WATCH: Kelly Introduces MARAD Administrator Nominee Steve Carmel Before Commerce Committee
“The right leader for this moment.”
Today, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly attended a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee nominations hearing and introduced Steve Carmel, nominee to lead the Maritime Administration (MARAD).
Like Kelly, Carmel is a U.S. Merchant Marine Academy alum who wants to revitalize the American maritime and shipbuilding industries. Kelly is the sponsor of the SHIPS for America Act, comprehensive bipartisan and bicameral legislation to restore American leadership across the oceans.
Sen. Kelly introduces Steve Carmel before the
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
Kelly emphasized the urgent need to rebuild America’ struggling commercial maritime sector: “As I know this committee is painfully aware, the U.S. maritime industry needs a bit of help. Right now, the U.S. federal government—mostly through the Navy and Coast Guard—is the primary customer of large—and in the case of the Coast Guard, not so large—ocean-going vessels built in U.S. shipyards. And there are only about 80 ships, out of more than 50,000 globally that fly the U.S. flag in international commerce. By contrast, China has 5,500 ocean going vessels that operate under the Chinese flag. Three in every four commercial ships built in the next decade will be built in a Chinese shipyard if we don’t do something about it. For decades, both political parties have made the failed assumption that we could build our way out of this deficit by just giving the Navy and Coast Guard additional funding year to year, and not by rethinking how we make the commercial maritime industry commercially viable in the United States.”
Kelly highlighted Carmel’s credentials: “Unlike his immediate predecessors in this job, Steve will bring four decades of experience working in the commercial maritime industry. Steve and I both attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, not at the same time, but we were also both in 6th Company. After graduating, Steve served aboard U.S.-flagged merchant vessels as a deck officer and master for the Maritime Overseas Corporation and Military Sealift Command. He became a Master, which is the captain of the ship, at just 26 years old. For those who don’t know the industry well, that is incredibly fast. […] At a time when we are facing a shortage of qualified mariners, Steve brings firsthand knowledge of what it’s like to work at sea. He would be the first Administrator in 20 years to hold a Master’s Unlimited License.”
Kelly underscored the bipartisan support behind supporting the U.S maritime industry: “At a time when there is bipartisan momentum to rebuild America’s maritime industry as indicated by both the SHIPS for America Act and President Trump’s Executive Order on Maritime Dominance, we need leaders at MARAD who can hit the ground running on day one. I believe Steve Carmel is the right leader for this moment.”
Watch the full introduction here.
