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he ong time positions and jurisdictions that The Government; we have no desire to zem. We are trying to interface with them

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retary for Marine Transportation will be my ser in marine transportation, both domestic and ece has three parts to it: the Office of Ports, mestic Marine Transportation, and the Office of anne Transportation. I will describe what each one acs ready in existence within the Department. anization, they are combined.

Farts is the focal point for policy matters on intervon ve always must have. In other words, when nore the cargo has to move inland by some form. evelops plans for deepwater ports, identifies the nstruction requirements of deepwater ports, and overrentacon of the provisions of the Deepwater Port tave ready approved one deepwater port and a anguscussed.

Cemestic Marine Transportation, which is the Corunates our marine transportation policy regardvaterways, Great Lakes shipping, domestic, coastal, ased sweping. We have had to strengthen this office,

Waterways Revenue Act of 1978, Public Law atve, with other agencies, cooperate in a study ississippi River Basin, and in another study consveicoment and use of the trust fund revenues that in the waterway user charge. These are the * states which are called for by section 205 of u the inland waterways, and providing the alon is what is likely to happen under the vat might happen under alternative user Certe ege to have a plan for that study completed

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Pis year This office also acts as a liaison for te Cover Mississippi River Basin Commission us art of that Commission's operation in the preensive master plan which is required by

4* 4×802. Heatonai Marine Transportation provides a ovement in international maritime policy. Ci de areas from which we are excluded 28 but such things as the administration has euner an international maritime policy. merests that have long been in the en have been in conflict. DOT has been

caceedingly careful not to plunge into this Pat ve hills we know the answer. Our basic be it ne regulatory area.

ievement is that, as you know, the Presi#tor areas of transportation, that the AdADSHORTIN nore procompetitive position. In PANAN QRS consideration of the capabiley get a fair share. I might

state that the new involvement with the so-called bloc countries, the Peoples' Republic of China, is undoubtedly going to involve a series of treaties, where there will be some trade.

This is the way it ended up with the Soviet agreement, and this has been the traditional pattern with the Chinese. We are expecting the various groups in the Government who deal with these matters to continue to deal with them. When they ask us, I have to have some staff support. If they do not ask us for input, that is fine. Then they can continue what they are doing.

In sum, the new office I have established is not designed to duplicate any of the activities or responsibilities of the Maritime Administration, the Federal Maritime Commission the Department of Justice, the State Department, or any of the other agencies that are involved in marine transportation.

The new office does give the marine people in the United States an entry to, and a very visible window in, the Department of Transportation to say whatever they want to, so that they will not feel that they do not have any input or any ability to talk to us. It also gives us a place where we can make decisions on what positions we will take on the matters that I have outlined.

I think we have had a void in this area in the Department. We are not trying to duplicate any of the other maritime agencies. But we hope this office will enable the Department of Transportation to speak with one voice to the President's policy group that is trying to develop this maritime policy.

Mr. Chairman, there is a strong and growing domestic waterway system in the United States. We have to approach it in the Department of Transportation from a transportation viewpoint. We do not approach it from either a public works development viewpoint, or from a natural resources viewpoint, or from anybody else's viewpoint. Our problem is that the locks and dams are collapsing, and from that viewpoint, the interest of the shippers and the carriers is in the transportation part of what may be a multifaceted project. We have tried, and will continue to try, to assist them to see that the system works, and works well.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to testify. I have with me Adm. R. H. Wood from the Coast Guard, who serves as the direct Maritime Adviser to myself and the Deputy Secretary, so that we are certain that those matters are coordinated.

I also have Mr. Richard F. Walsh, who has been in charge of our study on the economic effects of inland waterway matters. And we have available for you, if you wish, our deepwater ports people and others you may wish to have discuss with your staff, or others, the technical things that we are doing.

I am an advocate, Mr. Chairman, of the American merchant marine, and the American inland waterways, and I am not ashamed of trying to do something for them. I would appreciate it, Mr. Chairman, if my prepared statement could be entered into the record.

[The following was received for the record:]

STATEMENT OF SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION BROCK ADAMS

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee: I have been asked to testify here today on why the Department of Transportation recently created an Assistant

sportation and what our plans are regarding the funcnew rice.

nev declared that it was in the national interest to portation concies and programs conducive to the provision of avenient transportation at the lowest cost consistent rational Sojectives, including the efficient utilization and resources. DOT has made significant progress toward ustry through regulatory reform and recently has with respect to the trucking and rail industries. We also ated miznway and mass transit problems. While maritime rm the Department of Transportation when it was estabneeds to have a greater understanding of the issues and ansportation industries, both domestic and foreign, and errace ssues. This understanding is necessary, I believe, :wareness and consideration of the interrelationship be

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otten within the guidelines prescribed by the Congress in cartment of Transportation Act when the Department was

in ily aware of the section 7(a) limitations, I deteracush a maritime focal point within the Department so roperty advised on maritime matters and so that there he many maritime interests who have indicated a wish artment. I hope the office will act as the catalyst within wenpment of an optimal integrated national transporta

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ace of the Assistant Secretary for Marine Transporester crepared to participate in the resolution of national otcnterest. By "public interest" I mean the interest ne development and maintenance of an efficient stem, which. to the greatest extent possible, makes me movement of domestic and foreign commerce and save to the needs of the shipper and traveler alike, rective of Congress when creating the Department of ware that we cannot deal with the railroad question

tor carriers without explicitly considering the Hout a wice for the water transportation industries nispertation system can be achieved. vrracce finds itself in a rather unique position rs nation. Our constituencies concerning aconal transportation system, the users of I believe this new office will be able to ****Axy concerns with a fresh and unbiased De versace maritime programs.

Transportation will be my principal staff saver policy, both domestic and international,

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organization will include the Office of sertation, and the Office of International

wow one for policy matters relating to intermodal Nation's transportation system includconsiderations. In addition, this Office construction, and operation of deepwaon of the provisions of the Deepwater Port

"suspertation coordinates Departmental marine it 7 waterways, Great Lakes shipping, and Presently, of course, this office is greatly wond C including those required by the stake is carefully coordinating with all $ar of study for the User Charge Impact The plan of study will be completed in Ye a bric Marine Transportation also acts At the Coper Mississippi River Basin Commission Omprakansie Master Plan required by Section 101

The Office of International Marine Transportation provides the focus for DOT involvement in international maritime policy matters including deep sea and St. Lawrence Seaway shipping. Presently, this office primarily is concerned with developing DOT inputs into the administration's international shipping policy and preparing innovative proposals for improving the competitive capability of the U.S. Merchant Marine so that they might carry a fair share of U.S. foreign commerce. We regard the development of this inputas a continuing responsibility of this Department.

The establishment of an Assistant Secretary for Marine Transportation at DOT is not designed to duplicate the responsibilities or activities of the Maritime Administration, the Federal Maritime Commission, or any other Federal agency involved in marine transportation. The new office permits the voice of the marine mode to be heard within DOT. The effect will be that when other modal and multimodal matters affecting marine transportation, domestic or international, are analyzed and discussed within the Department, the marine system will receive the consideration it should. This new office also provides a focal point for input into the DOT decision making process for the industry, for shippers, and for the affected public. Without such an office, the Department has not been and will not be as responsive as it should be to the needs of the marine transportation industry, its users, and to those who consume the goods so transported. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Marine Transportation fills a critical void within the Department of Transportation. It does not seek to duplicate the effort of other maritime agencies, but this office also provides them a single entry point on marine matters affecting or affected by the national transportation system. We hope to coordinate with these agencies, not replace or supercede them. We would also use this office to coordinate DOT's input to Federal interagency maritime policy making efforts where DOT's input is requested and desired.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss this new office with you and the members of this subcommittee. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. We certainly appreciate that very thoughtful and well developed statement, and also the initiatives that you, as Secretary, have been promoting in this

area.

As an advocate of the U.S. merchant marine and in the Cabinet, you probably have the meeting in a phone booth with your colleagues in this area.

If I could put in perspective the MarAd budget with some of the activities of your Department. In the last Congress, you presented a number of checks to the city of New York for its urban mass transit, particularly the Metropolitan Transit Authority, that exceeded by a factor of two, that is 200 percent of this maritime budget. That is just a mass transit subsidy from the Federal Government to one municipality in America. In fact, many of us in the city of New York feel that the final American-flag merchant marine will settle down to an initiative that you developed just a few years ago, and those will be the two Staten Island ferryboats built by the Department of Transportation at a cost of $40 million. That is the trend, and I think that your initiative is probably helping to reverse that trend.

Historically, of course, you and I were in the Congress together when the debates came on the formation of the Department of Transportation. Unfortunately, at that time, the Secretary-Designate made a statement that the U.S.-flag merchant marine could consist of not more than 270 vessels or so. Placing a limitation of such an inadequate number that people in the Congress were so concerned that it did not permit the Maritime Administration to go to the Department of Transportation under that type of leadership, but opted to keep it in the Department of Commerce. And that, of

Secretary for Marine Transportation and what our plans are regarding the functions and responsibilities of this new office.

When Congress created DOT, they declared that it was in the national interest to develop "national transportation policies and programs conducive to the provision of fast, safe, efficient, and convenient transportation at the lowest cost consistent therewith and with other national objectives, including the efficient utilization and conservation of the Nation's resources." DOT has made significant progress toward this goal in the airline industry through regulatory reform and recently has launched a similar effort with respect to the trucking and rail industries. We also are able to deal with related highway and mass transit problems. While maritime programs were excluded from the Department of Transportation when it was established, I believe DOT now needs to have a greater understanding of the issues and problems facing the water transportation industries, both domestic and foreign, and related intermodal and interface issues. This understanding is necessary, I believe, to increase Departmental awareness and consideration of the interrelationship between the marine, surface and air modes.

We will continue to function within the guidelines prescribed by the Congress in section 7(a) of the Department of Transportation Act when the Department was established in 1966. While I am fully aware of the section 7(a) limitations, I determined that we needed to establish a maritime focal point within the Department so that the Secretary could be properly advised on maritime matters and so that there would be a contact point for the many maritime interests who have indicated a wish to be heard within the Department. I hope the office will act as the catalyst within the Department for the development of an optimal integrated national transportation system by providing a voice for the maritime industries and those affected by these industries in our decision making process.

Through the creation of an Office of the Assistant Secretary for Marine Transportation in DOT, we will be better prepared to participate in the resolution of national transportation issues in the public interest. By "public interest" I mean the interest of the United States in assuring the development and maintenance of an efficient integrated transportation system, which, to the greatest extent possible, makes optimal use of all modes for the movement of domestic and foreign commerce and passengers, and which is responsive to the needs of the shipper and traveler alike, within the framework of the objective of Congress when creating the Department of Transportation. DOT is keenly aware that we cannot deal with the railroad question or the feeder functions of the motor carriers without explicitly considering the water mode and its health. Without a voice for the water transportation industries and their users within DOT, no such transportation system can be achieved.

Today the Department of Transportation finds itself in a rather unique position with respect to maritime policy for this nation. Our constituencies concerning marine transportation are the total national transportation system, the users of that system, and the general public. I believe this new office will be able to approach the Department's maritime policy concerns with a fresh and unbiased perspective and offer balanced and workable maritime programs.

The Assistant Secretary for Marine Transportation will be my principal staff advisor concerning marine transportation policy, both domestic and international, within DOT assigned responsibilities. His organization will include the Office of Ports, the Office of Domestic Marine Transportation, and the Office of International Marine Transportation.

The Office of Ports provides a focal point for policy matters relating to intermodal transfer and water-land connectivity in the Nation's transportation system including economic, environmental, and safety considerations. In addition, this Office develops policies for the location, ownership, construction, and operation of deepwater ports, and oversees the implementation of the provisions of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974.

The Office of Domestic Marine Transportation coordinates Departmental marine transportation policy regarding the inland waterways, Great Lakes shipping, and domestic coastal and intercoastal shipping. Presently, of course, this office is greatly involved in several domestic waterway studies, including those required by the Waterway Revenue Act, P.L. 95–502. The office is carefully coordinating with all interested parties the development of a plan of study for the User Charge Impact Studies called for in section 205 of this Act. The plan of study will be completed in April or May of this year. The Office of Domestic Marine Transportation also acts as a liaison for our participation on the Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission and for the formulation of its Comprehensive Master Plan required by Section 101 of P.L. 95-502.

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