 Thank you very much. Well, good afternoon and welcome to the White House. Ever since the first hardy Americans began to trade their goods with the rest of the world, shipping has been vital to our nation's well-being. As our young Republic crew grew, I should say. See, I was still talking ships, grew. Yankee crews, piloting ships built in Boston, Baltimore, and other of our thriving seaports, earned a worldwide reputation for their skill in American self-confidence. The Englishman, Edward, and I hope I have his name right, Trelawney, once wrote about a visit that he and a friend paid to an American ship in 1822. And the Yankee schooner was so graceful that he wrote that he and his friend thought it might have been designed by a poet. And after the American mate showed them the ship, Trelawney wrote, and I quote, they would not let us go until we had drunk under the star-spangled banner to the memory of Washington and the prosperity of the American Commonwealth. The American merchant marine has remained self-confident and vigorous, stirring our imaginations, providing jobs, playing a crucial role in the nation's economy. Yet in recent years, we must admit American shipping has been handicapped. Government regulation of shipping has grown excessive and confusing. As a result, American shippers have suffered from long delays in regulatory rulings, endless and unpredictable government intervention and confusion about the extent of antitrust exemption granted to them. They've been forbidden to engage in shipping practices that are normal in other world trade routes, and they found themselves at a severe disadvantage in meeting foreign competition. At the same time, foreign ships operating in our trade routes have chafed at being subjected to regulatory policies they consider needless. Today, it's going to be my pleasure to sign a bill that will begin to change all that, the Shipping Act of 1984. This act will minimize government intervention in the shipping industry, promote competition and innovation in our merchant marine, and help put American carriers back on an equal footing with their foreign competition. While safeguarding the essential interests of the shipping public, it will eliminate needless regulations, expedite regulatory actions with a federal maritime commission, and remove a source of discord between the United States and our trading partners. All told, this act represents the most significant piece of liner shipping reform legislation since the original Shipping Act of 1916. It's a milestone in our struggle to end the over-regulation of American shipping and to allow the unequal skill and ingenuity of our sailors to carry the industry to new prosperity. But despite this important legislation, we still have a great deal to do. And I want you to know that our administration is moving full steam ahead. We have a host of legislative and regulation trimming efforts already underway and we're striving for an agreement on new port development legislation. And we're making significant progress in our efforts to open up jobs on Navy support vessels for merchant marine officers and seamen. Already about 2,000 actual and prospective seagoing jobs in the Navy's military sea lift command have been designated for private sector union crews. And we're hard at work to create more seagoing jobs for contract crews. In shipbuilding, we're doing all we can to enact the reforms that are needed to make the industry more efficient and better able to meet foreign competition. In the Navy, when I took office, our fleet was less than half what it numbered as recently as 1968. To strengthen our sea defenses, we've begun the biggest naval shipbuilding program since World War II. And we're already well on the way to our goal of 600 ships and 15 deployable battle groups by the end of this decade. And we've added a tremendous force to our Navy by bringing back the battleship. Some years ago, the naval historian, Samuel Elliot Morrison, wrote, the nations that have enjoyed sea power even for a brief period, Athens, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, England, the United States are those that have preserved freedom for themselves and have given it to others. Well, today, our nation once again understands the relationship between freedom and our presence on the high seas. We must and will restore vigor to our Navy and our merchant-merchant marine. And I wanna thank you all because every one of you in this room has had a hand in making this legislation possible. The leadership of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees, the members of the House Merchant Marine Officiaries and Judiciary Committees, deserve special gratitude. Thanks also to the carriers, the shippers, the port officials, the maritime labor representatives and freight forwarders who came together to provide firm support for our efforts. And my heartfelt gratitude to former Secretary of Transportation, Drew Lewis, who launched our efforts and to the current Secretary of Transportation, Elizabeth Dole, who skillfully chartered the course through some treacherous rocks and shoals. To Punch Green, Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission who stood the lookout watch and to Admiral Hal Scheer, maritime administrator, who remained at the helm through it all. It's been a long voyage, but we finally reached port. So I thank you, God bless you, and now I shall sign the legislation.