You may recall that Florida Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio recently introduced The Cruise Act to push the CDC to allow cruising to resume by July from U.S. ports.
Unfortunately, Senator Murray of Washington state used her power to block the Cruise Act from moving forward.
Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska, another sponsor of the Cruise Act, issued the following press release:
“Legislation would require CDC to issue guidance for safely resuming cruise line operations this summer
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) today attempted to advance their Careful Resumption Under Improved Safety Enhancements (CRUISE) Act on the Senate floor, but Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) objected, preventing the bill from passing. The CRUISE Act, also introduced with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), would revoke the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) current “Conditional Sailing Order” on cruises and require the CDC to provide COVID-19 mitigation guidance for cruise lines to safely resume operations. Representatives Don Young (R-Alaska) and María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) have introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
Sens. Sullivan and Scott also held a colloquy on the Senate floor discussing the dramatic economic consequences of another lost cruise ship season on thousands of hard-working Americans across the country, and why the CRUISE Act is necessary to salvage the summer cruise season.
The CRUISE Act:
- Requires the CDC to issue recommendations for how to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 to passengers and crew onboard cruise ships.
- Establishes an interagency “Working Group” that will develop recommendations to facilitate the resumption of passenger cruise ship operations in the United States. The recommendations will facilitate the resumption of passenger cruise ship operations in the U.S. no later than July 4, 2021.
- Requires the CDC, no later than July 4, 2021, to revoke the order entitled “Framework for Conditional Sailing and Initial Phase COVID-19 Testing Requirements for Protection of Crew.”
- Ensures that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the CDC retain all appropriate authorities to make and enforce regulations necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases on any individual cruise ship.
Stay tuned to my social media channels for updates on this issue, and click on the link below for the full press release from Senator Sullivan:
