NOVEMBER 2017 • FOGHORN 29 LEGISLATIVEREPORT EASY MANEUVERABILITY Give your passengers a smooth ride with reliable John Deere PowerTech™ propulsion and generator drive engines. With high torque and low-rated rpm, they deliver excellent vessel control and quiet operation. For easy navigation on the water — Nothing Runs Like A Deere™. JohnDeere.com/marine 60 to 559 kW (80 to 750 hp) T he active 2017 hurricane season has put a spotlight on the “Jones Act,” a section of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920. The issuance of Jones Act waivers after Hurricanes Irma and Maria is receiving much attention, but like most information circulating during a crisis, much of it is inaccurate. So what is the JonesAct?And why does it matter so much? The Jones Act regulates U.S. domestic maritime commerce by re- stricting the transportation of “mer- chandise” between points in the United States to U.S.-flag vessels built in the United States and owned and operated by U.S. citizens. U.S.-flag vessels are registered and operated under U.S. law and are generally required to have U.S. citizen crews. Following are some facts about the federal statute. The Jones Act is Not a World War I Creation The law we call the Jones Act is a section (section 27) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920. Senator Wesley Jones, a Republican from the State of Washington, was the Act’s chief sponsor. The main purpose of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, was to deal with a huge surplus of vessels that the U.S. had built in WW I, which were costing the government a fortune to maintain and operate, and were no longer needed. The section of the law that we call the JonesAct was largely an afterthought, and Senator Jones stated in the Congressional proceedings that section 27 was not intended to make substantive changes in existing law. Restricting U.S. Maritime Commerce to U.S. Vessels Did Not Start in 1920 Restricting U.S. domestic maritime commerce to U.S. citizens has been the law of the land since 1789. The third act of the Republic (before Congress established any department of the U.S. Government) imposed a tariff on all domestic cargo movements, with foreign ships paying a tariff eight times greater than the U.S. ship tariff. In 1817, Congress changed the law more or less to the way it is today— and was prior to the Merchant Marine Act, 1920—restricting U.S. trade to U.S. ships. The Jones Act has changed over time since 1817, but the main principle of reserving U.S. domestic maritime commerce to U.S. citizens has remained consistent. The Jones Act Is Not a Unique Restriction The U.S. restricts all of its domestic trade—whether by air, rail, truck or otherwise—to U.S. citizens (or permanent residents or qualified visa holders), who must comply with U.S. safety, environmental, labor, tax, and