The following letter was sent May 23 to United States Senator Susan Collins, Chairman, Committee on Appropriations; U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Ranking Member, Committee on Appropriations; U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, Chairman Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies; and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Ranking Member Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
Dear Chairman Collins, Ranking Member Murray, Chairman Hyde-Smith, and Ranking Member Gillibrand:
We are writing to request that you fund the Maritime Security Program (MSP) at the authorized level in the Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Bill.
MSP is a vital component of our military strategic sealift and global response capability. It is designed to ensure that the United States has U.S.-flag commercial sealift capability and trained U.S. citizen merchant mariners available in times of war or national emergencies. MSP also ensures that the U.S. can provide our troops overseas with the supplies and equipment they need to do their jobs on behalf of our nation.
MSP is a cost-effective public-private partnership between the U.S. government and the U.S.-flag shipping industry. The program uses existing U.S. maritime private-sector capabilities, which cost far less than they would if performed by the federal government. MSP contractors, who continuously develop and maintain modern logistics systems, are able to provide enhanced vessel capacity and global intermodal transportation systems to the Department of Defense. Estimates indicate that it would cost the federal government at least $65 billion to replace the vessels and intermodal system.
Without a viable U.S.-flag commercial fleet and the American merchant mariners this fleet supports, the United States would be unable to deploy military forces on a global scale and deliver the supplies and equipment American troops need to perform their mission on behalf of the American people.
As you consider Fiscal Year 2026 funding levels for your subcommittee’s appropriations bill, we ask that you continue to support this highly efficient and low-cost public-private partnership at the authorized level.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin
U.S. Senator Angus S. King, Jr.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine
U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D.
U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
U.S. Senator Brian Schatz
U.S. Senator Mark Kelly
U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks
U.S. Senator Margaret Wood Hassan
U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester
U.S. Senator Cory A. Booker
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren
U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen
U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner
U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego
U.S. Senator Adam B. Schiff
U.S. Senator John Kennedy