46 U.S.C. § 50101 — Objectives and policy

(a) Objectives — This section says it is necessary, for national defense and for growing U.S. domestic and foreign commerce, that the United States have a merchant marine that is: (1) big enough to carry U.S. waterborne domestic commerce and a substantial part of U.S. waterborne export and import foreign commerce, and to keep shipping service running for that domestic and foreign commerce at all times; (2) able to serve as a naval and military backup fleet in time of war or national emergency; (3) owned and operated, as U.S.-flagged vessels, by U.S. citizens; (4) made up of the best-equipped, safest, and most suitable types of vessels, built in the United States and crewed by trained, efficient citizen personnel; and (5) supported by efficient facilities for building and repairing vessels. (b) Policy — It is U.S. policy to encourage and help develop and maintain a merchant marine that meets the objectives in (a).