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OPINIONS
Editorial: Congress sidelines a great tradition by voting down Delta Queen exemption
The Delta Queen docks at Harris Riverfront Park on May 8, 2003. Last week, the amendment to Coast Guard Authorization Act that would have granted a 10-year extension for the Delta Queen from the Safety and Sea Act, was voted down 208-195 in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Purchase this photoThe days when people ran to the banks of the Ohio River to see the Delta Queen silently cruise by could very well be over. According to The Associated Press, an attempt by Republican Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio to attach an amendment to the Coast Guard Authorization Act was defeated 208-195 in the U.S. House last week.
The amendment would have granted a 10-year exemption from the Safety at Sea Act, which bans overnight passenger cruises on vessels that have a wooden superstructure.
The 82-year-old steamboat has been given nine exemptions since 1968, but the current one expires Nov. 1.
An article in the Cincinnati Enquirer last year quoted Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as opposing the exemption because, he said, the boat's advanced age and wood construction present an unacceptable safety risk.
The article also noted that Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, also opposed the exemption, mainly because the boat's crew is not unionized. Inouye said he would not support the exemption unless the Seafarers International Union gets behind it.
That's a pretty sad reason to destroy a tradition, but it's the way Congress works.
The margin of last week's vote indicates there is no reason now for anyone in Congress to push for another exemption. Maybe a new Congress could consider it next year.
Unless another effort saves the boat, the Delta Queen will no longer cruise the rivers the way it once did. It might have some day trips out of selected cities, but people won't be staying on it overnight, waking in a different city each day and enjoying a delicious breakfast buffet.
Huntington used to be one of those cities, but what it offered never changed. Things grew stale. Other cities decided they wanted the Delta Queen more than Huntington did, so the boat stops there now. Point Pleasant, W.Va., with its new riverfront park and emphasis on its river heritage, is one of those cities.
But there is hope. People in this area should do what they can to make the Delta Queen's sister boats -- the Mississippi Queen and the American Queen -- welcome should their owner decide to put Huntington back on the itinerary. The boats buy goods and services when they dock in a town. Huntington can use that money as much as any other city on the Ohio.
Huntington may have been founded as a railroad town, but it does have a history with the Ohio River. Having the boats stop here could help the city reconnect with the Ohio.
