Jones Act Updates

In the mid- and late 1990s, there was a debate about the continued need for our nation's Cabotage laws, key among which is the Jones Act. A group calling itself the Jones Act Reform Coalition (JARC), claiming service shortfalls in every part of the nation, tried to essentially repeal the law, but was unsuccessful in its efforts. In fact, its criticisms of the U.S.-Flag fleet galvanized the industry into a coalition that won statements of support for the Jones Act from a majority of the House, the Clinton (and now Bush) Administrations, the Department of Defense.... So successful were these efforts that the Jones Act Reform Coalition disbanded in 2000.

Supporters of our Cabotage laws must always be vigilant. There are, even now, some legislative initiatives to create loopholes in the law. However, public attacks on the Jones Act have ceased. The items below are an archive of LCA's efforts to defend our Cabotage laws from the JARC: