News

Six bipartisan congressional members of the USMMA’s Board of Visitors sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and federal Management and Budget Director Russell Vought calling for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s modernization plan to be a focal point of the national maritime strategy.

“We cannot rebuild maritime power without first rebuilding the institution that produces the officers who will lead it,” the letter states. “Long-term modernization of USMMA must not be a side initiative—it should be a foundational element of this strategy.”

“Our maritime industry has been outpaced by adversaries not due to a lack of capacity or talent among our mariners, but because they have been underserved by policy, left without the investment and infrastructure they need to compete,” they continued.

“Our maritime industry has been outpaced by adversaries not due to a lack of capacity or talent among our mariners, but because they have been underserved by policy, left without the investment and infrastructure they need to compete,” they wrote.

The article can be found here and the complete letter here.