One of the biggest arguments U.S. ship builders and the politicians under their payroll have made for the continuity of the so-called Jones Act is that American national security depends on a U.S. merchant marine built and ready in the United States.
U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Matthew K. Mulvey, in a report to the Naval War College entitled For National Security’s Sake – Revisiting the “Jones Act,” says the “U.S. merchant marine industry can be revitalized and more effectively leveraged to promote national security” if the portion of the Jones Act mandating only vessels constructed in the U.S. may conduct domestic maritime trade is repealed.
You may read his report in its entirety below:
