[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3018-3019]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
return to legislative session.


           COMMENDING THE AMERICAN SAIL TRAINING ASSOCIATION

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary 
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 158, and 
the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 158) to commend the American Sail 
     Training Association for advancing international goodwill and 
     character building under sail.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a Kerry 
amendment to the resolution, which is at the desk, be agreed to; the 
resolution, as amended, be agreed to; that a Kerry amendment to the 
preamble, which is at the desk, be agreed to; the preamble, as amended, 
be agreed to; the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no 
intervening action or debate; and any statements related to the 
resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 3459) was agreed to, as follows:

       Strike paragraph (3) of the resolving clause and insert the 
     following:
       (3) encourages all people of the United States and the 
     world to join in celebration of the ``Tall Ships Challenge'' 
     races and in the character-building and educational 
     experience that the races represent for the youth of all 
     nations.

  The resolution (S. Res. 158), as amended, was agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 3460) was agreed to, as follows:

       Strike the 12th whereas clause of the preamble and insert 
     the following:
       Whereas ATSA collaborates with port partners around North 
     America to produce the ``Tall Ships Challenge'' races and 
     maritime events, drawing sail training vessels from around 
     the world: Now, therefore, be it

  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, reads as 
follows:

                              S. Res. 158

       Whereas the American Sail Training Association (ASTA) is an 
     educational nonprofit corporation whose declared mission is 
     ``to encourage character building through sail training, 
     promote sail training to the North American public and 
     support education under sail'';
       Whereas since its founding in 1973, ASTA has supported 
     character-building experiences aboard traditionally rigged 
     sail training vessels and has established a program of 
     scholarship funds to support such experiences;
       Whereas ASTA has a long history of tall ship races, 
     rallies, and maritime festivals, dating back as far as 1976;
       Whereas each year since 2001, ASTA has held the ``Tall 
     Ships Challenge'', a series of races and maritime festivals 
     that involve sail training vessels, trainees, and crews from 
     all the coasts of the United States and around the world;
       Whereas the Tall Ships Challenge series has reached an 
     audience of approximately 8,000,000 spectators and brought 
     more than $400,000,000 to more than 30 host communities;
       Whereas ASTA supports a membership of more than 200 sail 
     training vessels, including barks, barques, barkentines, 
     brigantines, brigs, schooners, sloops, and full-rigged ships, 
     which carry the flags of the United

[[Page 3019]]

     States, Canada, and many other nations and have brought life-
     changing adventures to thousands of young trainees;
       Whereas ASTA has held a series of more than 30 annual sail 
     training conferences in cities throughout the United States 
     and Canada, including the Safety Under Sail Forum and the 
     Education Under Sail Forum;
       Whereas ASTA has collaborated extensively with the Coast 
     Guard and with the premier sail training vessel of the United 
     States, the square-rigged barque USCGC Eagle;
       Whereas ASTA publishes ``Sail Tall Ships'', a periodic 
     directory of sail training opportunities;
       Whereas in 1982, ASTA supported the enactment of the 
     Sailing School Vessel Act of 1982, title II of Public Law 97-
     322 (96 Stat. 1588);
       Whereas ASTA has ably represented the United States as a 
     founding member of the national sail training organization in 
     Sail Training International, the recognized international 
     body for the promotion of sail training, which has hosted a 
     series of international races of square-rigged and other 
     traditionally rigged vessels since the 1950s; and
       Whereas ATSA collaborates with port partners around North 
     America to produce the ``Tall Ships Challenge'' races and 
     maritime events, drawing sail training vessels from around 
     the world: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends the American Sail Training Association for 
     advancing character building experiences for youth at sea in 
     traditionally rigged sailing vessels and the finest 
     traditions of the sea;
       (2) commends the American Sail Training Association for 
     acting as the national sail training association of the 
     United States and representing the sail training community of 
     the United States in the international forum; and
       (3) encourages all people of the United States and the 
     world to join in celebration of the ``Tall Ships Challenge'' 
     races and in the character-building and educational 
     experience that the races represent for the youth of all 
     nations.

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