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"We believe that extending the waiver is unnecessary to support the humanitarian relief efforts on the island," Homeland Security Press Secretary David Lapan wrote. "There is an ample supply of Jones Act-qualified vessels to ensure that cargo is able to reach Puerto Rico."

That said, DHS said it will review requests for individual ships on a case-by-case basis and will "respond quickly if a non-Jones Act qualified vessel is needed for a 'national defense'-related need."


......



CBS News' Major Garrett pointed out that the problem may not have been supply -- given that thousands of shipping containers filled with medicine, food and construction equipment sat at the ports for days because there were no trucks or truck drivers or open roads to distribute the supplies after the hurricane.








Soooooo the problem is
There's no reason for it in the first place. WW1 ended some time ago. It's been a hundred year excuse to fleece Puerto Rico and put billions in the pockets of the shipping/transportation industries. If it hadn't existed PR would have zero public debt. At long last it should be scrapped.
Ha ha yeah no debt ha ha omg u are an idiot

Thanks to the law, the price of goods from the United States mainland is at least double that in neighboring islands, including the United States Virgin Islands, which are not covered by the Jones Act. Moreover, the cost of living in Puerto Rico is 13 percent higher than in 325 urban areas elsewhere in the United States, even though per capita income in Puerto Rico is about $18,000, close to half that of Mississippi, the poorest of all 50 states.
This is a shakedown, a mob protection racket, with Puerto Rico a captive market. The island is the fifth-largest market in the world for American products, and there are more Walmarts and Walgreens per square mile in Puerto Rico than anywhere else on the planet.


A 2012 report by two University of Puerto Rico economists found that the Jones Act caused a $17 billion loss to the island’s economy from 1990 through 2010. Other studies have estimated the Jones Act’s damage to Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska to be $2.8 billion to $9.8 billion per year. According to all these reports, if the Jones Act did not exist, then neither would the public debt of Puerto Rico.
Three American territories are exempt from the Jones Act, including the United States Virgin Islands. Outright repeal of the law has already been backed by the Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, Manhattan Institute and several major publications. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that the Jones Act hurts the Puerto Rican economy, and two Republicans, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Representative Gary Palmer of Alabama, have submitted bills to repeal or suspend the law. (The shipbuilding industry supports the law.)

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/o...t.html?mcubz=0