nominated Storis for listing as a nationally significa nt resource on th e National Register of Historic Places. They petitioned Congress and the Coast G uard to transfer ownership of the vessel to their organization so that they could preserve the ship and the memory of its specific role in our national story, while educating children about maritime history in general. Every story must h ave an antagonist, and in this one it is the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal agency tasked with the disposal offederal property that h as become obsolete or surplus. GSA officials, awa re that the Storis ve terans had organized to turn the ship into a museum, decided to auction off the ship in July 201 3. The winning bid? $70,000. Despite the fact that it came in below the reserve price, officials at the GSA accepted the bid, knowing that the new owner had plans to immediately to scrap her in Mexico. The museum gro up was never given the option to purchase the ship at that modest price. The GSA's action triggered a tsunami of outrage. Maritime heritage organizations and American ship recyclers started asking questions. While the Storis veterans were infuriated by their callous treatment, domestic ship recyclers were put off that they were denied the opportunity as well (federal law requires all government ships to be recycled within rhe United States) . In addition to their support of the effort to turn the ship into a museum, the maritime heritage co mmunity also lost o ut on potential funds that should have gone to a vital grants program . A portion of the pro ceed s from the sale of MARADadministered ships funds the National Park Service Maritime Heritage Grant program, while GSA proceeds go to the General Treasury. Sto ris ve terans , m aritime heritage organizations, and American ship recyclers vowed to hold the GSA accountable for its actions, so they turned to Congress for help. There they found individual lawmakers who would back their cause. Rep. John Garamendi (CA) included language in the US Coast Guard Authorization Act of2015 requiring the General Accountability Office to conduct an audit of the obsolete ship sale proceeds dedicated to the maritime heritage grant program . Rep . C h arles Boustany Jr. (LA) and Rep. Filamon Vela SEA HISTORY 158, SPRING 20 17
Jr. (TX) sent a letter to the US D epartment of Tra n sportation Inspecto r General requesting that he investigate why the Storis had been disposed of by the GSA instead of MARAD. Rep. Garret G raves (LA), Senator Bill Cassidy (LA), and Senator David Viner (LA) introduced the Ships to Be Recycled in the States Act, or STORIS Act, in the summer of2015. But that's not all. Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ) worked with Rep. Randy Forbes (VA) and Rep. Duncan Hunter (CA) to include lan g u age in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2017, requiring MARAD to create a list of all government vessels that will be declared obsolete in the next five years. On the Sen ate side, Senator R oger Wicker (MS), with the support of Sen ator D eb Fischer (NE) and Senator Cory Booker (NJ), included similar lan guage in the Maritime Administration A uthorization and Enhancement Act for 20 17. Last but not least, Senator Bill Nelson (FL), with the support of Senator John Thune (SD), Senator John McCain (AZ), and Senator Jack Reed (RI) , included ship- recycli n g reform language in the Senate-passed 2017 NDAA. House of R epresentatives and Senate staffers spent the summer of 201 6 negotiating language that was included in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Obama in December 2016. I realize that introducing so many characters mid-way through a story can be confusing, but I did so fo r a reaso n. Each member of Congress listed above provided vital assistance in ch an ging the law. Similarly, every Storis ve teran, maritime heritage organization, and ship recycler who wrote a letter or called these members of Congress made a difference. The next target for change is the US commercial fleet, including ships in the MARAD Maritime Securi ty Program . MSP ships are privately owned US-flagged vessels deemed "militarily useful." MSP participating shipowners receive on average more than $3 million per ship per year from the US gove rnment. MSP ships are currently dismantled in Asia in substandard and unsafe conditions th at irreparably da mage rhe ocean and surrounding environment, and injure and even kill workers. In addition to the environmental
hazards they are exposed to, Bangladeshi workers h ave died after fa lling, being crushed by steel plates, and hit by a cylinder blast. US ship recyclers will be asking Congress to require that MSP sh ips be taken apart in the United States, where we can be ass ured that the work will be done in an appropriate, safe, and envi ronmentally sound manner. It is the position of A m erican ship recyclers that if a vessel receives a subsidy from the US government, then that ship must be then recycled in the United States. Additionally, US comm ercial ships employed by the D epartment of Defense are also being dismantled in Asian facilities. These ships include MV Capt. Steven L. Bennett, a container ship named after an Air Force pilot who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Vietnam War. The Air Force held a naming ceremony for the ship in 1997 and members of the Bennett family attended . The ship served the needs of the US Ai r Force as a Logistics Prepositioning Ship for fo urteen years, includin g work suppl yi n g peacekeeping missions and in various theaters of war. In 2016, the ship was taken to India for demolition, and, sadly, the Capt. Steven L. Bennett isn't the only vessel named after a Medal of Honor recipient to meet this fare. Storis's legacy is one of teamwork and change. Rallying under her n ame, Storis veterans, the maritime heritage community, and US ship recyclers successfully worked together to lobby Congress. They showed how progress can be made even in the most difficult of political environments. Like Storis, these advocates viewed every obstacle as one to overcome and conquer. As a bit player in this story, I want to say thank yo u to Tim Runyan, chair of the National M aritime Alliance and trustee of the National Maritime Historical Society, for hi s outstanding lead ership and dedication to the m aritime heritage organizations under his guidance. I'd also like to say thank yo u to Jon Ottman. Without his perseverance and doggedness, no one wo uld have known about USCGC Storis. Together they changed the law and together they showed how the story of a single ship ca n inspire thousands. ,!, - K Denise Rucker Krepp, Government Relations Counsel, EMR USA 15