Bill Text: TX SCR25 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging the Texas delegation to Congress to express to the U.S. Maritime Administration and the jurisdictional congressional committees the critical need to provide a national security multimission training vessel to the Texas A&M Maritime Academy.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-21 - Referred to Higher Education [SCR25 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SCR25-Introduced.html
| 86R15222 BPG-D | ||
| By: Taylor | S.C.R. No. 25 | |
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| WHEREAS, The Texas A&M Maritime Academy in Galveston plays an | ||
| important role in the education of U.S. Coast Guard maritime | ||
| professionals and in disaster relief, but it lacks a ship of | ||
| sufficient size to support U.S. waterborne commerce and national | ||
| security; and | ||
| WHEREAS, One of only six federally supported schools for | ||
| aspiring mariners, TAMMA trains future merchant marine officers | ||
| pursuing a college degree and a Coast Guard license; cadets require | ||
| six months at sea to earn certification as a third mate or third | ||
| engineer, but the academy's current training vessel, provided by | ||
| the Maritime Administration, holds only 50 students; consequently, | ||
| it has had to turn many applicants away; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Over the past dozen years, TAMMA has been obliged to | ||
| send some of its Sea Aggies to other academies for their oceangoing | ||
| experience; these cadets are placed at a disadvantage for | ||
| leadership roles, and in summer 2018, none of the other academies | ||
| were able to accommodate additional students; TAMMA was forced to | ||
| lease a ship at the cost of $4 million, of which approximately $1 | ||
| million was neither covered by student fees nor reimbursed by the | ||
| federal government; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Following disasters, marine academy ships are used | ||
| to provide clinics for victims, generate clean water and | ||
| electricity, and bring supplies into affected areas; the small ship | ||
| presently owned by TAMMA was activated to provide humanitarian aid | ||
| in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, but it could only hold 35 workers | ||
| from the Federal Emergency Management Agency; Texans impacted by | ||
| the catastrophe had to wait two weeks for the arrival of other | ||
| training ships from the East Coast, which were capable of housing | ||
| 600 FEMA employees each; this delay severely affected both civilian | ||
| lives and the economy of the Houston area, which is home to the | ||
| nation's second-busiest port; the Gulf Coast is vulnerable to | ||
| extreme weather, and speedy recovery is essential in a region that | ||
| generates over $230 billion annually and encompasses more than 90 | ||
| percent of the nation's oil and gas production; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The ability to send and receive goods over the water | ||
| is critical to our economy and national security, but there is | ||
| already a shortage of trained seafarers; by providing TAMMA with a | ||
| national security multimission training vessel, the Maritime | ||
| Administration can ensure that the academy is able to help address | ||
| the maritime industry's workforce needs, while also improving | ||
| disaster response readiness in the Gulf Coast region; now, | ||
| therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby respectfully urge the Texas delegation to the United States | ||
| Congress to express to the U.S. Maritime Administration and the | ||
| jurisdictional congressional committees the critical need to | ||
| provide a national security multimission training vessel to the | ||
| Texas A&M Maritime Academy; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the members of the Texas delegation to | ||
| Congress. | ||
