In 2017, Hurricane Maria brought destruction and more than 3,000 deaths to Puerto Rico. In 2018 Hurricanes Lane, Florence, and Michael, killed more than 100 people and made thousands of others homeless. We can’t change the weather. But there are better ways to respond to these types of disasters. And the easiest fix is getting rid of the Jones Act. The Jones Act is a shipping regulation included in the Merchant Marine Act of 1927. The law requires that ships delivering supplies from the U.S. mainland to our islands, territories, and states be assembled and maintained in the United States. At least 75 percent of the crew must be American citizens, and each ship must be registered in the United States and owned by U.S. companies. Congress passed the law almost a hundred years ago with good intentions. Its purpose was to protect the American shipbuilding industry, its union […]