"Bipartisan members of both the House and Senate have championed the SHIPS Act not for political gain, but because it is the right thing to do for our country. And the coordination of the two subcommittees convening here today is a positive signal to other policymakers and industry that Congress is serious about a comprehensive, thoughtful approach to expanding and supporting this critical sector. With Honor Action urges your subcommittees, and the larger committees, to work together to ensure sustained funding for shipbuilding workforce development programs, and support measures that incentivize the use of U.S.-built vessels."

Rye Barcott

Co-Founder & CEO, With Honor Action

On Monday, April 20, 2026, With Honor Action submitted a Statement for the Record for a hearing titled “Revitalizing Shipbuilding and the Maritime Industrial Base” held U.S. House Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Armed Services.

In the United States, commercial shipbuilding has fallen to an all-time low. In the last 10 years, China built 6,765 commercial ships, Japan built 3,130 commercial ships, South Korea built 2,405 commercial ships, while the U.S. only produced 37 commercial ships. Aside from the shipyard overmatch – 300 Chinese shipyards compared to 66 U.S. shipyards – the United States also has a significant skilled workforce gap in the shipbuilding industry.

This presents a real challenge within the shipbuilding industry due to gaps in education to workforce pipelines, high rates of employment churn, and an aging workforce. All of this presents an urgent need to reinvigorate the U.S. shipbuilding industry not only for commercial purposes, but to support our national security goals and evolving defense capabilities as well.

Read the full statement here.