REVITALIZING US SHIPBUILDING: CONGRESS, INDUSTRY, AND THE SHIPS FOR AMERICA ACT - Join the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security‘s Forward Defense initiative for a discussion on revitalizing US shipbuilding.

This conversation will focus on the SHIPS for America Act, featuring the bill’s authors and co-sponsors Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA-8). They will outline the strategic importance of revitalizing the United States’ shipbuilding enterprise and how to turn their vision, presented in the SHIPS Act, into reality.

In 2023, Naval Intelligence reported that China’s shipyards can build around 232 times more tonnage than their US counterparts. Once a cornerstone of US industrial and military strength, the shipbuilding sector now suffers from a lack of skilled workers, decaying infrastructure, and atrophied supply chains. These challenges not only slow production and increase costs but also jeopardize the US ability to respond quickly in a crisis.

The SHIPS for America Act and recent White House initiatives represent a long-overdue national response. Such a response will require rebuilding industrial capacity and infrastructure, integrating advanced and additive manufacturing methods, attracting and retaining a skilled workforce, and unifying repair and construction efforts over a long-term shipbuilding plan.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 05/01/2025