“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” - Edmund Burke – Irish philosopher/politician
It is my understanding that MARAD is pushing back against the proposed (S)hips (TO) be (R)ecycled (I)n the (S)tates (STORIS) Act. The agency has sent out a several page letter to refute the need for such legislation.
Once again, it is important to realize that opportunities to speak up about STORIS will be few and far between at this point. STORIS and her fate can and will be easily overlooked and forgotten in current event issues like the fight against Islamic terrorists, Ebola, illegal immigration, and midterm elections. I am hoping that people are taking the time to reach out to the legislators on the various committees linked on the post of September 25. So far, only six people have clicked on the link to the letter template provided. That is not encouraging.
While the proposed legislation tackles a different set of issues, the introduction will – in a very important way – open a dialogue into STORIS herself and what happened to the ship in her own situation. There will have to be an explanation as to why the legislation is called what it is. This is an opportunity for those of us who care about STORIS to speak up and be heard.
In the interests of generating support for this legislation, a petition has been assembled. The petition and comments will be electronically forwarded to legislators to support the STORIS Act and encourage dialogue related to the sorry situation that led to the destruction of the ship.
Comments related to signatory connections to STORIS, the Coast Guard and personal feelings about the illegal excessing/destruction of the ship can be added during the signing process.
The petition is here: http://goo.gl/5Um3Vz
Again, the contact information for the legislators who need to be encouraged is here:
Contact information for Sen. Begich’s Washington, DC, and Alaska District Offices is at the bottom of this page: http://www.begich.senate.gov/public/
Contact Sen. Begich’s office through email at: http://www.begich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/emailsenator
Members of the Senate Armed Forces Committee are listed at http://www.armed-services.senate.gov
Members of the Senate Commerce Committee are here: http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=CommitteeMembers
House Armed Services members are here: http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/members
House Transportation and Infrastructure: http://transportation.house.gov/about/membership.htm
Duncan Hunter, the namesake of the National Defense Authorization Act language that should have made STORIS’ export illegal, is on the House T&I Committee. I think everyone should reach out to his office on behalf of STORIS.
Again, this is a chance to speak up and be heard about our feelings and disgust in regard to the utterly contemptible treatment that STORIS and her crews received at the hands of our government, the very same government the ship and her Coast Guard heroes served for over 64 years.
Throw them a line, break the ice and rock the boat.
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