In this issue...
H.R. 23 passes House...M.E.B.A. testimony at marine safety hearing...Latest T-AKE delivered...This ain't no fish story! You'll fall for our latest big-mouthed edition hook, line and sinker as we rise to the bait and go trolling for the latest maritime keepers. Cast out small-fry, crappie newsletters that are green around the gills and reel in whoppers -- they bite! Holy Mackerel! It's no fluke...the Telex Times is a real catch!

HOUSE PASSES H.R. 23 UNANIMOUSLY
On Monday, in a unanimous vote, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 23, the Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners Act of 2007. The bill would provide a monthly cash benefit to qualified World War II veteran merchant mariners. This represents the farthest point in the legislative process that this bill has reached since being introduced in the last Congress and reintroduced in the current one. The Senate has yet to move the measure through committees, and it is uncertain when or if they will do so.

CONGRESS STRUGGLES TO COMPLETE WORK BEFORE AUGUST RECESS The House found
itself embroiled in fierce partisan sniping and a walk-out of over 100 Republican legislators last night, following a disputed vote on a motion during debate of the FY 2008 Agriculture spending bill. The controversy has upset plans for completing the House's work on their last outstanding spending bill, the Defense Appropriations bill. Members of both parties continued to demonstrate distrust and hair-trigger tempers during debate today.

The House and Senate are scheduled to begin their August recess at the conclusion of today's business, but the issues in the House may result in the recess being delayed.

M.E.B.A. TESTIFIES AT HOUSE HEARING ON COAST GUARD'S MARINE SAFETY PROGRAM
Following up on an oversight hearing held on July 31st regarding the administration of the recently criticized Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge program, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation held a hearing exploring the challenges facing the Coast Guard's Marine Safety program. The marine safety program, one of the oldest core functions of the Coast Guard dating back nearly two centuries, has been under scrutiny following the Coast Guard's difficulties with the merchant mariner credentialing program, their Transportation Worker Identification Credential, and reports on a number of marine casualties that cast doubt upon the effectiveness of the Coast Guard's inspection programs.

Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen represented the Coast Guard at the hearing. M.E.B.A.'s Director of Government Affairs and Deputy General Counsel testified on behalf of the M.E.B.A. at the hearing, along with a representative of the Masters, Mates and Pilots and one from the Gulf Coast Mariners Association.

M.E.B.A.'s testimony highlighted the importance of the Coast Guard and its success in fulfilling its multi-mission roles, but pointed out some areas where the Coast Guard had room for improvement. M.E.B.A. identified a lack of expertise on the part of marine inspectors, the difficulties associated with the Coast Guard's military structure, a lack of consistency in Coast Guard regulatory rulings, and continued concerns with the processing of MMDs and the administration of the TWIC program.

This testimony is available on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's website.

MSC TAKES DELIVERY OF LATEST T-AKE
The Military Sealift Command took delivery of their latest newbuild dry cargo/ammunition ship, the USNS ALAN SHEPARD (T-AKE 3), this week in San Diego. The vessel was built by San Diego's NASSCO shipyard.

SHEPARD, crewed with M.E.B.A. officers in the engine room, is the third in the Lewis and Clark-class of underway replenishment ships and is able to deliver ammunition, provisions, stores, spare parts, potable water and petroleum products to the Navy's carrier and expeditionary strike groups and other naval forces.

"The T-AKEs are the best ships we have," said Capt. Greg Hague, SHEPARD's civil service master. "Their cargo handling capacity is outstanding and we can move cargo more rapidly and efficiently than ever before."

The T-AKE's are replacing aging, single-mission ships such as Kilauea-class ammunition ships and Mars- and Sirius-class combat stores ships that are nearing the end of their service lives.

The 689-foot SHEPARD will operate initially in the 3rd Fleet area of responsibility. The first and second ships in the class, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK and USNS SACAGAWEA, operate on the East Coast.

NASSCO was awarded contracts to build nine T-AKE ships for the Navy, which are then turned over to the MSC and crewed with M.E.B.A. engineers. Five additional ships are expected to be ordered by the Navy for a total class of 14 ships.

PRESIDENT SIGNS H.R. 1
This week President Bush signed into law H.R. 1, a bill containing important maritime provisions. The legislation implements many of the recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission. The new law contains a provision that codifies the list of disqualifying crimes making an individual ineligible to receive a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). Other provisions would require 100% screening for security and terrorism risks of maritime cargo over the next five years.

MARAD UNLOADS ANOTHER JAMES RIVER RUSTBUCKET
The Maritime Administration announced this week that All Star Metals of Brownsville, Texas, has won a $454,690 fee-for-service contract to recycle the rotting Ghost Fleet ship LAKE. When the LAKE leaves the James River site, it will be the 61st ship to depart since January 2001.

"The best move we can make to protect the environment in the area is to move these ships," said Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton. "One ship at a time, we're moving the obsolete vessels out of the James River."

The LAKE was originally built as a combination freighter and passenger ship in 1961, and was christened the MORMAC LAKE. The vessel served as part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet sealift during the Gulf War in 1991. When returning with military gear from the Persian Gulf, it stopped to rescue four people who had spent four days aboard a life raft after their 19th century 75-foot wooden schooner took on water and sank.

MSC AMMUNITION SHIP BEGINS "OPERATION POPCORN"
A Military Sealift Command vessel that routinely delivers ordnance to Navy ships will soon deliver a very different type of cargo: ammunition ship USNS FLINT will distribute 250,000 bags of donated microwavable popcorn. The 564-foot FLINT, which supports the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet, will supply the popcorn to Navy ships at sea and will pass a portion of its edible cargo to other MSC ships that will help to deliver it to thousands of sailors and Marines aboard other Navy ships around the world.

Termed "Operation Popcorn", the delivery of 3,000 cases of the buttery treat - in addition to already-planned ammunition - will be made by FLINT's civil service mariners. M.E.B.A. civilian mariners serve in the engine room aboard the vessel. The donation was a result of a coordinated effort between the Boy Scouts of America, Support Our Troops organization and Weaver Popcorn Co., which gave the $70,000 worth of popcorn for Navy sailors and Marines serving far from home. The ammunition and popcorn were loaded at Naval Magazine Indian Island, Wash., July 20 and 21. FLINT will deliver the popcorn over the next three weeks. Cases of butter, butter light and kettle corn will be given to each ship.

MARPOL ANNEX I AMENDMENTS ENTER INTO FORCE
This week an important amendment to Annex I of MARPOL came into force. A new regulation on oil fuel tank protection sets out requirements concerning the location of oil fuel tanks in all ships with an aggregate oil fuel capacity of 600 m3 and above which are delivered after August 1, 2010. The new regulation will be immediately applicable for all categories of ships on the drawing board with oil fuel tanks of at least 600 m3 capacity. In essence, the protection requirements oblige the oil fuel tanks to be located inside the double hull, thus helping prevent spillages of oil fuel in case of collision or grounding.

CG SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRMAN CALLS FOR INDEPENDENCE OF COAST GUARD ADMINISTRATIVE LAW FUNCTIONS
The Chairman of a House Subcommittee looking into the Coast Guard's Administrative law system is calling for measures to be taken to make the process more fair. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) chairs the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation which is part of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. Chairman Cummings oversaw a hearing this week to probe recent allegations that the judicial system is weighed against U.S. merchant mariners in favor of the Coast Guard in cases heard before administrative law judges. In a June 24, 2007 article, Baltimore Sun reporter Robert Little interviewed numerous sources alleging that the Coast Guard administrative court system "isn't merely tough on mariners but is stacked against them." The article detailed potential ethical breaches and possible violations of federal laws.

The Subcommittee received testimony from three former Coast Guard Administrative Law Judges (ALJ), an attorney who represents mariners before the Coast Guard's administrative law system and two senior Coast Guard officers. Following the hearing, Rep. Cummings issued a statement saying that the Coast Guard's administrative law functions should be separate and independent of the agency. He noted that the former ALJs delivered testimony that suggested that their Coast Guard ALJ service was conducted in 'an atmosphere that did not support their exercise of judicial independence in the consideration of cases.'

"Additionally," said Cummings, "serious allegations were raised that, if true, would imply that patently improper actions may have been committed to direct an ALJ to decide matters in the Coast Guard's favor. Such testimony is obviously deeply disturbing and, if true, would suggest that the scales of the Coast Guard's administrative law system are not evenly balanced." He pointed out that he would like to schedule more hearings to develop a more conclusive picture since the Subcommittee was unable to schedule key personnel in the Coast Guard's administrative law system.

"Coast Guard officers investigate accusations and bring cases against mariners - and even handle appeals of ALJ decisions raised to the Commandant," his statement concluded. "I believe that the best way to ensure that the administrative law system that considers whether to suspend or revoke a mariner's credential is truly balanced is to separate that system from the Coast Guard."

MAKE SURE YOU UPDATE YOUR INFO WITH HQ
Be sure to inform Headquarters if you recently changed your contact information. We have placed an address change form on our website to help expedite the process. Address changes now require a signature for validation along with your new information. You can get the form in either a .pdf or a Word document from www.meba.us.  Once there, click on the "Members Only" tab and toggle "Address Changes." The form can be printed out by the member or retiree, filled out completely with a signature and faxed or mailed to Headquarters. Those of you with scanners can complete the document with your signature then scan and e-mail it back to us.

Those active and retired members who have not received mailings from Headquarters such as the Marine Officer or other important information may want to log onto our website to clarify their address. Because the M.E.B.A. Plans office in Baltimore and Headquarters databases are NOT linked you must also forward a signed change of address form to the Plans Office if you wish to update your information with them.

NEXT REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
Monday August 6 - Boston, Seattle;
Tuesday, August 7 - Baltimore, Houston, Jacksonville, San Francisco;
Wednesday, August 8 - Calhoon School, Charleston, New Orleans, Portland;
Thursday, August 9 - L.A., New York, Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, August 10 - Honolulu.