Mr. Collins,

While your post is thought provoking, I find the linkage between what you identify as the problem -- the policy of shipping on only US-flagged ships -- and union policy to be somewhat unclear. You do mention that unions seem to support this stance, but I see no warrant for why this is a problem with unions and not a problem with US policy in general. You say "union-imposed labor requirements have slowed food shipments" but then your supporting quotation says "US policy compounds the problem" so I'm wondering whether it is union policy (and if what which one(s)) or US policy thats the problem. You do call for reform in foreign assitance policy, is your argument that unions will block these reforms? It's also unclear why unions would have such an incentive to support this policy. Can't union dockworkers still load ships that aren't US-flagged? Who else would load them at these docks?