I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1081

To amend the Shipping Act of 1984 to reform certain ocean shipping

practices, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 28, 1995

Mr. OBERSTAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To amend the Shipping Act of 1984 to reform certain ocean

shipping practices, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ocean Shipping Re5 form Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO SHIPPING ACT OF 1984.

7 (a) NEW DECLARED PURPOSE.—Section 2 of the

8 Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App. 1701) is amended

9 by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in paragraph (2),

10 by striking the period at the end of paragraph (3) and
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1 inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding at the end the following

2 new paragraph:

3 ‘‘(4) to promote the growth and development of

4 United States exports through competitive, non5 discriminatory, and efficient ocean transportation.’’.

6 (b) PROHIBITION ON LIMITING ABILITY OF CON7 FERENCE MEMBER TO ENTER OR PERFORM SERVICE

8 CONTRACT.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 10(c) of the Ship10 ping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App. 1709(c)) is

11 amended by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon at the

12 end of paragraph (5), by striking the period at the

13 end of paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by

14 adding at the end the following new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(7) limit the ability of another member of the

16 conference or group from entering into or perform17 ing under a service contract.’’.

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 4(a)

19 of the Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App.

20 1703(a)) is amended by adding ‘‘and’’ after the

21 semicolon at the end of paragraph (5), by striking

22 ‘‘; and’’ at the end of paragraph (6) and inserting

23 a period, and by striking paragraph (7).

24 (c) SHORTENING PERIOD FOR GIVING NOTICE OF

25 INDEPENDENT ACTION.—Section 5(b)(8) of the Shipping
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1 Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App. 1704(b)(8)) is amended by

2 striking ‘‘10 calendar’’ each place it appears and inserting

3 ‘‘2 calendar’’.

4 SEC. 3. NEGOTIATING STRATEGY TO REDUCE FOREIGN

5 GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL OF

6 OCEAN COMMON CARRIERS.

7 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall

9 develop, submit to the Congress, and begin implementing

10 a negotiation strategy to persuade foreign governments to

11 divest themselves of ownership and control of ocean com12 mon carriers (as that term is defined in section 3(18) of

13 the Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App. 1702)).

14 SEC. 4. REFORM OF FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION.

15 (a) REDUCTION OF STAFF.—The Federal Maritime

16 Commission—

17 (1) during fiscal years 1996 and 1997, shall act

18 to reduce the total number of individuals employed

19 by the Commission to a number that, by the end of

20 fiscal year 1997, is at least 15 percent less than the

21 number of individuals employed by the Commission

22 on the date of the enactment of this Act; and

23 (2) after fiscal year 1997, may not employ a

24 total number of individuals that exceeds 85 percent
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1 of the number of individuals employed by the Com2 mission on the date of the enactment of this Act.

3 (b) DEVOTION OF COMMISSION PERSONNEL TO PRO4 TECTING UNITED STATES SHIPPERS AND CARRIERS.—

5 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment

6 of this Act, the Federal Maritime Commission shall de7 velop and submit to the Congress a plan for increasing

8 the amount of resources of the Commission (including in9 creasing the number of personnel of the Commission) that

10 are engaged in protecting United States shippers and

11 ocean common carriers (as those terms are defined in sec12 tion 3(18) of the Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App.

13 1702)) against restrictive and unfair practices of foreign

14 governments and foreign-flag ocean common carriers.

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