Congress, White House Respond to Piracy

As pirates stalk, Washington talks.

The attack on the U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama and the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips from his Somali captors in April lit a fire under Capitol Hill, where committees in both chambers of Congress rushed to schedule hearings on how to handle the pirate threat.

Phillips overnight became one of the most recognizable faces in Washington, appearing at multiple House and Senate hearings and meeting with President Obama at the White House.

(The full testimony of Phillips and other expert witnesses can be downloaded as PDF files by clicking on the links below this story.)

All that talking will lead to legislation, perhaps as early as this month, though it's not clear what Congress can or should do to combat piracy.

“We have adopted the urgency of now,” Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said at a piracy-related hearing last month. “If we fail to act, I am convinced that lives will be lost.”

The executive branch also swung into action. The U.S. Coast Guard issued a new security directive to ship owners, and the U.S. State Department stepped up efforts to secure greater international cooperation against Somali pirates and perhaps freeze assets.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged to work with the shipping industry as well. (See her remarks in a video here.)

The U.S. is already participating in an international naval coalition patrolling the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

Much of the debate in Congress concerns whether ship owners should arm officers or place armed guards on vessels. Phillips, who was rescued by Navy SEAL snipers, favors armed security details. “The most desirable and appropriate solution to piracy is for the United States government to provide protection, through military escorts and/or military detachments aboard U.S. vessels,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee April 30.

Maersk Chairman John Clancey wasn’t so sanguine about allowing firearms on vessels. “Our belief is that arming merchant sailors may result in the acquisition of ever more lethal weapons and tactics by the pirates, a race that merchant sailors cannot win,” Clancey told the same panel. “In addition, most ports of call will not permit the introduction of firearms into their national waters,” he said.