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HR 4678
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To authorize conveyance of each of two National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels to The Victory Ship, Inc., located in Tampa, Florida.

To authorize conveyance of each of two National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels to The Victory Ship, Inc., located in Tampa, Florida.

Introduced Oct 1, 1998

Latest action (Oct 16, 1998) Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Procurement.

Referred to
Armed Services Committee Military Procurement Subcommittee
Policy area
Private Legislation
Issues
Defense

Summary

This bill authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to convey two National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels—the S/S American Victory and S/S Hattiesburg Victory—to The Victory Ship, Inc., located in Tampa, Florida, to be preserved as a memorial to the American Merchant Marine. The conveyance is subject to several conditions, including that the vessels cannot be used for commercial purposes and must be made available to the government if needed for war or national emergency. The recipient organization must have at least $100,000 available in cash or assets for vessel restoration and must assume liability for any hazardous materials exposure occurring after the transfer. The Secretary of Transportation may also transfer unneeded equipment from other reserve fleet vessels to assist with restoration. The vessels will remain in the National Defense Reserve Fleet until they are conveyed or for up to two years from the bill's enactment, whichever is earlier.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Actions (3)
  1. Oct 16, 1998 Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Procurement. · house
  2. Oct 1, 1998 Referred to the House Committee on National Security. · house
  3. Oct 1, 1998 Introduced in House

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Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 1, 1998

Mr. Davis of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on National Security

A BILL

To authorize conveyance of each of two National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels to The Victory Ship, Inc., located in Tampa, Florida.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE OF VESSELS S/S AMERICAN VICTORY AND S/S HATTIESBURG VICTORY.

(a) In General.—Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary of Transportation (referred to in this section as the “Secretary”) may convey the right, title, and interest of the United States Government in and to each of the vessels S/S AMERICAN VICTORY (Victory Ship VC2-S- AP2; United States official number 248005) and S/S HATTIESBURG VICTORY (Victory Ship VC2-S-AP2; United States official number 248651) to The Victory Ship, Inc., located in Tampa, Florida (in this section referred to as “the recipient”), and the recipient may use the vessels for the purposes of a memorial to the American Merchant Marine, if—

(1) the vessel is not used for commercial transportation purposes;

(2) the recipient agrees to make the vessel available to the Government if the Secretary requires use of the vessel by the Government for war or a national emergency;

(3) the recipient agrees to hold the Government harmless for any claims arising from any exposure to hazardous materials (including asbestos and PCB’s) occurring after conveyance of the vessel, except for claims arising from use by the Government under paragraph (2);

(4) the recipient has available, for use to restore the vessel, in the form of cash, liquid assets, or a written loan commitment, financial resources of at least $100,000; and

(5) the recipient agrees to any other conditions the Secretary considers appropriate.

(b) Delivery of Vessel.—

(1) In general.—If a conveyance of a vessel is made under this section, the Secretary shall deliver the vessel at the place where the vessel is located on the date of enactment of this Act.

(2) Completion of phase cycle.—Upon request of the recipient, before delivering a vessel under this section, the Secretary shall complete one phase cycle of the vessel with an engineer representing the recipient present to observe the condition, operation, and maintenance techniques of the shipboard systems.

(c) Other Unneeded Equipment.—The Secretary may convey to the recipient any unneeded equipment from other vessels in the National Defense Reserve Fleet for use to restore to museum quality each vessel conveyed under this section.

(d) Retention of Vessels in NDRF.—The Secretary shall retain in the National Defense Reserve Fleet each of the vessels authorized to be conveyed under subsection (a), until the earlier of—

(1) 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act; or

(2) the date of conveyance of the vessel under subsection

(a). <all>

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