One Hawai‘i representative broke with the rest of the Democratic party Monday to vote against a bill he says would exacerbate the impacts of the Jones Act on the state.
Rep. Ed Case, who represents urban Honolulu, was one of only two Democrats to vote against the “American Cargo for American Ships” Act on Monday.
The Democrat-authored bill requires that any equipment or material purchased or financed by the Department of Transportation to be shipped on commercial vessels flying a U.S. flag.
Currently, the law requires only a minimum percentage of such cargo to use U.S.-flagged vessels; typically that percentage is 50%.
While the bill’s introducer, Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA), told Congress Monday that the bill will strengthen the U.S. Merchant Marine and maintain the country’s economic viability in the international market, Case disagreed.
In comments to Aloha State Daily, Case said the bill is already too similar to the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 — also called the Jones Act — which he has battled for years. Among other things, the Jones Act requires that all cargo transported between U.S. ports be on U.S.-flagged ships, which, Case has argued, creates shipping monopolies that inflate the cost of imported goods to Hawai‘i and other Pacific U.S. territories.
“First, this simply strengthens the monopoly position of the Jones Act shippers who are artificially driving up the already high cost of living for Hawai’i,” Case said via email. “Second, there is no way we can provide for all of our domestic shipping needs … off of Jones Act domestic shipping alone.”
“Third, we should instead authorize the assistance of our friends and allies such as Japan and South Korea, who have world-class ship building, maintenance and operations, to assist with our domestic shipping needs, and at a cost that is multiples below what our Jones Act monopoly shippers are charging,” Case concluded.
However, the House evidently disagreed, passing the bill 373-14. Case was joined in opposition by only one other Democrat, Massachusetts Rep. Jake Auchincloss.
Hawai‘i's other representative, Jill Tokuda, voted in support of the measure, which will now go before the Senate for further deliberation.
