VIDEO

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered the following opening remarks at today’s nominations hearing for Stephen Carmel to be Administrator of the Maritime Commission (MARAD), Laura DiBella and Robert Harvey to be members of the Federal Maritime Commission, and Dr. Timothy Petty to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere at the National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration:

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Carmel, Ms. DiBella, Mr. Harvey, Mr. Petty, congratulations on your nominations and it’s good to see our two colleagues here – Senator Risch and Senator Kelly. I certainly have enjoyed working with Dr. Petty and Senator Risch on the Columbia River Treaty for many years.  I know first-hand of his legislative skill set, so congratulations on this nomination.

“Today, we want to discuss the concrete steps our nation is taking to invest in our shipyards, our ports, our workforce in the efforts to build larger ships in the United States. These investments aren’t just important international trade issues for the United States, these are the kinds of investments needed to build our future maritime workforce, our economy and support our national defense.

“The good news is there is strong bipartisan support on this Committee for American shipbuilding. But we need to ensure that these investments we authorize will be implemented by this Administration. I look forward to discussing with the nominees here how we can accomplish that.

“Mr. Carmel, I certainly enjoyed our conversation yesterday – truly believe that you have a vision for what needs to happen and I appreciate that. You are nominated to be the Administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration, the agency responsible for fostering, promoting and developing the U.S. maritime industry. You clearly have relevant experience – just starting at the Merchant Marine Academy and continuing as a deck officer, Master on U.S.-flagged vessels and your senior positions at Maersk. So, I certainly believe you have a keen view of what needs to be done.

“I believe this experience will serve you well, and I know that you’ve expressed concerns about the deterioration of the U.S. maritime, as you call it, “ecosystem”.  I share that word – it is an ecosystem.  And just like other ecosystems we’ve had to invest in, I look forward to asking you questions about how critical that is for supply chain issues for the United States of America, when supply chain issues have become a dominant issue. COVID proved that to us, and now we have to think about it and how it relates to very strategic assets and resources. Senator Risch and I have been partners on a fusion strategy, and certainly fusion is one of those issues where the supply chain will be critical. 

“Next, Ms. DiBella and Mr. Harvey, it is good to have you here at the Committee and I see that we have two other Federal Maritime Commissioners here, so thank you guys – oh three -- thank you. This speaks to the Commission’s important jurisdiction over ports and international ocean shipping, and charged with the protection [of] interests of U.S. shipping and regulating licenses. The FMC – while not a household word – it is certainly playing a pivotal role for us, as again we saw during COVID. Importantly, Congress created the Federal Maritime Commission and I expect Commissioners to maintain this independence, despite this Administration’s efforts to undermine…independent agenc[ies]. We want it to continue to remain strong. 

“Ms. DiBella, your service as the first female Secretary of Commerce for the State of Florida, and your tenure as executive director of the Florida Harbor Pilots Association—certainly come with some very relevant experience and [I] appreciate that.

“Mr. Harvey, I haven't had a chance to visit with you, so I look forward to hearing more about your Navy JAG experience, and I hope you'll address your view about the Federal FMC this morning, and what you think needs to happen. What I would say to you is that we need to continue to be proactive – that as a more global economy and economic opportunities are outside the United States, and so much of the concentration is with foreign carriers – now we're going to lean on Mr. Carmel, to help change that – but in the meantime, how do we make sure that there are fair policies and that the Commission is doing its job in protecting consumers? We do not want U.S. shippers’ product left on docks. We don't want unfair practices. And we certainly don't want unfair rates.

“Finally, Mr. Petty, as I already mentioned, I’m happy to have worked with you in the past on this important issue of the Columbia River Treaty. Congratulations on the nomination to the NOAA Assistant Secretary for Commerce. If confirmed, you will be responsible for fisheries, habitat, climate resilience and many other issues, and I believe that your experience up here on the Hill will serve you well.

“I hope to hear from you how you will succeed in this environment, especially when it comes to the essential work that NOAA does supporting healthy fisheries, the 2.3 million jobs that depend on a seafood industry and the important issues of stock assessment. I think this committee has been very, very loud and clear about the importance of stock assessments. You can't catch fish if you haven't done the stock assessment and we need the fisheries to continue to work.

“This requires providing NOAA with expertise and resources, and NOAA has lifted the hiring freeze for some weather personnel, but what about fisheries personnel? We need to get the stock assessments done; we need the personnel to do them. So I know my colleague, Senator Sullivan, when he's here, will agree with this.

“When it comes to protecting our coastal economies, scientists are not optional. Let's not forget, the President proposed a 27% cut to NOAA's budget and the agency has lost at least 576 staffers, nearly one in five under this administration. So I'm very, very concerned about that. They're seeing real impacts from this. For instance, a number of our stock assessments in New England have been canceled this year. A 60 day regulatory freeze led to the overfishing of the Atlantic, bluefin tuna off North Carolina, and in my state, salmon are incredibly important economically and culturally, and so we depend on NOAA for this long-term sustainability. I look forward to asking you questions about that and what you can do to help correct these issues at the department.

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I again look forward to the testimony of all the witnesses, and of course, our colleagues who are here to sing praises on them. Thank you.”

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