{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.lee.senate.gov/2025/7/lee-introduces-america-first-deregulation-for-coastal-trade", "Lee Introduces America First Deregulation for Coastal Trade", "2025-07-30", "2025", "2025-07", "Republican", "Senate", "UT", "Mike Lee", "L000577", "www.lee.senate.gov", "mikelee", "https://www.lee.senate.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced three pieces of legislation today to repeal and reverse the effects of the overreaching Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 (PVSA). Senator Lee\u2019s three-pronged approach will strengthen America\u2019s economy while protecting American jobs and businesses by repealing PVSA and eliminating its burdensome regulations.\n\n\u201cRed tape around America\u2019s ports is strangling our economy and boosting foreign interests,\u201d said Senator Mike Lee. \u201cCurrent law protects ships that haven\u2019t existed for decades and creates ridiculous requirements, forcing cruise ships to take Americans to foreign ports instead of their own cities. My legislation will repeal these outdated regulations, protect American jobs, and put our economy first.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nThe Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) is an outdated regulation intended to protect America\u2019s coastal trade and tourism by restricting the domestic waterborne transportation of passengers only to ships that are U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, and largely U.S.-crewed and -owned. This regulation was meant to insulate America\u2019s coastal industries from foreign competition \u2013 with one exemption for ships making stops at \u201cdistant foreign ports.\u201d\n\nIn practice, however, PVSA has stunted America\u2019s economy by complicating trade practices and incentivizing foreign travel over American tourism. For example, because the United States has produced no large cruise ships in over sixty years, virtually any of these vessels moving passengers from one American port to another is essentially required by law to stop at a \u201cdistant foreign port\u201d in order to legalize its domestic American travel. This means America is shipping its tourism economy to other countries in order to protect American-made cruise ships that no longer exist.\n\nFar from an America First approach, PVSA regulations favor foreign economies and special interests.\n\nSenator Lee\u2019s legislation will cut through the red tape strangling America\u2019s coastal economy by repealing PVSA, eliminating its requirement for U.S.-built vessels, and exempting large passenger ships from PVSA requirements.\n\nThe Open America\u2019s Ports Act:\n\nRepeals the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA).\n\nThe Protecting Jobs in American Ports Act:\n\nRepeals the section of PVSA barring non-U.S.-built vessels from standard treatment at American ports.\n\nThe Safeguarding American Tourism Act:\n\nExempts large passenger vessels (those with 800 or more passenger berths) from PVSA restrictions.\n\nRead the full text of the legislation below:\n\nOpen America\u2019s Ports Act\n\nProtecting Jobs in American Ports Act\n\nSafeguarding American Tourism Act", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T14:40:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.lee.senate.gov/2025/7/lee-introduces-america-first-deregulation-for-coastal-trade"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6837721448391676, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}