The Jones Act was introduced to protect the merchant marine, at the time, by stipulating that only American-owned and flagged ships with primarily American crews could transport goods between U.S. ports.
A dispute has arisen among politicians regarding interpretation of the Jones Act and whether it means that the U.S. is not accepting offers to help with the cleanup.
An article published by Brian Wilson from FOX News, on Friday, gave the impression that international ships with oil skimming technology are not being used in the Gulf of Mexico because the Jones Act restricts access for foreign ships to U.S. water.
Wilson cited a statement from Joseph Carafano of the Heritage Foundation, who questioned whether the U.S. is “accepting all the international assistance in the maritime domain that [it] can, and is the Jones Act an impediment to that?”
On Friday, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum sent a letter to the White House requesting that President Obama waive the Jones Act since requiring that foreign equipment be transferred to U.S. ships is too time-consuming and is hindering immediate response.
“The limited use of foreign vessels to aid in the cleanup of the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill will not likely impede U.S. trade and commerce,” McCollum also pointed out in his letter.
White House staffer Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, recently addressed the issue in a question and answer forum—the video is posted on the White House blog.
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