TRANSPORTATION OF CARGOES BY WATER.

SEC. 1173. TRANSPORTATION OF CARGOES BY WATER. (a) In General.—Chapter 157 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2631 the following new section: “§ 2631a. Contingency planning: sealift and related inter-modal transportation requirements “(a) Consideration of Private Capabilities.—The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that all studies and reports of the Department of Defense, and all actions taken in the Department of Defense, concerning sealift and related intermodal transportation requirements take into consideration the full range of the transportation and distribution capabilities that are available from operators of privately owned United States flag merchant vessels. “(b) Private Capacities Presentations.—The Secretary shall afford each operator of a vessel referred to in subsection (a), not less often than annually, an opportunity to present to the Department of Defense information on its port-to-port and intermodal transportation capacities.”. (b) Clerical Amendment.—The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2631 the following new item: “2631a. Contingency planning: sealift and related intermodal transportation requirements.”.