Open America's Ports Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1992 To adjust certain ownership and other requirements for passenger vessels, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 9, 2021 Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To adjust certain ownership and other requirements for passenger vessels, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open America’s Ports 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF PVSA AND ADJUSTMENT OF JONES ACT 6 REQUIREMENTS FOR PASSENGER VESSELS. 7 (a) REPEAL OF PVSA DOMESTIC REQUIREMENTS.— 8 Section 55103 of title 46, United States Code (commonly 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1992.IS S1992 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1992 IS referred to as the ‘‘Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1 1886’’), is repealed. 2 (b) ADJUSTMENT OF JONES ACT REQUIREMENTS.— 3 Chapter 121 of title 46, United States Code, is amended— 4 (1) in section 12103, by adding at the end the 5 following: 6 ‘‘(d) NONAPPLICABILITY.—The requirements of this 7 section shall not apply to any vessel that transports pas- 8 sengers between ports or places in the United States to 9 which the coastwise laws apply, either directly or via a 10 foreign port.’’; 11 (2) in section 12112(a)— 12 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘except 13 in the case of a vessel described in subpara- 14 graph (C) of paragraph (2),’’ before ‘‘satisfies’’; 15 and 16 (B) in paragraph (2)— 17 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 18 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 19 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by strik- 20 ing ‘‘; and’’ and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 21 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘(C) transports passengers between ports or 24 places in the United States to which the coastwise 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1992.IS S1992 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1992 IS laws apply, either directly or via a foreign port; 1 and’’; and 2 (3) in section 12121(b), by striking ‘‘55102, 3 and 55103’’ and inserting ‘‘and 55102’’. 4 (c) ADJUSTMENT OF CITIZENSHIP AND NAVY RE- 5 SERVE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 8103(k) of title 46, 6 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 7 ‘‘(k) EXEMPTION FOR PASSENGER VESSELS.—Sub- 8 sections (a) and (b) shall not apply to any vessel that 9 transports passengers between ports or places in the 10 United States to which the coastwise laws apply, either 11 directly or via a foreign port.’’. 12 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Chapter 551 of 13 title 46, United States Code, is amended— 14 (1) by repealing section 55104; and 15 (2) in section 55121— 16 (A) in the section heading, by striking 17 ‘‘and passengers’’; 18 (B) by striking subsection (a); 19 (C) by striking ‘‘(b)’’ and all that follows 20 through ‘‘States.—’’; and 21 (D) by striking ‘‘sections 55102 and 55103 22 of this title do’’ and inserting ‘‘section 55102 of 23 this title does’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1992.IS S1992 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1992 IS SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENTS RELATING TO PERMITS TO LAND 1 TEMPORARILY FOR ALIEN CREWMEN. 2 Section 252(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 3 Act (8 U.S.C. 1282(a)) is amended, in the matter pre- 4 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘not to exceed—’’ and 5 all that follows through the period at the end of paragraph 6 (2) and inserting ‘‘not to exceed the period of time during 7 which the crewman is in possession of a valid, unexpired 8 visa issued pursuant to such paragraph, if the immigration 9 officer is satisfied that the crewman intends to depart— 10 ‘‘(1) on the vessel or aircraft on which the 11 crewman arrived; or 12 ‘‘(2) on a vessel or aircraft other than the ves- 13 sel or aircraft on which the crewman arrived.’’. 14 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 15 Nothing in the amendments made by this Act shall 16 be construed to exempt a vessel that transports passengers 17 between ports or places in the United States to which the 18 coastwise laws apply, either directly or via a foreign port, 19 from any applicable law of the United States except as 20 explicitly provided in such amendments. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1992.IS S1992 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS