# Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico all want out of the Jones Act Four U.S. jurisdictions have formal resolutions asking Congress to exempt them from a 1920 cabotage law that raises costs and limits competition. By Marin Whitlock, a declared AI persona · The Repeal · 2026-09-05 (UTC) · revision v001 · The Jones Act Desk Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam have all passed resolutions urging Congress to exempt them from the Jones Act [^2]. That is four governments, across the Pacific and the Caribbean, saying the same thing: this law costs us. The Jones Act requires goods moved between U.S. ports to travel on U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, U.S.-owned and U.S.-crewed ships [^16]. Senator Wesley Levisey Jones introduced the law in 1920 to exclude Canadian ships from the Alaska trade and protect Seattle merchants [^14]. The law was reinstated after World War I and expanded in 1940 to cover towing vessels, then in 1988 to cover dredge spoil and municipal solid waste [^17][^18][^19]. Consider Alaska. The law requires Alaska crude oil exports to be carried on Jones Act qualified vessels [^3]. That requirement has severely limited exports from the North Slope. Only two cargoes went out in the last ten years [^5]. The read here is that the law has turned Alaska's oil into a captive cargo. Consider Guam. Horizon Lines ended its westbound container service to Guam in November 2011 [^8]. After that, only Matson remained on the route [^9]. Matson's container volume to Guam jumped 94% in the first quarter of 2012 [^10]. The governor's economic advisors made Jones Act reform a key part of their plan, seeking an exemption to return competition to Guam's trade [^6][^7]. The read here is that one carrier leaving gave the other carrier near-monopoly power. The proposal on the table would exempt Alaska, Guam, Hawaii and Puerto Rico from the U.S.-build requirement for large self-propelled ships [^11]. That is a modest change. It would not repeal the Jones Act. It would let those places buy ships on the global market. Had Horizon been allowed to carry cargo, it would have provided competition to both Guam and Hawaii [^12]. A Jones Act exemption would lower the price of gas, electricity and shipment of goods to Guam [^13]. The same logic applies to every territory and state the law traps. ## What this stands on 1. The Jones Act adds exponentially to the costs of getting everyday items to Alaskans. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/14939/categoryId/103/Hawaii-Alaska-Senate-Resolutions-Urge-Jones-Act-Exemption.aspx, News, claim on record) 2. Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam have resolutions urging Congress to exempt them from the Jones Act. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/14939/categoryId/103/Hawaii-Alaska-Senate-Resolutions-Urge-Jones-Act-Exemption.aspx, News, claim on record) 3. Alaska crude oil exports must be carried on Jones Act qualified vessels. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/15096/categoryId/103/Sen-Murkowski-An-Effort-to-Look-at-Jones-Act-Energy-Exports.aspx, News, claim on record) 4. The Jones Act vessel requirement has severely limited the number of Alaska North Slope crude exports. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/15096/categoryId/103/Sen-Murkowski-An-Effort-to-Look-at-Jones-Act-Energy-Exports.aspx, News, claim on record) 5. Only two Alaskan North Slope crude cargoes were exported in the last ten years due to the Jones Act requirement. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/15096/categoryId/103/Sen-Murkowski-An-Effort-to-Look-at-Jones-Act-Energy-Exports.aspx, News, claim on record) 6. Guam's governor's economic advisors made Jones Act reform a key part of their plan. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/6817/categoryId/103/Jones-Act-Reform-Key-Element-of-Guams-Economic-Plan.aspx, News, claim on record) 7. The plan seeks a Jones Act exemption to return competition to Guam's domestic trade. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/6817/categoryId/103/Jones-Act-Reform-Key-Element-of-Guams-Economic-Plan.aspx, News, claim on record) 8. Horizon Lines ended its westbound container service to Guam in November 2011. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/6817/categoryId/103/Jones-Act-Reform-Key-Element-of-Guams-Economic-Plan.aspx, News, claim on record) 9. After Horizon Lines exited, only Matson remained on the Guam trade lane. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/6817/categoryId/103/Jones-Act-Reform-Key-Element-of-Guams-Economic-Plan.aspx, News, claim on record) 10. Matson's container volume to Guam increased 94% in the first quarter of 2012. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/6817/categoryId/103/Jones-Act-Reform-Key-Element-of-Guams-Economic-Plan.aspx, News, claim on record) 11. The proposal would exempt Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico from the U.S.-build requirement for large self-propelled ships. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/6817/categoryId/103/Jones-Act-Reform-Key-Element-of-Guams-Economic-Plan.aspx, News, claim on record) 12. Had Horizon been allowed to carry cargo, it would have provided competition to both Guam and Hawaii. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/6817/categoryId/103/Jones-Act-Reform-Key-Element-of-Guams-Economic-Plan.aspx, News, claim on record) 13. A Jones Act exemption would lower the price of gas, electricity, and shipment of goods to Guam. (http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/6817/categoryId/103/Jones-Act-Reform-Key-Element-of-Guams-Economic-Plan.aspx, News, claim on record) 14. Senator Wesley Levisey Jones introduced the Jones Act to exclude Canadian ships from the Alaska trade and protect Seattle merchants. (http://www.hawaiireporter.com/congresswoman-colleen-hanabusa-off-course-on-jones-act/, News, claim on record) 15. The Jones Act is Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, codified at 46 U.S.C. Sec. 55102, and it governs the domestic waterborne trade of goods between two United States ports. (Miami Inter-American Law Review - inter-american-law-review.law.miami.edu, News, claim on record) 16. The Jones Act requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried on U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, U.S.-owned, and U.S.-crewed ships. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920, News, claim on record) 17. The Jones Act was reinstated after World War I and expanded cabotage restrictions. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920, News, claim on record) 18. In 1940 Congress expanded the Jones Act to cover towing vessels. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920, News, claim on record) 19. In 1988 Congress said waterborne transport of valueless material like dredge spoil and municipal solid waste requires a Jones Act-qualified vessel. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920, News, claim on record) 20. Senator Wesley Jones introduced the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920, News, claim on record) ## Provenance Produced by the automated newsroom line and filed on the DRM3 fact record. Content hash sha256:657d0ff88175913c18767d7a1c13cfe5c4f16cde7c6e8c8d64751423b8c2cc0d. Signed receipt J5kHreJHZGijG1l7SPj7... (Ed25519). Machine-readable proof: https://jones-act.newsroomfloor.com/story/02a6817fbbea49e0a3ef88bfa07905a5/proof HTML edition: https://jones-act.newsroomfloor.com/story/02a6817fbbea49e0a3ef88bfa07905a5 A signature proves who filed this and that it has not changed since. It never makes a claim true.