[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 62 (Monday, April 27, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4754-S4755]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-18. A resolution adopted by the House of 
     Representatives of the State of Kentucky urging the United 
     States Congress to act swiftly to renew the exemption of the 
     Delta Queen from Public Law 89-777; to the Committee on 
     Energy and Natural Resources.

                               Resolution

       Whereas, the Delta Queen is an integral part of the culture 
     and character of the Ohio River valley; and
       Whereas, the Delta Queen has made a lasting impression as a 
     beloved part of the past in the hearts of passengers and crew 
     members; and
       Whereas, the Delta Queen is a part of the National Register 
     of Historic Places, a National Historic Landmark, and a jewel 
     of the United States' inland navigable water system; and
       Whereas, the Delta Queen is the last of its kind, a 
     sternwheel overnight passenger steamboat like those that 
     contributed to this nation's westward expansion; and
       Whereas, the Delta Queen has been and continues to be a 
     safe and reliable vessel; and
       Whereas, the Delta Queen was constructed in 1926 to operate 
     as a passenger vessel in northern California, and during 
     World War II was used in the United States Navy as a ferry 
     for wounded being treated in San Francisco; and
       Whereas, after being purchased in 1946 by Greene Line 
     Steamers of Cincinnati, Ohio, the Delta Queen was carried 
     from California, to and along the Mississippi and Ohio 
     Rivers, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for refurbishment in 
     order to carry passengers on the nation's inland navigable 
     water system; and
       Whereas, Public Law 89-777 mandates that all passenger 
     vessels having berth or stateroom accommodations for 50 or 
     more passengers obey safety requirements, particularly fire 
     safety requirements; and
       Whereas, after this act was passed, the wooden construct of 
     the Delta Queen was treated with fire resistant materials and 
     a modern sprinkler system, thereby making this vessel 
     considerably more fire resistant; and
       Whereas, the Delta Queen has historically been exempted 
     from Public Law 89-777; and
       Whereas, the Delta Queen's safety records do not indicate 
     that she is any less safe today than at any point since the 
     passage of the Act in 1966; and
       Whereas, the current exemption for the Delta Queen is to 
     expire in 2008, and the United States Congress has not acted 
     to grant another exemption for the Delta Queen to allow her 
     to continue operating; Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives of the General 
     Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
       Section 1. The House of Representatives of the Commonwealth 
     of Kentucky hereby urges the United States Congress to act 
     swiftly to continue the exemption of the Delta Queen from 
     Public Law 89-777.
       Section 2. The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall 
     forward a copy of this Resolution to the Clerk of the United 
     States Senate, the clerk of the United States House of 
     Representatives, and all of the members of Kentucky's 
     Congressional Delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-19. A resolution adopted by the St. Charles County 
     Council of the State of Missouri supporting the Missouri 
     House Concurrent Resolution 13 relating to state sovereignty; 
     to the Committee on the Judiciary.

                          Resolution No. 09-03

       Whereas, House Concurrent Resolution 13 (hereinafter 
     ``HCR13''), introduced at the Ninety-fifth General Assembly, 
     First Regular Session the Missouri House of Representatives, 
     is on the House Concurrent Resolutions calendar; and
       Whereas, HCR 13 calls on the federal government to heed the 
     Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States 
     which states, ``The powers not delegated to the United States 
     by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are 
     reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.''; and
       Whereas, the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of 
     federal power as being that specifically granted by the 
     Constitution of the United States; and
       Whereas, powers not specifically granted to the federal 
     government or prohibited to the states by the constitution 
     are reserved in the Tenth Amendment to the states or to the 
     people; and
       Whereas, the states are concerned that over the course of 
     time the federal government has developed an increasing 
     policy to enact laws and regulations which treat the states 
     as agents of the federal government in violation of the 
     intent of the Tenth Amendment; and
       Whereas, evidence of the federal entry into powers reserved 
     to the states is evident in federal legislation that directs 
     states to comply with federal mandates under threat of civil 
     or criminal penalties or of loss of necessary federal 
     funding; and
       Whereas, in New York v. United States, 112 S.Ct. 2408, 2431 
     (1992) the United States Supreme Court ruled the Constitution 
     protects the sovereignty of the states not for the states as 
     abstract entities or for the public officials in charge of 
     them, but for the protection of individuals so that the risk 
     of tyranny or abuse from either the federal or state 
     government is reduced by a healthy balance of power between 
     the federal and state government; and
       Whereas, the Missouri House has before it House Concurrent 
     Resolution 13 (HCR 13) calling on the federal government to 
     cease and desist from mandates beyond the scope of federal 
     powers as enumerated in the constitution; and
       Whereas, HCR 13 calls upon the federal government to cease 
     passing compulsory federal legislation directing the states 
     to comply or lose funding or face penalties and to repeal 
     such laws already enacted; and
       Whereas, the St. Charles County Council, for the reasons 
     set forth above, concurs with HCR 13: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the County Council of St. Charles County, 
     Missouri, as follows:

[[Page S4755]]

       Section 1. The St. Charles County Council hereby enacts 
     this Resolution to offer its support in favor of passage of 
     House Concurrent Resolution 13.
       Section 2. A copy of this resolution shall be forwarded to 
     the respective Clerks of the Missouri Senate and the House of 
     Representatives.

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