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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ocean Shipping Re-
form Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO SHIPPING ACT OF 1984.
(a) NEW DECLARED PURPOSE.—Section 2 of the
Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App. 1701) is amended
by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in paragraph (2),
by striking the period at the end of paragraph (3) and
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inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
‘‘(4) to promote the growth and development of
United States exports through competitive, non-
discriminatory, and efficient ocean transportation.’’.
(b) PROHIBITION ON LIMITING ABILITY OF CON-
FERENCE MEMBER TO ENTER OR PERFORM SERVICE
CONTRACT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 10(c) of the Ship-
ping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App. 1709(c)) is
amended by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon at the
end of paragraph (5), by striking the period at the
end of paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(7) limit the ability of another member of the
conference or group from entering into or perform-
ing under a service contract.’’.
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 4(a)
of the Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App.
1703(a)) is amended by adding ‘‘and’’ after the
semicolon at the end of paragraph (5), by striking
‘‘; and’’ at the end of paragraph (6) and inserting
a period, and by striking paragraph (7).
(c) SHORTENING PERIOD FOR GIVING NOTICE OF
INDEPENDENT ACTION.—Section 5(b)(8) of the Shipping
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Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App. 1704(b)(8)) is amended by
striking ‘‘10 calendar’’ each place it appears and inserting
‘‘2 calendar’’.
SEC. 3. NEGOTIATING STRATEGY TO REDUCE FOREIGN
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL OF
OCEAN COMMON CARRIERS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall
develop, submit to the Congress, and begin implementing
a negotiation strategy to persuade foreign governments to
divest themselves of ownership and control of ocean com-
mon carriers (as that term is defined in section 3(18) of
the Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App. 1702)).
SEC. 4. REFORM OF FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION.
(a) REDUCTION OF STAFF.—The Federal Maritime
Commission—
(1) during fiscal years 1996 and 1997, shall act
to reduce the total number of individuals employed
by the Commission to a number that, by the end of
fiscal year 1997, is at least 15 percent less than the
number of individuals employed by the Commission
on the date of the enactment of this Act; and
(2) after fiscal year 1997, may not employ a
total number of individuals that exceeds 85 percent
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of the number of individuals employed by the Com-
mission on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) DEVOTION OF COMMISSION PERSONNEL TO PRO-
TECTING UNITED STATES SHIPPERS AND CARRIERS.—
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Federal Maritime Commission shall de-
velop and submit to the Congress a plan for increasing
the amount of resources of the Commission (including in-
creasing the number of personnel of the Commission) that
are engaged in protecting United States shippers and
ocean common carriers (as those terms are defined in sec-
tion 3(18) of the Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. App.
1702)) against restrictive and unfair practices of foreign
governments and foreign-flag ocean common carriers.
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