I’ve been a longtime supporter of the Jones Act and have joined efforts to strengthen enforcement.
Support the Jones Act and strengthen its enforcement.
Occurrences
Evidence
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
A bipartisan group including Brian Schatz urged the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen the Jones Act and asked that any recommendations be made in the interest of strengthening enforcement. The letter said CBP interpretations allowed foreign-flag vessels to transport merchandise between U.S. points and asked the administration to enforce the statute as written.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
MARAD states that the Jones Act requires coastwise merchandise transport between U.S. points to use U.S.-built, U.S.-owned, coastwise-endorsed vessels; it also lists a March 17, 2026 Jones Act waiver with August 2026 reports and states CBP enforces the Jones Act by imposing penalties for violations.
Assessments
Schatz took concrete official action supporting the Jones Act and stronger enforcement, including joining a bipartisan Senate letter urging the administration to preserve the law and enforce it as written. However, the evidence does not show that he secured a new statutory or executive enforcement-strengthening outcome attributable to him. The Jones Act enforcement framework remains active, but waiver activity and lack of a clear delivered enforcement change make this partial rather than delivered.