[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 114 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5185-S5186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   COMMEMORATING ``CRUISE TRAVEL PROFESSIONAL MONTH'' IN OCTOBER 2016

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Commerce Committee be discharged from further consideration of and the 
Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 486.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 486) commemorating ``Cruise Travel 
     Professional Month'' in October 2016.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed 
to, the Rubio amendment to the preamble be agreed to, the preamble, as 
amended, be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 486) was agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 4977) was agreed to, as follows:

                    (Purpose: To amend the preamble)

       Strike the first whereas clause.
       In the second whereas clause, strike ``Cruise Lines 
     International Association supports'' and insert ``cruise 
     travel professionals support''.
       In the second whereas clause, strike ``is'' and insert 
     ``are''.

[[Page S5186]]

       In the third whereas clause, strike ``are members of Cruise 
     Lines International Association and''.
       In the seventh whereas clause, strike ``Cruise Lines 
     International Association and''.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, as amended, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 486

       Whereas cruise travel professionals support policies and 
     practices that foster a safe, secure, healthy, and 
     sustainable cruise ship environment and are dedicated to 
     promoting the cruise travel experience;
       Whereas approximately 10,000 travel agencies and 19,000 
     individual cruise travel professionals participate in ongoing 
     professional development and training programs to build 
     cruise industry knowledge;
       Whereas cruise travel professionals deliver value to 
     consumers by providing advice on choosing the best cruise 
     based on the budgets and interests of the customers and 
     taking the worry out of vacation planning by arranging the 
     details of vacations;
       Whereas cruise passengers have consistently ranked cruise 
     travel professionals as the most helpful sources of 
     information and service among all distribution channels used 
     for purchasing cruises;
       Whereas 70 percent of cruise passengers from the United 
     States use a cruise travel professional to plan and book a 
     cruise vacation;
       Whereas cruise travel professionals across the world 
     celebrate and promote October as ``Plan a Cruise Month'';
       Whereas the United States has the most cruise passengers in 
     the world, with almost 11,500,000 cruise passengers in 2014;
       Whereas the cruise industry in the United States generated 
     375,000 jobs across all 50 States in 2014; and
       Whereas, in 2014, the cruise industry spent $21,000,000,000 
     directly with United States businesses and generated 
     $46,000,000,000 in gross outputs due to the spending of 
     cruise lines and the crew and passengers of cruise lines, 
     including indirect economic impacts: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates the inaugural ``Cruise Travel Professional 
     Month'' in October 2016;
       (2) acknowledges the creativity and professionalism of the 
     men and women of the cruise travel professional community; 
     and
       (3) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
     ``Cruise Travel Professional Month'' with appropriate 
     ceremonies and activities.

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