| Interview with Clyde J. Hart Jr., Administrator
of the Maritime Administration
Editor in Chief James D. Hessman and
Senior Editor Gordon I. Peterson interviewed Clyde J. Hart Jr. for this issue of Sea
Power.
SEA POWER: You bring a number
of varied career experiences to bear in your leadership role with the Maritime
Administration. How important are they in preparing MARAD to face the challenges of the
21st century?
HART: I spent a fair amount of my early
career doing railroad regulation and deregulation, motor-carrier regulation and
deregulation, and now maritime regulation and deregulation. I think that is part of the
reason that Secretary Slater [Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater] selected me
for this job--because of my experience in areas outside of maritime affairs. What I bring
to the table is my ability to interface with other modes of transportation.
If I could dredge all the ports in the
United States to 50 feet, we would still have a problem in many ports getting cargoes off
the ship and into town. It does not do Circuit City, Nike, or the Department of Defense
any good to have goods stacked up in port somewhere if we can't get them to where they
need to be. In fact, Admiral Holder [Rear Adm. Gordon S. Holder, commander, Military
Sealift Command] was here a short time ago, and we were talking about how the warfighting
commanders are just like Circuit City. They need their goods to get from point of origin
to the user--not to the point of destination, but to the user. I think that intermodalism
[multiple modes of transportation] is the answer to that question. To the extent that I
have any expertise in dealing with other modes of transportation, that helps me in my job
with MARAD. With the VISA program [Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement], for example,
we are not only getting ships, we are obtaining access to their intermodal networks.
During your confirmation hearing last
year you told Congress that there is no more important maritime issue facing our country
than the continued existence and well-being of a U.S.-flag fleet. Could you please
elaborate?
HART: It is vital because our warfighting
commanders need to know that what they need--ammunition, equipment, supplies--is going to
be there when they need it. As far as I can see, the only way to ensure that absolutely is
to have a U.S.-flag fleet. If you're going to deploy the 101st Airborne Division, its
troopers will go by air--but their gear will go by ship. The only way we can make sure
that their gear gets there is to make sure that it is on a U.S.-flag ship.
There are those who say that is a sterile
argument, but nobody has told me that it is wrong--and I cannot see where it is wrong. It
may be that the U.S.-flag fleet costs somewhat more, but even if there is an added cost,
it is outweighed by our national-security requirements.
You have framed several strategic
goals for MARAD that support the Department of Transportation's overall priorities--how
would you summarize them?
HART: My strategic goals for MARAD are:
one, to make sure that the United States has the sealift capability it needs, when it
needs it; and two, to make sure that the manpower is available to crew those ships.
We have the best-trained mariners in the
world--nobody disputes that as far as I can see. By having them at sea, they elevate the
conduct of maritime transportation. We also have a safer maritime transportation system,
and we have one that is more efficient. That is another reason why I think manpower is as
important as it is.
Another one of our strategic goals is to
make sure we have the appropriate infrastructure. This goes back to the "One
DOT" concept and to the intermodal character of our marine-transportation system. Our
country must have the right transportation system and the necessary infrastructure for
that transportation system--for the year 2000 and beyond.
What are the most significant
challenges you face in your duties as the Maritime Administrator?
HART: There are important, necessary
challenges that must be met. We have started to elevate the Marine Transportation System
[MTS] as a part of the national dialogue. We all need to sit down and talk about it.
How do you harmonize the interests--the
competing interests--that a lot of people have when they talk about MTS? Let's go through
a short list. You have environmentalists. You have bicycle riders. The environmentalists
may want a heron rookery around or in the middle of a port. The bicyclists may want a path
around it. Fine. Of course the ship owners want a clear channel. That's fine too. But you
have all these competing interests that you have to harmonize. I think an MTS like what
the Secretary [Slater] is trying to put together through me and Admiral Loy [U.S. Coast
Guard Commandant Adm. James M. Loy] and the Coast Guard will at least start to raise the
visibility and, through this visibility, we can start to ask questions nationally, as part
of a dialogue. What kind of Maritime Transportation System do you want? What do you want
your Marine Transportation System to do? That is number one, and then, once you have
defined the goals and the vision statement in the MTS, then we need to work on how do we
get there from here.
So you believe that communication and
consensus are important?
HART: Certainly communication--and
consensus would be nice [laughter]! But even if you do not have consensus--and you may not
get consensus on some of these issues--at least you should be able to bring them up, talk
about them, discuss them, and maybe reach some conclusions or even not a conclusion. You
may agree to disagree, but then move on. At some point people will make a decision, and it
might not be consensus. It may be that Congress will have to say, we want to do
"X." Okay. I'm fine with that--that's the Congress' job. But let's get the
issues up where we can all start to address them.
MARAD and DOT have broadened their
vision to take a total systems approach to U.S. transportation requirements. At MARAD, for
example, you are going beyond simple "U.S.-flag ship counts" to consider the
entire U.S. intermodal transportation system--to include the infrastructure at U.S. ports.
Is this assessment correct?
HART: I think so. Intermodal is the way
we are going to go sooner or later. We might as well just make it sooner given the
congestion on our highways and conditions in our ports. Hawaii, of all places, is just
choked with traffic. We need to start thinking about how to break the knot--it is a
productivity issue. We need to start thinking about transportation alternatives. I think
ferry traffic, for example, is an alternative. An increasing number of states are
considering it. They are looking into it in Hawaii--two ferries, actually, one an
interisland ferry and one an intraisland ferry for Oahu. The people of Washington state
have an extensive ferry system but they would like to do more. In the Port of New York the
number is back up, I believe, to 30 again. Ferry traffic for long-haul trucking can take
the strain off the Interstate-95 corridor on the East Coast or the 101 corridor down the
West Coast.
This is what I mean about intermodalism.
We have to look at all of the resources we have. The Marine Transportation System is a
resource. We need to manage it, we need to care for it, and we need to use it.
How would you describe your
collaboration with the Coast Guard on the Marine Transportation System program?
HART: Admiral Loy and I are cochairs for
the MTS, and we work very closely together to manage the MTS process. I meet with Admiral
Loy almost weekly, and I talk to him more often than that about issues that come up--many
issues that we have overlap. The White House is expected to be coming out with a
Commission on Port Security, an initiative of Senator Graham [Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla.], to
assess the security of U.S. ports. Admiral Loy and I will be two members of that
Commission--another example of the way we work together.
Speaking of the MTS, Secretary Slater
hosted a conference last November addressing the need to look at U.S. waterways, ports,
and intermodal connectors as an integrated system. Where do you see that program going
from here?
HART: We have people working overtime to
finish our report to Congress by July 1st. We owe it to the Secretary before then, so that
he can read it and sign off on it. I hope one of its recommendations will be to establish
a national council on marine transportation. I want visibility for these issues. A
national council would be able to form working groups to raise issues--with the right
people sitting around the table to address how to manage them.
Unlike the interstate highway system
being planned 50 years ago, we have a marine transportation system out there that people
are using. We are talking about trying to upgrade it while people are using it. That makes
the job even more difficult as we try to make the system more efficient 50 years into the
future. Long-range planning does not seem as long range as it once did. Think of how long
it takes for any project to get built now, and 50 years does not seem that long.
When you go out and give speeches, are
people awed when they hear how much U.S. trade goes by ship?
HART: Many people are very surprised when
I tell them during public events or speaking engagements. Those big-screen TVs and Nike
shoes do not come from Circuit City or Footlocker--which is the answer you sometimes get!
They come from overseas, and they are carried by ship. There is an enormous gulf out there
in our country regarding what people do not know about the Marine Transportation System
and how vital it is.
I was thinking about Admiral Holder and
what he said recently about one of his former bosses. He said that he always gave a speech
that started off, "The United States is an island." That is still true today.
The United States is an island. Work it out. How are you going to get the goods here? By
sea.
MARAD's national-security
responsibilities have increased in importance as the result of the substantial downsizing
of the Department of Defense [DOD] during the past decade. How do you assess the status of
the MARAD programs that were initiated to implement the Maritime Security Act of 1996?
HART: I assess them as good. The MSP is
now in its third year, and we have 47 ships. And I think we got a bargain, frankly,
because for roughly $2 million per ship we have 47 ships, and we have a damn good
intermodal network that we need. I think the VISA program that goes with it is equally
vital, and I assess our readiness as good. I think that MSP looks in good shape for
funding. I was heartened to note that there were 47 congressmen who signed the letter
asking full funding for the MSP program. That's great! The first year, people were afraid
it would not go through. I have been very heartened. I think that the message has gotten
through--that we have the core of a good sealift program in the national interest. I think
there is good support for it now. At least that's my reading. I hope I'm right.
The revitalization of the National
Defense Reserve Fleet [NDRF] and the Ready Reserve Force [RRF] during the years subsequent
to Desert Shield and Desert Storm also is billed as a success story--how so in your view?
HART: The lessons that we learned in
Desert Shield and Desert Storm led to the creation of the MSP program. That was a good
thing. The second thing resulting from the Gulf War is that we started sea-trials for our
RRF ships--a wonderful readiness tool for us. We also started the idea of the four-,
five-, and 10-day readiness notice. The results are impressive--we have had more than 100
no-notice activations by DOD in the last several years, and we are batting about 99
percent [readiness]. I think there are two ships that I know of that failed to meet their
readiness day--and they failed by hours. It was not like they failed by days or could not
perform.
That is a pretty good batting average,
but I think that is part of the lessons learned from Desert Shield/Desert Storm. We need
to provide for the readiness of these ships. They need to go, or be ready to go, on four
days notice, or five days notice. We also are modifying two RO/RO [roll-on/roll-off] ships
of the Cape class to get extra deck space. I think we got a bargain--and we are going to
meet the base requirement for 10 million [square feet of military useful deck space].
Is the United States better prepared
today to meet the sealift requirements of a crisis comparable to Desert Shield?
HART: I think so. Certainly we would have
the surge and sustainment sealift capacity that we would need. Right now we have the
manpower that we need to go--but it is an aging pool. This is why it is so important that
we keep young people wanting to go to sea, and that we have the billets and the ships for
them.
How closely does MARAD interact and
coordinate with such key DOD agencies as the U.S. Transportation Command and Military
Sealift Command?
HART: Our relationship with all of those
agencies has been very, very good. I have met with all of their commanders, and we have
talked over our issues. Most wonderfully, we are beginning to show up at the same
conferences. The same people are inviting all of us to talk about sealift issues. When I
was down at the AFL-CIO talking to the Maritime Trades Department, the speaker after me
was General Robertson [Gen. Charles T. Robertson, commander in chief, U.S. Transportation
Command]--which was terrific! I think our relationship has been very good, and it is
getting better.
The good thing about it is that each of
us is not afraid to call the other and say, "I've got a problem, can we sit down and
talk about it?" At any time of the day or night, I can call them at home--and I
have--and they can call me at home--and they have. I work very closely with them, and I
think the relationship is terrific.
Last year you stated that the exodus
of oceangoing U.S.-flag vessels had been arrested for the time being. Is that your
assessment today?
HART: Yes, it is still my assessment--at
least for the time being--because of our ability to bring ships in under the MSP. Having
said that, it is always a nagging ache in the back of my neck.
How successful has the so-called Title
XI program been in meeting the Clinton administration's goal to have more commercial ships
built in U.S. shipyards as part of the National Shipbuilding Initiative [NSI]?
HART: It is going fairly well, although I
can tell you frankly that I would like to see more ships being built in commercial yards.
Title XI is doing what it is supposed to do. We have had new interest. On one of my first
trips as administrator I went to Hamburg [Germany] for a shipbuilding conference. We
actually had people from other countries who came to see us about building ships in the
United States for use in Europe. That is terrific. I am hopeful that the Congress will
give us the money that we have asked for so that we can continue that project because I
think it is a bargain.
Have the provisions of the NSI and
Title XI financing enabled U.S. shipbuilders to modernize their facilities to improve
performance on U.S. Navy construction programs and to capture more commercial work?
HART: It seems to be working that way.
There has been an upturn in commercial orders for U.S. shipyards. And I think that at
least a part of that, if not all of it, is due to the Title XI program. And again, we
continue to get more and more interest by shipyards interested in coming in and talking
about using Title XI to modernize their shipyards. That is all to the good.
In March, the Clinton administration
proposed a one-year waiver to the Jones Act to allow the use of foreign-built ships to
transport U.S. food abroad, most notably to Russia. Does this signal any change in the
administration's past opposition to Jones Act reform?
HART: There has been no diminution of
this administration's position on the Jones Act at all. The waiver we have requested is
aimed at getting food to the people who need it for humanitarian reasons. If anyone claims
that this waiver request signals a change in our position regarding the Jones Act, they
are wrong.
In closing, what is your outlook for
the U.S.-flag merchant marine as we anticipate the dawn of the 21st century?
HART: My vision is that we have a
U.S.-flag merchant marine that is the envy of the world. I want American-built,
American-crewed, and American-flagged ships out on the world's oceans. Anything I can do
to help that process along I think I am duty-bound to do. That is my vision. My outlook is
the same--although, as with all visions, the vision comes easier than the day-to-day
slogging to accomplish it! I think we will get it done.
Is there anything you would care to
say to the readers of Sea Power?
HART: I have read Sea Power now
for a couple of years, and I learn something new every time I read it. I wish you long
life and health. I appreciate this opportunity to speak to your readers. |
