As international competition for trade, commerce and military power in the Pacific grow, America’s maritime decline threatens our national security and our economy. The only way to fix it is to rebuild American shipbuilding with American workers and American crews.

In the 20th century, we were a dominant maritime power, with massive fleets and shipyards that helped secure victory in World War II and meant most goods traveled the world on U.S.-built ships. But that edge has disappeared over time. For much of the 21st century, shipbuilding remained on the back burner of national priorities, shipyards shrank and closed, taking good-paying jobs with them.

China now dominates the world’s sea lanes and is massively outbuilding the United States on merchant and naval fleets. China has the world’s largest commercial fleet and is building over 1,000 vessels every year. In 2024, the United States built only five merchant vessels, while China built 1,400. China also has three times as many naval warships as the United States.

This has dangerous implications for our economic and maritime security. In the event of a military or trade conflict, President Xi Jinping could prohibit Chinese ships from entering American ports, an action that could cause industry bottlenecks, cut off supply to needed goods and jack up prices — basically overnight.

SEN WICKER: ENDING CHINA’S DRONE DOMINANCE WITH A MADE-IN-AMERICA REVIVAL

This is not just hypothetical. On April 3, 2025, China leveraged its virtual industrial shipping monopoly and prevented rare earth exports to the U.S., thereby kneecapping U.S. production on everything from smartphones to fighter jets. Although China’s action was ultimately narrow in scope, it showed the world that China could flex its muscle on the world’s seas with devastating effects for the United States and the global economy.

To maintain our economic and military leadership, America must rebuild its maritime industry.

And today, we have a president who seems to recognize this urgent need. In February, President Donald Trump unveiled his Maritime Action Plan, a blueprint to make American ships again. It would provide long-term and stable funding for U.S.-built ships, shipyards and mariners and cut regulatory red tape to meet the maritime needs of our country today.

REP. BRIAN MAST: DEMOCRATS’ 43-DAY SHUTDOWN WAS NOT A STRATEGY — IT WAS A DISASTER

We share the goal of revitalizing the U.S. maritime sector. That’s why we introduced the SHIPS for America Act with Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young and Mississippi Republican Rep. Trent Kelly. It’s the most ambitious and comprehensive legislation in a generation to set America on the path to regain our position as the greatest maritime power in the world. 

The SHIPS for America Act sets a national goal of expanding the U.S.-flagged international fleet by 250 ships over 10 years, upgrading and expanding America’s private shipyards for repairing and building commercial ships, training and employing skilled workers and providing funding through the creation of the Strategic Commercial Fleet Program. 

Whether you’re talking about Mare Island in California or Gulf Port in Mississippi, this comprehensive bill would deliver much-needed investments to America’s rusted maritime sector. It would modernize shipyards, strengthen workforce development and stabilize supply chains so that we can have a modern, capable merchant and naval fleet while reducing dependence on foreign suppliers. All of that sends a signal to the industry: American shipbuilding is back, and it’s time to invest in it.

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That will create thousands of good-paying American jobs where workers can actually raise a family, save for the future and get ahead. Our SHIPS for America Act is about more than building ships in ports. It’s about building every part of a ship in America.

From the steel that makes up the ship’s hull to the electronics that are necessary to navigate across oceans, this will galvanize every industry that plays a part in building ships, benefiting not just coastal cities, but hardworking communities in every corner of the country.

Never before have we witnessed such comprehensive alignment among Republicans and Democrats, industry and organized labor for rebuilding our great nation’s maritime industry.

It’s clear to us that the opportunity is now. Let’s get to work.

Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly represents Arizona in the U.S. Senate. He serves on the Armed Services, Environment and Public Works, Energy and Natural Resources, Aging, and Joint Economic Committees. He is chair of the Airland Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

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For more than 70 days, Senate Democrats claimed that they shut down the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) because they wanted to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It’s clear now that they shut down DHS out of fear of their own voters.

The loon wing of the Democratic Party—the folks who think Dr. Seuss is racist, Mr. Potato Head is sexist and children can change their genders at recess—is the largest and loudest segment of the Democratic Party. They hate our immigration laws. They want criminal illegal aliens to roam free while ICE officers rot in jail. And they have made it clear to every Democrat in office that a vote to fund ICE would haunt them for the rest of their natural lives.

But the American people don’t want open borders, and they don’t think cops are worse than criminals. They know it is bone-deep stupid to allow gang members, drug traffickers and terrorists to enter our country unchecked, and they support the ongoing effort to deport as many violent criminals as possible.

This left my Democratic colleagues with a choice: Stand up to the loon wing of your party or defund ICE. They chose the latter.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP EYES DHS DEAL FUNDING ICE PROBES, BUT NOT REMOVALS, AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS

Democratic leaders pretended for more than a month that they would vote to fund ICE if the Trump administration enacted certain reforms. But as DHS adopted new policies, including a plan to have ICE officers wear body cameras, Senate Democrats revealed that it didn’t matter what ICE did; they weren’t going to vote to reopen the agency under any circumstances.

While Democrats performed this song and dance, more than 100,000 DHS employees went without paychecks, and chaos unfolded at every airport in America. And when I came to the Senate floor with my resolution to withhold pay from senators during government shutdowns, they blocked it.

They were willing to use the paychecks of federal employees as a political pawn, but they weren’t willing to share in that sacrifice themselves. The whole performance made most fair-minded Americans want to stick their heads in an oven.

SENATE REPUBLICANS RACE TO FUND ICE, CBP WITHOUT DEMOCRATS AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS

As the anti-ICE, pro-Karen wing has grown in prominence, Senate Democrats have developed a severe allergy to common-sense policies.

It’s why they voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill and the thousands of dollars of tax savings for the average American. And why they melted down when Republicans voted to rescind more than $9 billion in woke foreign aid, including funding for Sesame Street programs in Iraq, free vasectomies in Zambia and pastry-cooking classes for male prostitutes in Nepal.

I don’t hate my Democratic colleagues for losing their minds to appease their political base. I don’t hate anybody. But the loon wing’s dominance has changed how Republicans need to operate if we are ever going to get anything done.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES ERUPT OVER SENATE GOP, WHITE HOUSE DEAL AMID SAVE ACT FIGHT

The sad reality is that many of our Democratic colleagues have become unable to engage in good-faith negotiations. Their only tactic is to shut down the government and plunge our country into a dangerous state of chaos.

That’s why I was so pleased that Republicans finally agreed to turn to budget reconciliation to pass ICE funding. The 1974 Budget Control Act’s reconciliation process established certain circumstances under which the Senate can pass major legislation with just 51 votes instead of the usual 60. This is how we passed the One Big Beautiful Bill last July.

Last week, we used the reconciliation process to pass three years of funding for ICE and Border Patrol. This will ensure that the Trump administration can continue to keep our border secure and remove dangerous criminals from our country well into the future.

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But we don’t have to stop there. The Budget Control Act offers each Congress at least three opportunities to use the reconciliation process to address concerns facing the American people. We should use them all.

Since we passed the One Big Beautiful Bill last July, I have been urging my fellow senators to put reconciliation to use to address the cost of living in America. When moms and dads try to sleep at night and they can’t, it’s because they’re thinking about how expensive life has become since President Biden was in office.

The One Big Beautiful Bill made important changes to our tax code to keep more money in people’s pockets, including no tax on tips, overtime and some Social Security benefits. But we can do a lot more to help Americans make ends meet through reconciliation.

Senate Democrats aren’t just holding ICE hostage on behalf of the loon wing of their party. They’re stopping every effort we make to improve the lives of the American people. If we want to fulfill all the other promises we made to American families, reconciliation is our only opportunity. I hope we won’t waste it.

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