[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 35 (Friday, February 25, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                DUCK BOAT SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2022

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANDRE CARSON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 25, 2022

  Mr. CARSON. Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Duck Boat Safety 
Improvement Act of 2022, a bill to implement safety regulations for 
amphibious passenger vessels, particularly those known as duck boats. 
These safety recommendations were made by federal agencies to address 
persistent problems associated with duck boats that have resulted in 
far too many injuries and fatalities.
  I became much more aware of these problems when my constituents, the 
Coleman family, were involved in a horrible duck boat accident on July 
19, 2018 in Branson, Missouri. Tia Coleman was one of only two 
survivors from her family of 11, losing her husband Glenn and her 
children Reece (nine years old), Evan (seven years old), and Arya (one 
year old). Tia's 13-year-old nephew, Donovan Coleman, was the other 
surviving family member, losing his mother Angela, his younger brother 
Maxwell (two years old), his uncles Ervin (76 years old) and Butch (70 
years old), and his aunt Belinda (69 years old). Boarding a duck boat 
on Table Rock Lake started out as a fun outing for family members, but 
turned into an unspeakable tragedy when the boat capsized and sank. 
Seventeen of the 31 passengers on board were killed.
  The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and U.S. Coast Guard 
have separately investigated the incident and the last few aspects of 
the investigation should be completed soon.
  But Congress should not wait to act. We know from past incidents that 
more can be done to make these vessels safer. Since 1999, more than 40 
people have died in duck boats accidents, the vast majority of them 
from drowning when the vessel sinks. The NTSB in 2002 issued 
recommendations to improve the safety of the vessels in flooding or 
sinking situations but little has been done to implement those 
measures.
  Duck boats are hybrid vehicles that can travel on roadways and 
waterways, so the safety measures must be updated for both land and 
waterborne operations.
  The Duck Boat Safety Improvement Act will require vessel operators to 
implement commonsense boating safety measures, including:
  Improving reserve buoyancy and watertight compartmentalization to 
prevent sinking,
  Requiring more monitoring and adherence to severe weather alerts and 
warnings,
  Requiring release of road safety seatbelts when Duck Boats become 
waterborne,
  Requiring stronger crew safety training and certification,
  Removing or reconfigure canopies and window coverings for waterborne 
operations,
  Requiring personal flotation devices for waterborne operations,
  Requiring installation of better bilge pumps and alarms,
  Installing underwater LED lights that activate automatically in 
emergencies, and
  Complying with other Coast Guard boating safety requirements.
  These basic safety requirements will help save lives and prevent 
future tragedies. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this 
bill to make commnsense corrections to the persistent safety problems 
facing duck boats so that no other family must suffer the kind of 
tragedy faced by my constituents on Table Rock Lake. I urge the House 
to support this bill.

                          ____________________