The Department of Homeland Security and the White House are currently under immense pressure to provide quick disaster relief to Puerto Rico, but many people—including a number of members of Congress—are arguing that one of the biggest obstacles to doing so is a nearly century-old law known as the Jones Act. The Department of Homeland Security is currently keeping the law—which requires all goods shipped between two US ports to travel on US-built ships that are manned by US crews—in place, arguing there simply isn’t a reason to lift it. “Things could change, but our current assessment is that a waiver is not needed,” DHS spokesman David Lapan said in an email to Mother Jones Wednesday afternoon. The Jones Act was written after World War I and is designed to protect the American shipping industry and to provide the military with shipping and crew backup in times of national defense.

 

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