(Washington, D.C.) – You may have heard of the “Ships for America Act” being championed by Sen. Todd Young. He says that while the goal is to make sure America is not dependent on China to ship goods around the world, a side benefit may be that Hoosiers are trained to build components for ships that could be manufactured in the Midwest.
“What we aim to do is unlock more private capital, domestic and foreign capital, to invest in our shipyards across this country, even revitalize some shipyards in the industrial Midwest that haven’t been used for generations,” Young said on WISH TV’s All INdiana Politics, Sunday.
He said the benefit will be, if the legislation passes, that Hoosiers could be part of rebuilding our maritime shipping infrastructure.
“One could imagine someone being trained either for the merchant marine or skilled trades so that they could help us revitalize our naval power.”
Young pointed out that China has the upper hand right now, with a vast majority of the shipping vessels, which is how most goods get around the world. Just a handful of those ships are owned by U.S. companies.
The “Ships for America Act”, co-sponsored by Democratic Sen. Mark Kelley, of Arizona, would help the U.S. build more ships and establish its own, independent shipping infrastructure.
“We don’t build a lot of ships, although we build some down on the Ohio River, for example. But, we certainly make a lot of steel,” he said of Indiana. “Steel will be needed for many of these vessels.”
He speculated that engines and engine parts could be made by companies like Cummins.
Young said he believes the legislation, which is modeled after the “Chips Act”, which has often been criticized by Pres. Trump, has every chance of passing, with bipartisan support and input from the president.
(Story by Network Indiana)
