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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

House Approves Two Pierluisi Amendments to the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2011

Bill requires Coast Guard to report on its drug interdiction efforts in Puerto Rico and authorizes certain foreign-flagged vessels to transport passengers between Puerto Rico ports

WASHINGTON, DC- The U.S. House of Representatives today approved legislation, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2011 (H.R. 2838), that contains two amendments offered by Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi. The first amendment bill requires the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard to submit a report regarding the agency’s efforts to combat the illegal drug trade in Puerto Rico and the broader Caribbean region. The second amendment authorizes foreign-flagged vessels that are more than 100 gross tons in size to transport paying passengers between ports within Puerto Rico. This amendment is designed to increase nautical tourism in Puerto Rico and, by so doing, to create new jobs and spur economic growth.

With respect to the Coast Guard report, the bill requires the agency to submit the report, within 180 days after the bill is enacted into law, to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which have jurisdiction over the Coast Guard. The report must contain, among other things: information on the Coast Guard’s mission requirements for drug interdiction in the Caribbean; a description of the amount of time spent and the number of assets used between 2009 and 2011 for drug interdiction in the Caribbean; and an evaluation of whether they are adequate to combat the drug trade in the Caribbean.

This is the third bill in the last two years in which the Resident Commissioner has achieved the inclusion of language that is designed to highlight the problem of drug-related violence in Puerto Rico and, ultimately, to increase the resources that the federal government is devoting to combat that problem.

“This is a fight that I will continue to wage without rest. In the battle against drug-related violence, the federal government has a clear responsibility. When you are talking about the security of nearly four million Americans, at a bare minimum, the resources devoted to the problem must be commensurate with the size and scope of that problem,” said Pierluisi.

The second amendment included in the bill authorizes certain foreign-flagged vessels, including larger yachts and recreational vessels, to transport tourists and other paying passengers between ports within Puerto Rico, as a means to increase nautical tourism, generate business activity, and create jobs. Current federal law—known as the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA)—allows foreign-flagged vessels to transport tourists and other customers from a port in Puerto Rico to any port in the Caribbean region outside of Puerto Rico, including to ports in the neighboring U.S. Virgin Islands, where the PVSA does not apply at all. Yet, these same vessels cannot be used to transport tourists and other paying passengers between Puerto Rico’s many marinas. Pierluisi’s amendment applies to vessels that exceed 100 gross tons.

“The status quo simply defies common sense. Puerto Rico consists of multiple islands and is home to 3.7 million American citizens. It has over 700 miles of coastline and is located in the heart of the Caribbean Sea, often recognized as the yachting capital of the world,” said Pierluisi in a speech delivered on the House floor in support of his amendment.

“Puerto Rico will not be able to effectively compete in the large nautical tourism industry if the many foreign-flagged megayachts operating in the Caribbean cannot transport passengers between Puerto Rico’s own ports. My amendment enables Puerto Rico to compete with foreign nations in the region,” said Pierluisi.

The Resident Commissioner’s amendment was debated and taken to a vote, passing 322 to 100. Pierluisi expressed gratitude to Representative José Serrano and Nydia Velázquez, the New York Democrats, for lobbying alongside him in favor of the bill on the House floor.