[Op-Ed] USAID Outsourcing Maritime Jobs with Taxpayer Dollars

Published Mar 31, 2015 5:29 PM by Denise Krepp

This year, as in the past seven years, your tax dollars will be used to outsource maritime jobs. Thousands of dollars will be spent by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to lobby Congress about the evils of the U.S. maritime shipping industry. In addition, hundreds of thousands of dollars more will be used to produce promotional materials and websites highlighting the alleged inefficiencies of the current Food for Peace (PL480). It doesn't matter that thousands of U.S. mariners will lose their jobs if USAID is successful. American jobs is not something the agency worries about.

When I first joined the Maritime Administration (MARAD) as Chief Counsel, I was told that one of the Administration's priorities was to finalize the cargo preference rulemaking. The cargo preference laws mandate the use of U.S. flag vessels to transport government impelled cargo - the most well-known of these is food aid.

Food aid is the support USAID provides to starving people around the world. This aid, based on its name, comes in the form of food - soy, corn, wheat, etc. These crops are grown in the U.S. by our farmers and then shipped to those in need. Prior to the Obama Administration, USAID fought MARAD over its interpretation of the cargo preference rules. It didn't want them to apply to USAID programs, and they knew that once MARAD finalized the rules that USAID would be subject to them.

Starting at the beginning of the Obama Administration, USAID began plotting how to stop the MARAD rulemaking. Rajiv Shah became USAID Administrator in January 2010. Three months later, in April 2010, the agency paid a contractor $33,000 for "speechwriting and speech coaching and media training for the Administrator." Later that year, USAID spent another $30,000 "to produce the services of a contractor to provide speech coaching to the Administrator." Your tax dollars.

In February 2011, USAID hired a speechwriter for $14,000 to develop "a major speech that could give form and direction to those goals." Administrator Shah used the $63,000 in speech coaching to announce at the May 24, 2011 Chicago Council on Global Affairs' Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security that the Obama Administration intended on spending $1.15 billion on food security as part of the Feed the Future program.

Don't be fooled—the Administration wasn't going to spend the $1.15 billion on shipping U.S. food aid to starving people. Rather, as Administrator Shah announced at the 2013 Chicago Council Symposium, the Administration wanted to "reform" food aid and make it more "agile." He defined agile as the ability to ship food aid on international ships or simply write checks; therein bypassing U.S. farmers and shipping companies.

Administrator Shah reiterated in the 2013 speech that, "reforming food aid remains a core part of our vision to end hunger and extreme poverty. People will always say that the politics are tough, but as the plaque on President Obama’s desk says—‘Hard things are hard’." There was no mention of the thousands of mariners who would lose their jobs and the hardships they would incur if this plan was successful.

So what was MARAD doing while USAID was busy spending millions of taxpayer dollars developing its strategy to outsource maritime jobs? Well, between 2009 and 2012, we were trying to write the cargo preference rule. We shared each draft with USAID, and each time they rejected it. Hundreds of hours were spent drafting the documents, and government employees were paid thousands of dollars to do it. Again, your tax dollars at work.

The cargo rulemaking was never finalized. In 2013, Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In his written statement, Deputy Secretary Porcari promised that MARAD would promulgate the cargo preference rulemaking that year.

The Department of Transportation never intended on keeping Deputy Secretary Porcari's promise. The Deputy Secretary's statement was made on May 21, 2013, the same day that USAID Administrator Shah highlighted the Administration's plans to reform the food aid program and cargo preference. Administrator Shah even mentioned MARAD in his statement. According to him, USAID's reform efforts "have been done in close partnership with the Department of Transportation and the Maritime Administration."

Fast forward two years and USAID is now spending your tax dollars to create government websites alleging that more people could be fed with locally sourced food instead of U.S. crops. The websites would have you believe that U.S. farmers and U.S. shipping companies steal money from the poor. And, these evil companies, which employ thousands of Americans, are only looking out for themselves.

This past week, Noam Unger, acting deputy assistant administrator and director of Office of Policy in the Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning at USAID, spoke at an Oxfam symposium entitled "Building Self-Reliance: The Future of Foreign Aid." Not surprisingly, U.S. shipping companies and the men and women who transport the food aid were not invited to participate in the panel discussion. No worries. Your tax dollars pay Mr. Unger's salary and he, yet again, highlighted why the current food aid system doesn't work for USAID.

One person can't stop the USAID's propaganda machine. Trust me, I tried for three years as MARAD Chief Counsel. During this period, I was called a "baby killer" by the USAID Chief Counsel, and USAID's allies created a Wikipedia page about me. They used this platform to call me a "war criminal" and "Nazi."

The only way to stop the onslaught is for the maritime industry to stand up en masse and fight. Your jobs are at stake, and USAID's sweet siren song is clouding the judgment of many on Capitol Hill. Tell Congress to say no to cash transfers and no to international transportation. The only yes that should be heard is yes for U.S. jobs.