> American merchant men are consummate professionals who uphold the best standards of seamanship The facts presented in the report do not support your statemen

> American merchant men are consummate professionals who uphold the best standards of seamanship The facts presented in the report do not support your statement. The facts in the report are shameful: crew joking during training procedures, incomplete safety drills, the Master of the ship falling asleep on several occassions, misterpretations of critical weather data. And TOTE maritime, the ship's operating company, failed on many levels outlined in the report. Our American methods for inspecting ships, as outlined in the report, are broken. Your perspective is anecdotal. I am sure there are a lot of great men and women working in the Jones Act trade but the system is FAR from perfect. > Keeping a semblance of an American merchant marine in place is still important, if for no other reason because the military often needs to rely on commercial shipping. The military already leases foreign allies ships because there is not enough trained personel and Jones Act vessels to satisfy the Navy's needs. Why don't we require the same for other modes of transportation? Airplanes, trains, trucks - the fact that we only protect ship building and construction is a historic phenomenom. > And Americans have the right to demand that the government protect nation's middle class and working class from being crushed by hyperglobalization Or to keep the nation's middle and working class being crushed from expensive and corrupt protectionism? This statement could be seen through a different lens - there are many people who are paying and subsidizing the costs of a protected merchant marine. Benefits are concentrated (~60,000 workers) but the costs are very high and diffuse.