b'lawscanbetracedbacktoevenearlier so many goods are carried by sea. lifeofaU.S.builtvesseltothepointindustryprotectioneffortsinEurope. Opponents also claim that inflated thatsafetyiscompromised.MoreonthePVSAinanothercolumn. prices for maritime shipping leadstoincreaseduseoftrucksandtrains Many effortshave beenmade to re-thatpolluteandincreasetheenviron- pealtheJonesAct,eitherinpartorWithout the Jones Act,mentalcostsassociatedwithoverland inwhole.Severalsuchattemptswereinternational vesselstransportation. Additionally, detrac- madebythelateArizonasenator,JohntorssuggestthatthebuildAmerican McCain,alongtimeopponentoftheand crews wouldrequirementoftheJonesActencour- law.In2015andagainin2017.Theseundercut Americanages ship owners to over-extend the attemptshavenotbeensuccessful.maritime interests and put the domestic maritime industryout of business making Americans wholly dependent on foreign flagged vesselsto transport goodsand services. SupportersoftheJonesActsaythatthelawhasplayedanoutsizedroleincreating, maintaining, and growingtheU.S.maritimeindustryinthe20thcentury.WithouttheJonesAct,inter-nationalvesselsandcrews(oftensub-sidizedbyforeigngovernments)wouldundercutAmericanmaritimeinterestsandputthedomesticmaritimeindus-tryoutofbusinessmakingAmericanswhollydependentonforeignflaggedvesselstotransportgoodsandservices.Thelossofsupportfortheindustrywouldalsoleavethecountryvulnera-bleintimesofnationalcrisis.Critics of the law call it archaicandburdensomeandclaimthatitimpingesoncompetitionthatwouldotherwiseservetolowercostsforship-pers and consumers. The Jones Acthas particular consequence for Ha-waii,Alaska,andPuertoRicowhere29 OCTOBER 2024'