[David Dewey]

Morning all,
Here's what I FAXed yesterday. BTW, last night our well pump quit. I have no water in my house--what if a fire were to break out??? Gotta go fix the pump take a day off work to do it.
S'
David D.
I am writing on the behalf of an American Icon, the Steamboat Delta Queen. The Delta Queen operates under an exemption to the Safety Of Live At Sea law that congress has passed nine times since 1970. This week you will be voting on the Coast Guard reauthorization bill. Congressman Steve Chabot will be introducing an amendment to this bill that will continue the Delta Queen’s on-standing exemption from the 1966 Safety at Sea Act. This will only reach the floor if the Rules Committee allows it to be added without going through Rep. James Oberstar’s Transportation committee, as he has refused to allow any such legislation to leave his committee. I am asking you to join with others to permit this legislation to reach the floor where it may be democratically voted on by the entire house.
To call the Delta Queen a danger is to not know the boat, nor the issues. The biggest danger one has when going on a Delta Queen cruise is getting to the boat! The DQ is fully fire suppressed, including a state-of-the-art sprinkler system, fire-resistant paint developed by NASA, a watchperson on duty at all times, a fully trained and tested crew, including the service staff. In 80 years, never has anyone had to leave the boat because of fire, nor has anyone died from any incident. Not only is the boat safe (safer than my own home), she is taller than the rivers she runs, is always minutes from beaching on a bank (which she is designed to do), and every passenger room has exits onto the deck, no endless passageways to run for escape. No, I believe the issue is NOT safety, it's about a union flexing its muscle to punish a company that took the union off their Mississippi river boats. This is a really mindless decision on their part that will immediately eliminate 170 jobs on board the boat, and many more in land-based support services, plus all the riverside businesses that rely on the boat's passengers for their livelihood. Not only will we lose a piece of American history; we will lose a real prosperity engine. Please help allow this issue to be voted on by the entire house