I’m not so sure that this is the best use of union campaign dollars. The monetary return just isn’t there.
Having grown up in Cincinnati, the Delta Queen, is an icon for me. The last “real†steamboat in America, complete with boiler and sternwheel drive, was homeported there when I was a kid. But next year may be the ship’s last.
In 1966 Congress passed the Safety at Sea Act, which required that all passenger ships carrying more than 50 overnight passengers, be made of
woodmetal [Thanks to the alert eyes of many readers who pointed out my glaring error]. The Delta Queen has a double steel hull, but its superstructure is wood, including oak, mahogany, and teak. To compensate, the wood decks are coated in a fire retardent material and there is a sprinkler system throughout.Because of those protective measures, and the fact that the Queen is never more than a mile from shore, Congress has always granted her a waiver from the all-steel construction requirement. The exemption renewal again passed through the House this past year, but died in the Senate.
Why? Because of a renewed interest in safety? No.  Because her crew isn’t unionized.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, â€would not support the exemption unless the Seafarers International Union gets behind it.â€
He also points to this post at The Jawa Report
Historical attractions are a much better way of spending taxpayer dollars than just about any pet issue that any politician, (D)umbass or (R)etard, can think of. This is not pork. This is, once again, the selling of a national historic item. The USS Sequoia barely survived its journey. The Delta Queen may not.