ICYMI: At Hudson Institute, Senators Kelly and Young Discuss Their SHIPS for America Act

Kelly: "When I got here to the Senate in 2020, one of the problems I wanted to try to solve is this national security problem and economic security problem of not having a robust shipbuilding and shipping capacity to get stuff across the oceans."

In case you missed it, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Todd Young (R-IN) participated in a fireside chat to discuss their SHIPS for America Act at the Hudson Institute's "Fixing Shipping and Shipbuilding: Plotting the Course Ahead" event. Kelly spoke about how the legislation would revitalize America's shipbuilding industry and create good-paying skilled jobs while addressing a growing national security threat he has been working on since first being sworn into the Senate.

Sens. Kelly and Young speak at the Hudson Institute.

Watch the full conversation here. See key excerpts below:

On his family's maritime history and why he introduced the SHIPS for America Act…

"For me this goes back over four decades. I graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1986… I also come from a little bit of a maritime background. My grandfather was on a Liberty ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean multiple times and survived during World War Two. My other grandfather, on my dad's side, was on a destroyer escort in the Pacific and the Atlantic, escorting Liberty ships…This goes back generations in my family.

"When I was flying off of the USS midway in Operation Desert Storm, we basically moved a good portion of the U.S. Army, and the Marine Corps, and the Air Force, and we moved all that combat power overseas. At the time, we had about 400 ocean going merchant ships, U.S. flagged, U.S. crude. Now we're down to 80. So, when I got here to the Senate in 2020, one of the problems I wanted to try to solve is this national security problem and economic security problem of not having a robust ship building and shipping capacity to get stuff across the oceans. It's a national security problem for our country, and it's getting worse every single year.

"Now we're working across to get this across the finish line. And if we don't, and we wind up in a major conflict with a near-peer adversary, and you get beyond maybe the first weeks of a conflict and things aren't going well, we're going to be wishing that we solved this problem decades ago."

On a young woman welder whose life was transformed by the industry…

"I was at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard, visiting and toured some of the training ships that are being built for the maritime academies…Some of the South Koreans were so excited to have the opportunity to expand that shipyard.

"I'll never forget this woman who was welding a hull together. And she was in her twenties. And I asked her what was she doing before she had this job? And she was a nanny for a family and she wasn't paid well. She liked the kid, she said. But it wasn't a career and she was kind of lost. And then she found this advertisement to learn how to weld and does not look like your typical welder. And she was like "I think I could do this" and just loved it. Was paid well, was able to buy a house. Not a lot of nannies out there and afford to buy a house. I imagine you can repeat that kind of story over and over again in an industry that is growing as we expand these, these opportunities. It could be transformative for so many people's lives."

On his call to action for everyone who wants to see this legislation pass…

"Make phone calls, send letters, show up, tell people. This is the moment… This is an all hands on deck moment here for this legislation. Be relentless. Don't take no for an answer. Keep banging on the door and we can get this done. But it's going to take an entire team. I hate to say, this being from the Navy, but it's going to take an army."