‘We Need to Get This Done’: Lawmakers, Labor and Industry Renew Push for SHIPS for America Act

Backers of the SHIPS for America Act mounted a renewed push Wednesday to move sweeping maritime legislation through Congress, with lawmakers, labor leaders and shipbuilding executives portraying the bill as the centerpiece of a growing bipartisan effort to rebuild America’s commercial maritime capacity and industrial base.

At a Capitol Hill press conference following a joint House hearing on revitalizing shipbuilding and the maritime industrial base, Reps. John Garamendi and Trent Kelly urged Congress to capitalize on what they described as rare political momentum behind maritime policy.

“We need to take decisive steps and get this done,” Kelly said, pressing for passage