Sec. 3503. SENSE OF CONGRESS

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## SEC. 3503 SENSE OF CONGRESS ###

(a)Findings Congress finds the following: ####

(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. ####

(2)The readiness of the United States merchant fleet should be augmented by 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. ####

(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. ###

(b)Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— ####

(1)maintaining a United States shipbuilding base is critical to meeting United States national security requirements; ####

(2)it is of vital importance that the Ready Reserve Force of the Maritime Administration remains capable, modern, and efficient in order to best serve the national security needs of the United States in times of war or national emergency; ####

(3)Federal agencies must consider investment options for replacing aging vessels within the Ready Reserve Force to meet future operational commitments; ####

(4)investment in recapitalizing the Ready Reserve Force may include— #####

(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; #####

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

(C)construction of vessels for use in transporting potential new energy exports; and ####

(5)the Department of Transportation, in consultation with the Navy, should pursue the most cost-effective means of recapitalizing the Ready Reserve Force, including by promoting the building of new vessels that are militarily useful and commercially viable.