Sen. John McCain urged the Trump administration on Tuesday to reconsider its decision to not issue a waiver of the Jones Act to allow more fuel and other supplies into Puerto Rico as the island recovers from Hurricane Maria.
Enacted in 1920, the federal law prohibits tankers from hauling crude oil between U.S. ports unless those vessels are American-made, flagged and manned by a crew that is made up of 75 percent U.S. citizens.
The Arizona Republican has long called for repeal of the law, which he views as protectionist and anti-competitive, making it harder to move goods to market and raising prices for consumers.
“I am very concerned by the department’s decision not to waive the Jones Act for current relief efforts in Puerto Rico, which is facing a worsening humanitarian crisis following Hurricane Maria,” McCain wrote in a letter to Elaine Duke, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. “It is unacceptable to force the people of Puerto Rico to pay at least twice as much for food, clean drinking water, supplies and infrastructure due to Jones Act requirements as they work to recover from this disaster. Now, more than ever, it is time to realize the devastating effect of this policy and implement a full repeal of this archaic and burdensome act.”
DHS waived the rule twice in response to hurricanes hitting Texas and Florida in the last month, allowing foreign-flagged vessels to make up for lost fuel production after refineries were shut down during the storms.
But on Tuesday, DHS said there were a sufficient number of U.S.-flagged vessels to meet demand.
“The limitation is going to be port capacity to offload and transfer cargo, not vessel availability,” said DHS spokesman David Lapan. “The fuel supply challenges facing Puerto Rico are not a function of the lack of fuel being shipped to the island, but caused by the devastation to Puerto Rico’s transportation networks that have prevented fuel from being transported on the island to all of the places that need it.”
