Rep. Casten Votes to Strengthen Supply Chain, Bolster Capacity for American Exports
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) voted to strengthen the overseas supply chain and bolster exports from American businesses with H.R. 4996, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act. This is the latest legislative action that the Democratic House is taking to fix the supply chain struggles that are impacting American consumers and businesses.
"Supply chain snags are hurting Illinois families and businesses: inflicting higher costs, added delays and more shortages," said Rep. Casten. "That is why I proudly voted for the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which will help iron out bottlenecks in the shipping industry so that families can buy what they need and businesses can get their goods to market. And in doing so, we take an important step to create a supply chain that can unleash American competitiveness for decades to come."
The COVID-19 pandemic has roiled supply chains around the world, creating bottlenecks that have added costs and delays for small businesses and consumers. In the global shipping industry, all major ocean carriers are foreign-based and have not played fair with American exporters and importers during this crisis. As a result, American families have struggled with higher prices and more shortages, while American businesses have found it difficult to get their goods to market for a fair and reasonable cost.
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act is the latest legislative action House Democrats are taking to address and remediate these supply chain snags. This bipartisan bill, which represents the first major modernization of the global ocean shipping industry since 1998, will:
- ensure fairness in ocean shipping by prohibiting ocean carriers from unreasonably refusing to transport American cargo;
- strengthen the overseas supply chain by combating unfair and disruptive business practices by shipping companies; and
- bolster the Federal Maritime Commission so that it has the resources to hold wealthy shipping companies accountable.
The National Retail Federation yesterday wrote in support of this legislation: "While the bill cannot solve all current supply chain disruption issues, it will go a long way to address some of the core issues that existed well before the COVID-19 pandemic."
This vote is the latest action Democrats have taken to address and remediate supply chain problems. In November, the House passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which secured $17 billion in new funding for ports and waterways. Democrats also included an additional $5 billion in the House-passed Build Back Better Act to identify and resolve critical supply chain vulnerabilities that imperil our national and economic security.
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