Grassley Works to Save the Delta Queen


  

            WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today announced that he will co-sponsor a bill to keep the Delta Queen steamboat carrying overnight passengers for years to come.


           

            “Congress should continue to renew this exemption for the historic Delta Queen,” Grassley said. “The Delta Queen has undergone Coast Guard inspections each quarter to ensure her safety and should not be forced out of commission because of a technicality in legislation.”

 

            The Delta Queen is the last traditional steamboat that carries overnight passengers on America’s inland waterways. Since 1966, the Delta Queen has been caught in technical provisions of the Safety at Sea Act, which was intended for ocean-going ships, not riverboats.

 

            Congress established an exemption in 1968 which recognizes the difference between boats that operate on rivers and ships that sail on oceans. The Delta Queen is the only remaining vessel currently operating under the exemption. The exemption has been renewed nine times by Congress and will expire on October 31, 2008 without an act of Congress. The bill Grassley is co-sponsoring will renew the extension until October 31, 2018.