President Joe Biden may have said on the campaign trail that Puerto Rico should become a state, but that doesn't mean he supports laws that make it a viable, economically competitive state if doing so means angering maritime unions. In an executive order signed Monday and in subsequent comments, Biden made it abundantly clear that he supports the Jones Act, a 1920 federal law that requires that cargo ships traveling between American ports be made in America and owned and crewed by American citizens:
The executive action I am taking also reiterates my strong support for the Jones Act and American vessels, you know, and our ports, especially those important for America's clean energy future and the development of offshore renewable energy.