Vince Fong

Mr. Speaker, Reasoning · 43 wordsI rise today in support of H.J. Res. 210, my Congressional Review Act resolution because California should not be able to impose costly shipping mandates that drive up prices across the Nation, disrupt our supply chain, and put our energy security at risk. Claims · 11 wordsCalifornia ports handle roughly 40 percent of our Nation’s containerized imports.¹ Reasoning · 15 wordsWhen California raises the costs of moving goods, Americans across the country pay the price. Claims · 31 wordsIn 2023, the Biden EPA approved a waiver allowing the California Air Resources Board, ²or CARB, an unelected body in California, to impose new mandates on vessels docked at California ports. Procedure · 8 wordsThere are three serious problems with this mandate.Procedure Claims · 71 wordsFirst, the technology and infrastructure needed to comply simply do not exist at the scale this mandate demands. Vessels are required to use State-approved emissions control technology, yet those technologies are not always commercially available or even feasible. Companies that don’t comply face fines of approximately $50,000 per vessel per day.³ In fact, shippers right now are paying hundreds of millions of dollars each time they dock at a California port. Reasoning · 19 wordsYou cannot mandate technology that does not exist at scale and then punish businesses for being unable to comply. Claims · 28 wordsSecond, this mandate puts California’s already vulnerable energy supply at greater risk. California relies on marine shipments of oil and petroleum products to help meet its fuel needs.⁴ Reasoning · 22 wordsMaking it harder and more expensive to operate in California ports puts additional pressure on fuel supplies and drives prices even higher. Claims · 8 wordsThird, the costs don’t stay with shipping companies. Reasoning · 11 wordsThey ripple through the supply chain and ultimately reach American consumers. Claims · 10 wordsCARB estimates approximately $2.3 billion in compliance costs through 2032.⁵ Promise · 38 wordsMy legislation is simple: Stop this unworkable mandate from driving up costs, disrupting our supply chain, and threatening California’s energy security. We can protect our environment without putting our supply chains, energy security, and American families at risk. Positioning · 7 wordsThis is about common sense and affordability.Positioning Mr. Speaker, The ask · 9 wordsI urge my colleagues to support H.J. Res. 210.