[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5225]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          THE ``DELTA QUEEN''

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I also wanted to talk briefly, if I 
could, about the legislation we just passed, S. 89. It has to do with 
the Delta Queen. The Delta Queen is a wooden ship that is very 
important to my community of Cincinnati. It is part of our Queen City 
heritage.
  The boat was actually in Cincinnati during my childhood. From 1946 
until 1985, it called Cincinnati home. It is a beautiful paddle 
wheeler, and people love to get on it and go down the Mississippi 
River.
  It is no longer docked in Cincinnati, which is why the folks in 
Missouri were interested in this legislation tonight too. We just had a 
big vote, over 80 votes in favor of simply saying, for the first time 
since 2008: Let's allow people to spend the night on this boat and go 
overnight on this boat, despite the fact that there is legislation 
called the 1966 Safety at Sea law, which prohibits wooden boats of a 
certain size from carrying overnight passengers. Let's make an 
exception here because the Delta Queen is willing to undergo the kind 
of renovations that are necessary to make it safe. It also requires new 
safety requirements for the Delta Queen going forward.
  So I really appreciate the fact this vote was taken tonight. It is 
about a treasured part of our history. It is also about the economy 
because it will produce tourism and economic advancements all along the 
river everywhere the river stops, including in my hometown of 
Cincinnati. We are going to welcome the Delta Queen back if this 
legislation can be enacted into law.
  It is now going over to the House. It is in committee there. We hope 
that the House will do as the Senate did tonight and pass this 
legislation.
  This is my button. It says ``Save the Delta Queen,'' which I am not 
going to wear on the floor of the Senate because of the rules. It 
doesn't mean I don't care.
  I thank my colleagues tonight for helping us to be able to get this 
legislation through.

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