AMP Names Puerto Rico’s Rep. González-Colón ‘Champion Of Maritime’

The American Maritime Partnership (AMP) announced it is honoring Rep. Jenniffer González-Colón, resident commissioner of Puerto Rico, with the American Maritime Champion Award. The award recognizes individuals or groups of individuals who have added to the rich heritage of the United States as a maritime nation through their professional contributions, courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities.

González-Colón has been an ardent supporter of the Jones Act and American maritime as a whole. A member of the U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, she possesses a deep understanding of the importance of a robust national maritime capacity, AMP said.

“I am honored to have been selected for this award, finding myself in the company of many distinguished congressional leaders,” González-Colón said. “We all share a common goal of defending American industry and jobs and the preservation of our security of supply. Our economy moves based on what we can export and import; the maritime industry is the main artery of our supply chain and inserts our products in the market. The American shipping industry has served Puerto Rico for over a century, developing infrastructure, employees, fleets, specialized equipment and systems and continuing to improve them, which assists the recovery of Puerto Rico with the presence of a regular route system. We have seen how having direct, reliable and expeditious service lifts up our economy. The current effort in the modernization of the fleet is critical for the reliability of service and drives an investment in American shipbuilding, in which many Puerto Rican workers are part of the team in the mainland, as well as creating and sustaining port and shipping jobs in Puerto Rico in support of our export and import industries.”

“Representative González-Colón has been a steadfast leader in her commitment to the people she serves, including the men and women of American maritime in Puerto Rico,” said Ku’uhaku Park, president of the American Maritime Partnership. “She understands not only the importance of a reliable, on-time American supply chain to and from Puerto Rico, as was seen during the pandemic and supply-chain disruption, but also the larger significance of ensuring national security through a strong shipbuilding and merchant mariner capacity.”

Caption for photo: Rep. Jenniffer González-Colón, in blue, with the board of the American Maritime Partnership.