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Save the steamboat Delta Queen ~ a private initiative to support this historic landmark Page 4 of 8 T_he_Co_n~ress hasn't_refused__the exemption_yet! Sep 2, 2007 There is a general misunderstanding on what happened on the political scene so far regarding the Delta Queen's exemption from the Safety at Sea Act: The Congress, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, hasn't even voted on an exemption for the Delta Queen yet. So far it's only a single, totally uninformed and most likely Union-influenced Representative from Minnesota, Rep. James Oberstar (D), chairman of the Transportation committee, who refuses_to present the exemtion to the full House of Representatives for vote. And it's one single Union- controlled Senator, Sen. Inouye or Hawaii (D), who does the same thing in the Senate. According to an article in the Winona Daily News, the Transportation Committee of the House at least has discussed the issue, citing Rep. Walz, member of this committee: "I voted in committee for the exemption, and my reasoning was ... for historical preservation". And it seams that the committee is as uninformed as its chairman is. By the way: Walz is not member of the Coast Guard subcommittee where this issue should belong to. Let's not blame the Congress for this, so far. Let's force Sen. Inouye and Rep. Oberstar to respect basic democratic rules and let the people's representatives vote on the exemption for the Delta Queen! Let's sent aletter-to-the-editor to every newspaper that is repeating the nonsense of "the Congress has denied the exemption". Remind them of the facts, ask them to stop copying the press release of Majestic America Line who originally has published this Congress-denied-exemption nonsense. Arguments- in Favor- of the Delta Queen Aug 12, 2007 6 Comments When you're writing or talking to politicians and reporters about the Delta Queen, there are hundreds of good arguments on favor for the Delta Queen. The Delta Queen raises big emotions in all of us. But on the political floor, this discussion is mainly about the Safety at Sea Act. Emotions are important, but try to prioritize the safety aspects before the romantic and historical ones. Here are some ideas on what arguments are really important: The Delta Queen is a very safe boat to travel on: - Though the Safety at Sea Act requires noncombustible material for the construction of boats, the wooden superstructure of the Delta Queen doesn't mean there is a bigger fire hazard. It's along-known fact that wooden structures often survive longer in catastrophic fires than noncombustible structures, which quickly fail and melt. - The Safety at Sea Act assumes that ships are remote from land and other vessels. The Delta Queen can be landed in minutes over the entire route she traverses. Her forward mounted swing bridge and inflatable emergency boats on the stern make it easy and effective to evacuate passengers very quickly within moments of notice. Also remember that the staterooms on the Delta Queen have exits directly to http://wwv~.save-the-delta-queen.org/ 10/26/2007