Senator Todd Young Receives Legislator of the Year Award for Great Lakes Advocacy

On Wednesday, April 22, 2026, the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) recognized Indiana Senator Todd Young for his commitment to the Great Lakes Navigation System and the nation’s maritime revitalization.

“Senator Young understands the importance of U.S. shipping on the Great Lakes with interconnected harbors that depend on each other and a healthy maritime highway. He has advocated for another heavy U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker on the Lakes fully comprehending the importance to not only his steel mills in Indiana but the overall negative impacts to the nation when the critical raw materials that drive North American manufacturing are delayed or completely halted by winter ice,” stated Jim Weakley, Lake Carriers’ Association and GLMTF President.

Senator Young has assumed a leadership role advocating for the rebuilding of U.S. maritime capabilities including new U.S. vessels and additional American mariners. The SHIPS for America Act would provide the necessary congressional authorizations and enhance the mechanisms needed to build and crew a new fleet of commercial ships. The SHIPS Act also would establish a trust fund to support an expansion of the U.S.-flagged international fleet to 250 ships by 2035. It would make U.S.-flagged vessels commercially competitive in international commerce by cutting red tape, rebuilding the shipyard industrial base, and expanding and strengthening mariner and shipyard worker recruitment. Additionally, the SHIPS Act would help train a shipbuilding and mariner workforce, encourage domestic and foreign investment in maritime infrastructure, and provide the permitting reform and deregulation that is essential for timely construction of new shipyards.

The ceremony was hosted in Senator Young’s Washington D.C. office where he was surrounded by grateful GLMTF members from shipping companies, shipboard labor unions, U.S. steel mills, and the Great Lakes Maritime Academy which represents the future of the nation’s maritime dominance.