U.S. SHIPBUILDERS VOW TO FIGHT FOR TITLE XI FUNDING

U.S. SHIPBUILDERS VOW TO FIGHT FOR TITLE XI FUNDING    The Bush administration’s proposed elimination of the Title XI maritime loan guarantee program in the fiscal 2003 budget has the country’s shipbuilders ready to lobby Capitol Hill to ensure the program is protected.
   “This is a good program that has significantly helped stimulate ship construction in the U.S. and has created tens of thousands of American jobs,” said Allen Walker, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America and manager of the Title XI Coalition. “The zero funding decision is disappointing but not surprising.”
   This is the second time the Bush administration has proposed to zero out the Title XI program, a government loan guarantee program that has aided in the private financing of $4.7 billion in ship construction and shipyard modernization projects in the United States since 1993.
   The Title XI program traditionally receives strong support from Congress. “Title XI provides critically important economic and national security benefits, which is why more than 100 members of Congress worked together to add more than $33 million last year,” Walker said.