PUBLIC LAW 104-324—OCT. 19, 1996 110 STAT. 3989 "(C) a vessel aboard which the master or person in charge makes a claim of registry and the claimed nation of registry does not affirmatively and unequivocally assert that the vessel is of its nationality."; (2) in subsection (c)(1) by striking "and may be" and inserting "and is conclusively"; (3) in subsection (c)(2) by striking "nation may be" and inserting "nation is conclusively"; (4) in subsection (d) by inserting before the first sentence the following: "Any person charged with a violation of this section shall not have standing to raise the claim of failure to comply with international law as a basis for a defense."; and (5) by adding at the end of subsection (f) the following: "Jurisdiction of the United States with respect to vessels subject to this chapter is not an element of any offense. All jurisdictional issues arising under this chapter are preliminary questions of law to be determined solely by the trial judge.". (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (c) of such section is gimended by inserting "or (C)" after "under subparagraph (A)". SEC. 1139. REACTIVATION OF CLOSED SHIPYARDS. 46 USC app. (a) IN GENERAL. —The Secretary may issue a guarantee or a commitment to guarantee obligations under title XI of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46 App. U.S.C. 1271 et seq.), upon such terms as the Secretsiry may prescribe, to assist in the reactivation and modernization of any shipyard in the United States that is closed on the date of the enactment of this Act, if the Secretary finds that— (1) the closed shipyard historically built military vessels and responsible entities now seek to reopen it as an internationaly competitive commercial shipyard; (2)(A) the closed shipyard has been designated by the President as a public-private partnership project; or (B) has a reuse plan approved by the Navy in which commercial shipbuilding and repair are primary activities and has a revolving economic conversion fund approved by the Department of Defense; and (3) the State in which the shipyard is located, and each other involved State, or a State-chartered agency, is making a significant financial investment in the overall cost of reactivation and modernization as its contribution to the reactivation and modernization project, in addition to the funds required by subsection (d)(2) of this section. (b) WAIVERS. — Notwithstanding any other provision of title XI of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46 App. U.S.C. 1271 et seq.), the Secretary shall not apply the requirements of section 1104A(d) of that Act when issuing a guarantee or a commitment to guarantee an obligation under this section. (c) CONDITIONS. — The Secretary shall impose such conditions on the issuance of a guarantee or a commitment to guarantee under this section as are necessary to protect the interests of the United States from the risk of a default. The Secretary shall consider the interdependency of such shipyard modernization and reactivation projects and related vessel loan guarantee requests pending under title XI of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46 App.
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