WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., praised the U.S. Senate passage of the USMMA Athletics Act of 2026, which would support the athletic programs at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA). Specifically, the legislation would allow the USMMA to establish a nonprofit organization to handle fundraising, licensing, ticketing, and other matters related to athletics. This would bring the USMMA into parity with athletics programs at the other four U.S. service academies.
“By supporting service academy athletics, we boost recruitment and retention at America’s service academies,” said Senator Wicker. “It is time to give the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy the same tools that other academies have to make the most of athletics programs.”
“Nothing prepared me better for my career—in the Navy, at NASA, and even in the Senate—than the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy,” said Kelly. “This bill will strengthen and elevate USMMA’s ability to invest in midshipmen both in and beyond the classroom.”
The USMMA trains midshipmen to serve as licensed officers in the U.S. Merchant Marine or as commissioned officers in the U.S. Armed Forces. The academy fields 19 teams and conducts 55 percent of its overall recruiting through those athletic programs. Other service academies use a 501(c)(3) entity to generate revenue that supports athletics. The USMMA Athletics Act of 2026 would empower the USMMA to create such an organization and to collect funds it accrues. By boosting athletic programs, the USMMA will be able to support enrollment at the academy and, ultimately, the future Merchant Marine force.
The USMMA Athletics Act of 2026 passed the U.S. Senate on August 6, 2026. Its companion legislation awaits consideration by the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services.
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