WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman John Thune and Ranking Member Bill Nelson, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) President Geoffrey Powell offered full support for the re-nomination of Commissioner Daniel B. Maffei to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC).

"This is a matter of utmost importance," writes President Powell in the March 8 letter. "As the agency's governing structure has been recently depleted - there are now only two Republicans and one Democrat - it can ill-afford to have its important work jeopardized by the departure of yet another Commissioner."

The FMC, responsible for the regulation of the international ocean transportation system for the benefit of U.S. exporters, importers, intermediaries and the U.S. consumer, recently held hearings related to detention, demurrage and per diem practices of marine terminal operators and container ship lines. As a result, the FMC has since announced a full-fledged investigation. It is important that the FMC be able to fully address the issues with input from its knowledgeable commissioners.

"Commissioner Maffei has performed his responsibilities in a thoughtful, inclusive manner, working with his fellow commissioners and the private sector to objectively form views that are in the best interest of the public," says President Powell. "We think it would be unfortunate to lose this dynamic, articulate spokesman for American ocean transportation intermediaries through a failure to renew his term of office."

Commissioner Daniel B. Maffei, of New York, was nominated to serve on the FMC by President Barack Obama on November 19, 2015, confirmed by the United States Senate on June 29, 2016, and appointed by the President on July 18, 2016. Before becoming an FMC Commissioner, Maffei served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 2009 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2015.