AWO
(continued from page 23)
third of construction costs of seven
projects through the trust fund.
AWO will be further exploring
this proposal, which, if modified,
could be a breakthrough for poten-
tial Senate floor action.
While AWO's membership sup-
ports enactment of omnibus water
resources legislation this year, it
does not support imposition of
higher user fees as a quid pro quo.
Other Legislation Affecting the
Barge and Towing Industry
AWO support amendments to
the Staggers Act to more ade-
quately protect water carriers
against rail predatory pricing
practices. The Association testified
last summer during Senate Sur-
face Transportation Subommittee
Staggers Act oversight hearings
and submitted written comments
to the House Subcommittee on
Commerce, Transportation and
Tourism. On June 29 of this vear,
Sen. John C. Danforth (D-MO),
Senate Surface Transportation
Subcommittee chairman, intro-
duced S. 2837 which would give
standing to water carriers to chal-
lenge rail contracts on the basis
that they are predatory or other-
wise anti-competitive and to re-
quire the ICC, in regulating the
rail industry, to be guided by a
policy that clearly prohibits anti-
competitive or predatory pricing
and practices.
AWO has been meeting with
shipper groups who are concerned
that the Interstate Commerce
Commission is half hearted in its
implementation of the Staggers
Act to address railroad abuses of
the Act. A strong united front call-
ing for Staggers Act reform in the
next Congress is now being
organized.
Additionally, AWO will con-
tinue to oppose efforts to ease pro-
hibitions against rail ownership of
water carriers, prohibitions which
have been in force since enact-
ment of the Panama Canal Act of
1912. The proposed acquisition of
American Commercial Barge Line
by CSX Corporation is the great-
est threat to the survival of an in-
dependent barge industry and to
the ability of shippers to enjoy
competition in transportation (see
map).
Longshore Act Amendments
Another major legislative prior-
ity for the Association is enact-
ment of amendments to the Long-
shoremen's and Harbor Workers'
Compensation Act. Details of this
proposal are covered in the AWSC
report, elsewhere in this issue.
Jones Act
AWO has always opposed legis-
lative and regulatory efforts to un-
dermine the Jones Act, which is
the cornerstone of U.S. maritime
tradition. The major battle which
AWO and AWSC has been in-
volved in during this Congress is
legislation to re-flag two foreign-
built passenger ships so that these
vessels can compete in the domes-
tic coastwide trade. The House
Merchant Marine and Fisheries
Committee twice approved differ-
ent versions of this proposal, both
introduced by Rep. Clay Shaw,
with House Merchant Marine Sub-
committee Chairman Mario
Biaggi as the leading proponent of
this effort on the basis of jobs it
will create in the maritime indus-
try. (Once these vessels are re-
flagged, the crews must be U.S.
citizens.)
Companion legislation intro-
duced by Sen. Ted Stevens was
narrowly defeated in the Senate
Commerce Committee by one vote.
Because House parliamentary
rules made it virtually impossible
to bring this bill to the House
floor, supporters were successful in
attaching a revised version to FY
85 defense authorization legisla-
tion as a national defense "troop
transport" amendment. The Sen-
ate Defense Authorization bill
contains no comparable provision;
a House-Senate conference will de-
termine whether the amendment
survives. Meanwhile, both propo-
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