Over one year ago, the National Maritime Alliance asked for our help to lobby for passage of the Ships to Be Recycled in the States (STORIS) Act, an attempt to reverse language in the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act that had allowed the Maritime Administration to use all of the maritime heritage grant funds solely for its own maritime heritage. Many of you wrote to your legislators and the relevant committee members—and we thank you for that effort!

Unfortunately, the STORIS act stalled and was not passed. The good news is that new language has been proposed for the National Defense Authorization Act that would achieve much of what was hoped for with the STORIS Act: restoring the maritime heritage grant program and increasing funding. Focusing on key points, rather than the entire act, makes it easier to gain supporters in Congress.

We at NMHS and the National Maritime Alliance are asking for your help again, by emailing your congressional representative and senators, and members of the committees that will be voting on this legislation, by mid-June.

Members of the House Armed Services Committee
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee
Members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee

We have a sample letter here; please complete and personalize the draft letter to the representative or senator’s staff member, and ask that it be shared with the representative or senator. If the staff member’s email is not provided, call the office of the representative or senator to ask for the names and email addresses of the appropriate staff members for committees on commerce and defense, or the legislative director. You can also contact the local office of a representative or senator and ask that your email be forwarded to appropriate staff in Washington, DC. If your representatives are not on these committees (you can write to both senators from your state), write anyway. The bills go to the full House and Senate.

The request asks for inclusion of Section 3508, Title 35, of the National Defense Authorization Act. Sec. 3508 is the main item we wanted in the STORIS Act. It restores the maritime heritage grant program and will increase funding.

Important: Please send a copy of your letter to Tim Runyan at runyant@ecu.edu. Having copies of your letters helps him lobby for this issue more effectively.

The 2015 National Maritime Heritage Grants awarded 34 grants in 19 states, totaling $2,580,197.37. Here is just a sampling of the programs who will benefit:

Amount	Award Recipient	Project
$50,000	National Maritime Historical Society	Indexing, Digitizing, and Online Expansion of Sea History magazine
$200,000	Sound Experience	Deck replacement for the National Historic Landmark vessel Adventuress of 1913
$100,088	Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild	Restoration of boat deck and hull of the 1902 tug Jupiter
$144,569	North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources	Development of a large artifact conservation wet lab
$34,000	Seamens Church Institute	Build a consortium of interconnected digital archives that trace, map and bring to life the history of maritime culture in New York City
$50,000	USS Constitution Museum	“Renewing Old Ironsides,” a chronicle of USS Constitution restoration work, capturing the stories of the artisans and documenting the skills involved.
$178,670	Project Liberty Ship	Preservation of the Superstructure of Liberty Ship John W. Brown
$52,900	San Francisco Maritime National Park Association	Comprehensive structural survey of the steam ferryboat Eureka, a registered National Historic Landmark vessel

A link to the full list of grants can be found here. Imagine what we could achieve if we could free up more funds for the Maritime Heritage Grants!