[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3151 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3151
To support the national defense and economic security of the United
States by supporting vessels, ports, and shipyards of the United States
and the U.S. maritime workforce.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 1, 2025
Mr. Kelly of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Wittman, Mr.
Norcross, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Elfreth, Mr.
DesJarlais, Mr. McCormick, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Rutherford, Mr.
Gooden, Mr. LaLota, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Mr. Messmer, Mr.
Haridopolos, Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, Mr. Fields, Mr. Carter of
Louisiana, Mr. Deluzio, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Bera, Ms. Scanlon, Mr.
Harrigan, Mr. Golden of Maine, Mr. Bergman, Mr. Fallon, Mr. Van Orden,
Mr. Wied, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms.
Scholten, Mr. Moore of North Carolina, Mr. Strong, Mr. Luttrell, and
Mr. Zinke) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on
Transportation and Infrastructure, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce,
Foreign Affairs, Oversight and Government Reform, Education and
Workforce, Financial Services, the Judiciary, Natural Resources,
Science, Space, and Technology, and Veterans' Affairs, for a period to
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To support the national defense and economic security of the United
States by supporting vessels, ports, and shipyards of the United States
and the U.S. maritime workforce.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Shipbuilding and
Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security for America Act of
2025'' or the ``SHIPS for America Act of 2025''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Sense of Congress.
Sec. 4. Definitions.
TITLE I--OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Sec. 101. Maritime Security Advisor; Maritime Security Board.
Sec. 102. Maritime Transportation System National Advisory Committee.
Sec. 103. Direct hire authority; Authorization for administrative
expenses.
Sec. 104. Implementation plan.
Sec. 105. Federal Maritime Commission report on vessels of the United
States.
TITLE II--MARITIME SECURITY TRUST FUND
Sec. 201. Maritime Security Trust Fund established.
Sec. 202. Regular tonnage taxes.
Sec. 203. Presidential suspension of tonnage taxes and light money.
TITLE III--SEALIFT CAPABILITY
Sec. 301. Sealift capability.
Sec. 302. National Freight Strategic Plan.
Sec. 303. Foreign shipping practices; controlled carriers.
TITLE IV--VESSELS OF THE UNITED STATES IN INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE
Subtitle A--Strategic Sealift Programs
Sec. 401. Strategic Commercial Fleet.
Sec. 402. Fleet testing and briefing requirement.
Sec. 403. Assessment of undersea cable repair contingencies.
Sec. 404. Modification to duties relating to equipment and repair of
vessels.
Subtitle B--Cargo Preference
Sec. 411. United States Government cargo.
Sec. 412. Cargo preference implementation regulations.
Sec. 413. Cargo preference oversight and audit.
Sec. 414. Financing the transportation of agricultural products and
other cargo.
Sec. 415. Importation from China on American ships.
Sec. 416. Priority for vessels of the United States.
Sec. 417. Moving cargo on vessels of the United States.
Sec. 418. Transportation requirements for certain exports sponsored by
the Secretary of Agriculture.
Sec. 419. Clarifying amendments.
Sec. 420. Energizing American shipbuilding.
Sec. 421. Goods imported on vessels of the United States.
Sec. 422. Ship America Office.
Subtitle C--Regulatory Reform
Sec. 431. Alternate standards.
Sec. 432. Rulemaking committee on commercial maritime regulations and
standards.
Sec. 433. Amendments to Shipowners' Limitation of Liability Act of
1851.
TITLE V--SHIPBUILDING
Subtitle A--Shipbuilding Financial Incentives
Sec. 501. Shipbuilding financial incentives.
Sec. 502. Assistance for small shipyards.
Sec. 503. Federal Ship Financing (title XI) Program.
Sec. 504. Construction Reserve Fund.
Sec. 505. Capital Construction Fund.
Sec. 506. Anticipated commercial vessel construction survey.
Sec. 507. Streamlined environmental review.
Sec. 508. Eligibility for loan guarantees.
Sec. 509. Reports.
Sec. 510. Export control report.
Subtitle B--Department of Defense Programs
Sec. 511. Assessment of the use of commercial best practices for Navy
shipbuilding.
Sec. 512. Plan of action for use of Defense Production Act of 1950
authorities.
Sec. 513. Military Sealift Command.
Subtitle C--Shipbuilding Innovation and Infrastructure
Sec. 521. United States Center for Maritime Innovation.
Sec. 522. National Shipbuilding Research Program.
Sec. 523. Assessment on maritime infrastructure readiness.
TITLE VI--WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Subtitle A--Workforce Incentives
Sec. 601. Public service loan forgiveness for Merchant Marines.
Sec. 602. Eligibility for educational assistance.
Sec. 603. Eligibility of mariners to attend Naval Postgraduate School.
Sec. 604. Reimbursement of qualifying spouse relicensing costs and
business costs.
Sec. 605. Noncompetitive eligibility for Federal employment.
Sec. 606. United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program.
Subtitle B--Workforce Pipeline
Sec. 611. Maritime workforce promotion and recruitment.
Sec. 612. Centers of Excellence for Domestic Maritime Workforce
Training and Education.
Sec. 613. Maritime Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee.
Sec. 614. Military candidates to Mariner Careers Recruitment Exchange.
Sec. 615. Maritime worker data collection.
Sec. 616. Military to maritime transition.
Sec. 617. Early maritime education and youth involvement.
Sec. 618. International scholarship for mariner and naval architecture
exchanges.
Subtitle C--United States Merchant Marine Academy and State Maritime
Academies
Sec. 621. Authorization of appropriations for United States Merchant
Marine Academy infrastructure and
facilities modernization.
Sec. 622. United States Merchant Marine Academy.
Sec. 623. Retirement service credit for service as a midshipman at the
United States Merchant Marine Academy.
Sec. 624. State maritime academies.
Sec. 625. Enforcement of service obligation requirements.
Sec. 626. Fuel funding for training ships operated by State maritime
academies.
Sec. 627. State Maritime Academy Sea Term Scholarship Programs.
Sec. 628. Naval joint exercise involvement for training ships operated
by State maritime academies.
Subtitle D--Maritime Credentialing Modernization
Sec. 631. Merchant mariner credentialing modernization.
Sec. 632. Revising merchant mariner deck training requirements.
Sec. 633. Inspections for transportation security.
Sec. 634. Renewal of merchant mariner licenses and documents.
Sec. 635. Merchant seamen licenses, certificates, and documents;
manning of vessels.
Sec. 636. Reactivation of expired license.
TITLE VII--AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986
Sec. 701. United States Vessel Investment credit.
Sec. 702. Certain payments for maritime security excluded from gross
income.
Sec. 703. Elimination of 30-day limitation on domestic operations.
Sec. 704. Qualifying shipping activities.
Sec. 705. Qualifying vessel.
Sec. 706. Credit for construction of shipyard facilities.
Sec. 707. Tax incentives relating to merchant marine capital
construction funds.
Sec. 708. Exemption of student incentive payment agreements from gross
income.
Sec. 709. Maritime fuel tax parity.
Sec. 710. Treatment of maritime prosperity zones as opportunity zones.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Strategic sealift, made up of Government and commercial
vessels and mariners, is a critical capability for executing
the maritime defense strategy and the wartime and peacetime
economy of the United States.
(2) Ensuring a modern and ready capability will require
significant investment, policy prioritization, and the
innovation of the people of the United States.
(3) The worldwide ocean economy is worth between
$3,000,000,000,000 and $6,000,000,000,000, according to the
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Yet,
vessels of the United States carry less than 2 percent of
United States international commercial cargoes by weight.
(4) The United States has fewer than 200 oceangoing vessels
of the United States, of which only approximately 80 vessels
participate in international commerce, compared with more than
5,500 Chinese documented vessels.
(5) Bracketed by the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans,
the prosperity and security of the United States has always
been tied to its position as a maritime Nation. Throughout
human history, the strength of maritime nations has been
directly tied to the strength of their maritime industry. The
United States won two world wars on the back of a strong
maritime industry.
(6) Decades of apathy by the United States Government has
harmed our strategically important maritime industry. Our
weakened shipbuilding capacity, undersized maritime workforce,
and shrinking fleet of shipping vessels means the United States
relies on other nations to conduct international commerce and
lacks the strategic sealift to support the United States
military during wartime.
(7) Today, there are just 20 shipbuilders in the United
States capable of building oceangoing vessels--down from more
than 80 at the end of the Second World War.
(8) During World War II, the United States Merchant Marine
powered the Allies to victory with more than 10,000 oceangoing
vessels of the United States. Today there are just 80 vessels
of the United States engaged in international trade.
(9) The People's Republic of China has made investments in
the maritime industry a strategic priority over the past 20
years.
(10) As of 2023, shipyards in the United States had fewer
than 5 shipbuilding orders for oceangoing vessels, while
shipyards in the People's Republic of China had more than 1,700
orders, according to BRS Group. According to the Office of
Naval Intelligence, the People's Republic of China became the
world's top shipbuilding and shipping nation, boasting 230
times more shipbuilding capacity than the United States.
(11) With just 12,000 United States merchant mariners
operating oceangoing vessels, the United States may not have a
sufficient number of mariners to fully power the strategic
sealift vessels necessary in a future prolonged conflict.
(12) The American Civil Society of Engineers assesses that
the United States has a national maintenance backlog amounting
to $125,000,000,000 for bridges, $163,000,000,000 for ports,
and $6,800,000,000 for inland waterways.
(13) The maritime industry is inherently international.
Eighty percent of United States goods are imported by sea, of
which 98 percent come into the United States on foreign
documented vessels. Only 2 percent of such goods come into the
United States on vessels of the United States, leaving the
United States economy disproportionately dependent on
oceangoing trade controlled by often adversarial foreign
nations. The Nation's ability to provide services in both
international and interstate commerce is critical to national
and economic defense.
(14) Since November 2023, vessels engaged in international
commerce have been threatened by the Houthis, which has
threatened global supply chains, increased costs, and required
naval force protection operations in the Red Sea through the
United States-led Operation Prosperity Guardian that formed in
December 2023.
(15) A fleet of commercial shipping vessels of the United
States, crewed with citizen mariners, that is competitive in
domestic and international trade enhances the United States
military's readiness, allows the United States to more
strategically compete with China, and underwrites the security
and survival of the United States in times of crisis and war.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the United States must--
(1) create a more favorable domestic and global maritime
environment for vessels of the United States engaged in
international commerce, shipbuilding, ship repair, maritime
logistics, the maritime workforce, and naval power,
contributing to assured access to the world's oceans free from
coercion from strategic competitors and asymmetric adversaries;
(2) increase domestic shipbuilding and ship repair
capacity, with programs and policies that enable the growth of
United States shipyards and the maritime industrial base,
enhance military sealift capacity, expand the United States
maritime workforce, and enhance national security;
(3) revitalize the international fleet of vessels of the
United States and foster a comparative advantage for the United
States through targeted incentives and regulatory reforms to
make the fleet competitive with international carriers and to
gain a sustainable share of the global maritime market in order
to bolster supply chains, strengthen economic security, and
lower prices, while protecting the United States economy from
economic coercion;
(4) take all measures necessary to ensure that sufficient
military, civil, and commercial resources will be available
with assured access to meet defense deployment needs and
essential economic activities for our Nation in times of
crisis, war, or peace;
(5) recognize that a vibrant commercial shipbuilding
industry provides supply chain resiliencies and creates
economies of scale that improve military, Coast Guard, and
Government shipbuilding and support military operations through
strategic sealift to defend the freedom of the seas;
(6) nurture the comparative advantages of the United States
to innovate to better compete in the global maritime
marketplace, grow the maritime workforce, and create a
favorable environment for investments to build modern maritime
facilities and world-class academic institutions;
(7) ensure better coordination between Federal agencies,
including the Maritime Administration, the United States Coast
Guard, the Department of Defense, the Federal Maritime
Commission, and all other Federal agencies with a maritime
nexus, to protect, regulate, and support the United States
maritime industry, resolve disputes, and implement a whole-of-
Government national maritime strategy;
(8) recognize that, while a strong Navy is the surest
guarantee of peace, building the Navy, sustaining the Navy, and
supplying the Navy is founded on a robust commercial industrial
base;
(9) establish reliable long-term demand signals for, and
investments in, oceangoing commercial vessels that are built in
the United States, documented under the laws of the United
States, and crewed by United States mariners;
(10) evaluate past and present maritime efforts to take
actions to revitalize the United States maritime industry;
(11) strengthen the United States intercoastal and domestic
trade fleet, which is the foundation upon which a revitalized
United States-documented shipping and domestic shipbuilding
industry will be built;
(12) recognize the important role that the support craft,
passenger, and fishing vessel fleet play in the United States
maritime industry;
(13) encourage the shipping of commercial cargo on vessels
of the United States, with the aim of growing the size and
carrying capacity of the international fleet of vessels of the
United States;
(14) grow the shipping capacity of vessels of the United
States and guarantee United States Government cargo during
peacetime;
(15) develop a whole-of-Government effort to expand,
develop, and protect the maritime workforce;
(16) recognize the need for more workers in the maritime
sector and stimulate growth in the United States maritime and
shipbuilding industries, including by increasing access to
early maritime education, commissioning national marketing
campaigns to demonstrate how United States shipbuilding, United
States-documented shipping, and maritime workers are critical
to national security, and implementing workforce accelerator
programs;
(17) remove barriers to training mariners, including
reevaluating Coast Guard training requirements regarding
faculty credentials, instructional facility designs, sea time
requirements, and other identified barriers, consistent with
international treaty obligations;
(18) expand and nurture a robust mariner workforce that
enhances the national security and strategic sealift readiness
of the United States by increasing the number of United States
mariners and improving existing pathways and establishing new
pathways for new, current, and former merchant mariners to go
to sea;
(19) recognize that the United States Merchant Marine
Academy and our State maritime academies are critical to
training the next generation