Boehner on Delta Queen

Statement from Republican Leader, my Congressman and a Great American -- John Boehner -- on the Delta Queen’s Nomination as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) today issued the following statement regarding the Delta Queen’s nomination as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places:

“The Delta Queen has played a vital role in the greater Cincinnati area’s history first as a working steamboat and then as a recreational vessel ferrying passengers along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Since 1966, the Delta Queen has been exempted from the Safety at Sea Act, which unintentionally caught the ship in a tangled web of regulations meant for ocean-going vessels and not passenger ferries. However, special-interest groups finally succeeded in forcing the Delta Queen into dry-dock last year and the ship’s fate remains unknown.

“The Cincinnati-area congressional delegation has worked hard over the years to protect the Delta Queen from special interests interested more in political payback than preserving our regional history. I look forward to working with incoming Rep. Steve Driehaus and continuing to work with Reps. Jean Schmidt and Geoff Davis to save the Delta Queen.”

NOTE: The Delta Queen was nominated as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by Boone County (Kentucky) Historic Preservation Review Board member Don Clare. The list’s rules require the nomination be seconded. An Associated Press article notes that the list “raises awareness of preservation efforts.”

In 1970, the Delta Queen was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1989, she was named a National Historic Landmark. Boehner, Davis, Schmidt and former Rep. Steve Chabot recently petitioned the White House to issue an executive order extending the Delta Queen’s exemption from the 1966 Safety at Sea Act. Paul A. Schneider, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, responded on Dec. 30, 2008, denied the request because the exemption would be for “all of its voyages” instead of a “particular voyage.”

It is amazing that this situation hasn't been fixed yet...