Window on Washington: Awash in Reports

This article originally appeared in the First Quarter 2017 issue of Benedict’s Maritime Bulletin. Reprinted with permission. Any opinions in this article are not those of Winston & Strawn or its clients; the opinions in this article are the author’s opinions only.

Although Congress has been full of sound a fury in recent years, little legislation has come forth to address the pressing issues facing the maritime industry. Fortunately, because the industry is viewed as a national defense sealift asset, some legislative provisions routinely become lodged among the flotsam and jetsam of the National Defense Authorization Act, which is such a ‘‘must pass’’ piece of legislation that it has only been vetoed four times in 50 years. This year, it incorporated key provisions from the Maritime Administration (MARAD) Authorization Act passed out of the Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation and House Transportation & Infrastructure Committees. Although the third leg of the stool at year-end is usually the Coast Guard Authorization Act, the 2015 version of that bill moved to a two-year funding mechanism through 2017.

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