United States President Tender

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe R-Okla. member of the Senate Commerce Science and Transportation Committee today praised the president for signing S. 140 which reauthorizes the Coast Guard for fiscal years 2018 and 2019. Inhofe authored Section 819 of S. 140 which directs the U.S. Coast Guard to create a plan to replace aging inland waterways and river tender vessels which are responsible for maintaining the navigation aids and buoys that mark water channels. Also included in the U.S. Coast Guard reauthorization bill was legislation that Inhofe originally cosponsored S. 168 Commercial Vessel Incidental Discharge Act CVIDA of 2017 which directs the establishment of a uniform national standard for ballast water and other vessel discharges. I am incredibly pleased the president signed the Coast Guard reauthorization and Vessel Incidental Discharge Act today. This bill includes a provision I authored that will support economic activity at our inland ports like the Port of Catoosa or the Port of Muskogee by directing the Coast Guard to develop a plan for the acquisition of new inland waterway vessels which will improve navigation operations and efficiencies along the MKARNs. With the presidents signature this legislation will empower the Coast Guard to combat trafficking and drug smuggling along our nations coast. Furthermore this legislation provides for a predictable national standard for businesses operating on our nations maritime highwayslike the MKARNSreducing duplicative federal regulations that have held back economic growth.When the legislation passed through the Committee Inhofes provision received praise by the American Waterways Operators the Tulsa Port of Catoosa and Kirby Cooperation which is one of the nations largest maritime transportation companies. A modernized robust fleet of Coast Guard inland waterway and river tenders is vital to the safety and efficiency of navigation in maritime commerce a fundamental pillar of our national economy said Craig F. Montesano vice president of legislative affairs for the American Waterways Operators. AWO commends Sen. Jim Inhofe for his recognition of the fleets importance in this regard and congratulates him on his successful efforts to include its revitalization in this years Coast Guard Authorization Act. The Port of Catoosa is very appreciative of the legislation passed by the Senate Commerce Committee today reauthorizing the U.S. Coast Guard said David Yarbrough port director of Tulsa Port of Catoosa. It is particularly pleasing to see the inclusion of a provision authored by Sen. Inhofe directing the U.S. Coast Guard to begin plans to replace their aging fleet of inland waterway and river tenders. Many people are unaware of the critically important work that the U.S. Coast Guard performs on the nations inland rivers ensuring safe navigation for commercial and recreational traffic. The reliability of these river tenders is crucial to the navigation industry and the Nations transportation network.We have many electronic tools today that help us navigate. But in the inland river system where currents and shoals can change on a daily basis buoys and the inland tenders that maintain them remain a critical component of navigation safety said Jim Guidry executive vice president for vessel operations of Kirby Corporation. We are excited to see progress toward recapitalizing the inland buoy tender fleet. It is long overdue. Kirby Corporation strongly supports the Commercial Vessel Incidental Discharge Act CVIDA. We are prepared to invest in ballast water treatment systems that can meet the highest achievable standards. However once we make that investment we need to know that system will be accepted in every American port of call. Without CVIDA we could be subjected to multiple inconsistent standards on a single trip as we pass from state to state.