owned by citizens of these treaty allies and strategic partners. Not later than March 1, 2025, the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Defense shall brief the appropriate committees of Congress on the capacity of the United States shipbuilding industry to meet peacetime and wartime requirements to build, maintain, and repair a fleet of vessels of the United States capable of providing strategic sealift. In briefing the appropriate committees of Congress under subsection (a), the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Defense shall include an assessment and recommendations for improving the critical shipbuilding infrastructure, workforce recruitment, development, and retention, and critical supply chains and critical repair parts of the United States, including ways in which allies and partners can contribute or share best practices. The Maritime Security Advisor shall, in addition to the assessment under paragraph (1), provide an assessment on the effects of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 ( Public Law 99–433 ) and how implementation of such Act may affect shipbuilding processes of the Department of the Navy. Not later than March 1, 2025, the Secretary of Transportation, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Federal Maritime Commission, shall brief the appropriate committees of Congress on available options for establishing privileges for vessels of the United States operating in foreign commerce. In briefing Congress under subsection (a), the Secretary of Transportation shall provide recommendations for potential incentives for civil, commercial, and government entities, including allies and partners, to ship goods on vessels of the United States. Not later than March 1, 2025, the Secretary of Transportation, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, the Chair of the Federal Maritime Commission, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report including ways to ensure vessels of the United States operating in foreign commerce are privileged in regulation, taxation, fees, insurance, and policy compared to foreign vessels conducting trade with a United States domiciled entity, while remaining consistent with the international obligations of the United States. In submitting the report under subsection (a), the Secretary of Transportation shall include options for regulating trade with foreign vessels in order to sustain and grow the Maritime Security Fleet under chapter 531 of this title, the Cable Security Fleet under chapter 532 of this title, the Tanker Security Fleet under chapter 534 of this title, the Strategic Commercial Fleet under chapter 536 of this title, and other vessels of the United States operating in foreign commerce. Not later than March 1, 2025, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report— on the military sealift requirements of the Armed Forces of the United States; and in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, containing recommendations for how to maintain, improve, or expand the Maritime Security Fleet under chapter 531 of this title, the Cable Security Fleet under chapter 532 of this title, the Tanker Security Fleet under chapter 534 of this title, the Strategic Commercial Fleet under chapter 536 of this title, and the Ready Reserve Force component of the National Defense Reserve Fleet under section 57100 of this title, to meet the military sealift needs of the United States. The report under subsection
(a)shall include an assessment of, and recommendations for how to enable, making the Ready Reserve Force component of the National Defense Reserve Fleet under section 57100 of this title active in trade through a public-private partnership that enables financing, building, manning, operating, maintaining, and repairing the vessels of such Fleet, while guaranteeing assured effective control and surge capacity in times of crisis or war. Not later than March 1, 2026, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce, and Transportation shall provide the appropriate committees of Congress an assessment on— the readiness and sufficiency of the marine infrastructure, shipping industry, and shipbuilding industry of the United States, and vessels of the United States, to meet the economic and national security strategic sealift needs of the United States and operate in a contested environment; the vulnerability of the economy of the United States to coercion or control from strategic competitors of the United States through the ocean-going trades; and critical infrastructure and cybersecurity vulnerabilities in— the maritime transportation system of the United States, including ports, shipyards, repair yards, inland waterways, and vessels of the United States; and foreign investment in marine infrastructure; and how to reduce the risks of such vulnerabilities. Not later than March 1, 2026, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary of State shall provide the appropriate committees of Congress an assessment on— arrangements and agreements between the United States and countries that are defense treaty allies for access to the global marine transportation infrastructure, such as ports, harbors, and waterways; and assurances, arrangements, and agreements between the United States and countries that are defense treaty allies to augment United States sealift capabilities in times of crisis and war. . The table of chapters for subtitle V of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: Part H—Strategic Sealift .
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  • Pub. L. 99-433
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Sec. 301
Sealift capability
Pub. L.Pub. L. 99-433
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