The Governments of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, sweden, and the United Kingdom and the Commission of the European Communities ("the Governments") present their compliments to the Department of state and have the honour to draw the attention of the Department of state to a bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives (HR 1517) which would extend US federal labour laws to foreign flag ships.

The Governments are gravely concerned by this proposal which would not be permissible under customary international law and practice under which flag states remain solely responsible for the application of labour and other similar laws to ships on their registers. The Governments continue to attach great importance to these principles and request the Department of State to bring their concern to the attention of all interested parties of the United States Government.

The Governments avail themselvas of this opportunity to new to the Department of State the assurances of their highest consideration.

renew

Washington, D.C., 6 May 1993

The Department of state
Washington, D.C.

Chairman MURPHY. Thank you, Mr. Fawell.

Congressman William Clay, who has been a principal sponsor of this legislation for a number of years. He apologizes for not attending. This morning, the Budget Committee is having a serious budget conference and he must attend that.

Our first panel of witnesses will please take the chairs here at the front table: Deacon Robert Balderas, National Director, Apostleship of the Sea; Mr. Terry Turner, National Director, Seafarers International Union of North America; Mr. John Sansone, Director, International Transport Federation, International Longshoremen's Association; and Thomas J. Schneider, Esquire, Restructuring Association.

We are also pleased to have with us this morning Mr. Tal Simpkins, and I understand that Mr. Simpkins, who is well known and respected by the committee, will be submitting a written statement for the record by Louis Parise, President, AFL-CIO Maritime Committee. I want to thank you, Mr. Simpkins, for foregoing your opportunity to testify personally in respect to the committee's time on a session day. I would appreciate your appearance if we have any questions to ask you following the panels.

The panel may proceed. Deacon Balderas?

STATEMENTS OF DEACON ROBERT M. BALDERAS, NATIONAL DIRECTOR, APOSTLESHIP OF THE SEA; TERRY TURNER, NATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS DIRECTOR, SEAFARERS INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA; JOHN A. SANSONE, JR., U.S. INSPECTORATE FOC COORDINATOR, INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT WORKERS FEDERATION, INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION; AND THOMAS J. SCHNEIDER, ESQ., O'CONNOR & HANNAN, WASHINGTON, DC, COUNSEL TO THE AFL-CIO MARITIME COMMITTEE

Mr. BALDERAS. Thank you. Allow me to introduce myself and the Catholic Church ministry in which I serve. As you already know, I am Deacon Robert M. Balderas, National Director for the Apostleship of the Sea. The AOS, as it is known worldwide, is the Catholic Church's outreach ministry to all who work and travel on the high

seas.

Evangelization, not proselytism, is the primary thrust of the AOS ministry. We do not seek converts to Catholicism among the seafarers but only conversions to a Christian lifestyle, both on and off ship. We proclaim the good news of salvation in Jesus by giving life to the Gospels through living Christian witness. We invite seafarers to hear the message and encourage them to respond through the practice of their faith, regardless of religious affiliation.

AOS chaplains may be found working in 54 American ports. They are daily ship visitors who are trained to act as counselors and spiritual guides and to preside at shipboard religious services. Our port ministers attempt to create a parish environment for people on the move, and we work alongside representatives of other major denominations so that the spiritual needs of the nonCatholic seafarers are not overlooked but addressed as well.

The human needs of seafarers are considered very important, too. The AOS does what it can to satisfy these needs by providing

free transportation to affordable shopping malls and centers for seafarers. The latter provide safe havens for socializing, relaxing, recreation, telephones, and just quiet places where letter writing, prayer, and meditation is possible.

The fulfillment of a seafarer's needs is challenged today by the technological advances in the maritime industry. Oceangoing vessels formerly required days in port for the loading and unloading of cargo. With the advent of containerization and other specialty carriers, port times have been reduced from days to hours. The numbers in ship crews have decreased, too. This has resulted in today's seafarers working longer hours-and for less pay, I might add-for the majority come from developing nations whose chief export product is their labor force.

Similar challenges are faced by those working in the cruise industry. Cruise ships and crews spend little time in port, and much. of it is spent either cleaning up after passengers or preparing for the next voyage. The cruise ships that allow chaplains aboard while underway more often than not prefer chaplains to paying their paying clientele. There is no encouragement, and hesitant approval at best, for ministry to crews.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, fishing is the most dangerous form of occupation. In 1991, 39 fishing boats were lost off the Alaskan coast. This number increased in 1992 to 45. The AOS is greatly concerned about the living and working conditions of fishers. The Americans and foreigners who work aboard fishing vessels are among the worst abused.

This is the environment in which AOS port ministers work. None of this is new. All of this has been stated before and in more detail. The horror stories are many and unbelievable to the stranger. Nevertheless, they are true, but I do not believe it would serve any purpose for me to take up more of your valuable time by citing new individual tales of horror.

Suffice it to say that men and women seafarers are being overworked, underpaid, cheated of their wages, deposited at ports foreign to them like so much dunnage, as we speak. Far too many of today's seafarers are treated like ship spare parts. They are used until they wear out or break. Then they are discarded without a second thought. Nothing seems to change.

AOS chaplains are not ship inspectors, social workers, union organizers, attorneys, or paralegals. Neither do any aspire to such positions of importance. We are representatives of the Catholic Church under its leader, Pope John Paul II, and our worldwide network is tied together by his Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, all working under our local bishops.

We are sent forth by our church to nurture the spiritual life of God's people and accept the challenge under difficult circumstances. The impediments to our ministry are as broad as those faced by the seafarers in practicing their faith and for the Catholics participating in the sacramental life of the church.

Frequent separation from home and family should be sufficient hardship for any man or woman to endure while working for the benefit of family, but for the seafarer, there is much more. Can anyone imagine the pain that comes with receiving cable notifica

tion on the death and burial of a loved one? Your 8-year-old daughter was killed, your brother died, or your wife was rushed to the hospital are the contents of just some of the cables I have read. Every written notification mentioned herein was delivered long after the fact, some intentionally so to avoid having to replace a seafarer in the middle of a contract period.

Without seafarers, the wheels of international trade would have trouble turning. Is it not enough that they miss family births, deaths, and celebrations because of their occupation? Must they also endure lifestyles similar to that of slaves or machinery? Must we continue to allow them to be overworked, underpaid, and oftentimes cheated of the little they earn?

In the case of Nelson R. Raby, et al, v. M/V Pine Forest, shipowners freely admitted to the fraudulent practice of double bookkeeping. Yet, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision of a lower court which awarded the seafarers the monetary compensation they were entitled to. How long are we going to protect the unscrupulous shipowner? When is enough going to be enough? Everyone in the AOS network prays for the day when seafarers, regardless of their nationality, will be looked upon as human beings, deserving of respect, fair treatment, and a just wage. The good news of salvation is difficult to deliver and much more difficult to accept in the midst of pain and suffering. The maritime industry would profit if justice for all prevailed. Hard working and productive crews could be the end result. This is why H.R. 1517 should be enacted.

Mr. Chairman, I thank you for having allowed me to speak and your committee for being present and listening.

Chairman MURPHY. Thank you very much, Deacon.

The next witness is Mr. Turner, Seafarers International Union. Mr. TURNER. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, my name is Terry Turner. I am the national governmental relations director for the Seafarers International Union. I want to thank you for giving our union an opportunity to address this subcommittee. If it is okay with you, Mr. Chairman, I would like to submit my full statement for the record and make a brief summary.

Chairman MURPHY. Without objection, your entire statement will be part of the record.

Mr. TURNER. The Seafarers International Union represents men and women who earn their livelihoods working aboard U.S. flag vessels which operate on the Great Lakes, in the Nation's inland waterways, and on the high seas. On behalf of these seafarers and on behalf of the thousands of seamen working aboard foreign flag ships, with whom we have contact, I urge you to support H.R. 1517. As you know, H.R. 1517, if it became law, would extend the workplace standards of this Nation to vessels engaged in American commerce. The SIU and thousands of seamen from around the world can tell you that this legislation is badly needed because ships have become, in many cases, the site of exploitative and dangerous workplaces. At the root of this problem is a flag-dodging mechanism allowed in international shipping, a mechanism we call "the runaway flag."

In essence, the runaway flag register is a mail drop, a government agency to which a shipowner pays a fee and, in return, his ships fly the flag of that nation. It is a revenue-raising scheme for governments which do not have any merchant maritime tradition. Among the flags for sale are those of Antigua, Barbuda, Vanuatu, the Cayman Islands, Panama, Libya, Honduras, Sri Lanka, and many more.

The runaway ship registry allows a shipowner to shop around for the cheapest of everything, thereby instituting a regime which has no ties to any nation. Insurance is purchased in one nation, an inspection company is hired from another nation, a manning agency from another nation is hired. In turn, that manning agency recruits seamen from several other nations. This layering obfuscates any responsibility. When the crew members on these vessels are subjected to slave-like working conditions, to living conditions not fit for civilized human beings, which country is responsible? The answer, in practice, is none.

The United States Congress has the power to end this abuse on vessels engaged in American commerce. Congress has the power to do this in a fair way. H.R. 1517 addresses working practices on all runaway ships engaged in American commerce. Thus, it establishes a level playing field for all ships competing in this trade.

H.R. 1517 recognizes the sovereignty of nation states. It does this by exempting vessels which have a majority of ownership and a majority of crew members from the nation where the vessel is registered. The bill rightly acknowledges that when a vessel has this kind of tie to a nation, the laws of that nation are invariably linked to the workplace of the ship.

H.R. 1517 is a chance for the United States to assert its moral leadership in this world. There are times when the United States, the world's only superpower and most stable long-term democracy, must step out in front when it comes to addressing human suffering and the exploitation of human beings.

Just as Congress stepped out ahead of any other nation when it came to protecting the environment, it can step out ahead in protecting human life by enacting this bill. On the environment, I refer to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Congress, in order to protect the environment, the oceans, and the coastal areas, enacted a farreaching piece of legislation which mandated procedures for every oil carrying ship coming into American ports. Every one of these ships, regardless of their flags, regardless of the nationality of their owners, regardless of the nationality of their crew members, must. comply with U.S. law.

What can be done for the environment can also be done on behalf of human beings. It is the decent thing to do. Congress, by enacting H.R. 1517, can use its position of world leadership to advance the basic human rights and civil rights the civilized world holds as inalienable. The passage by Congress of this legislation will earn the institution the gratitude of seamen everywhere.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for giving me this opportunity.

[The prepared statement of Terry Turner follows:]