Political Quotes

“Mr. President, on the morning of October 1, the El Faro cargo ship--a container ship almost 900-feet long--was carrying 33 men and women, and on that fateful day it sent its final communication, reporting that the engines were disabled. This left the ship drifting with no power, with an oncoming category 3 hurricane. Despite search- and-rescue attempts by the Coast Guard, the El Faro and her crew were not heard from again. One month later, the National Transportation Safety Board, working with the U.S. Navy, has found the sunken El Faro at the bottom of the ocean in waters that are 15,000 feet deep. At nearly the same time, the ship's owner, TOTE Maritime, began its attempt to limit the company's liability for this tragedy. News reports have indicated that the company filed a complaint last week stating that the company did everything in its power to make the ship safe and that the company ought to be exonerated from any and all claims for all damages. Well, this is clearly hasty decisionmaking. It clearly is a matter of concern to me because most of these mariners were from my State of Florida. Their families are grieving and hoping for any answers as to what happened to their loved ones. Well, right now, we don't have all of those answers. The NTSB only just found the ship with the help of the U.S. Navy, and yet somehow the company is able to definitely declare that they weren't at fault and that they bear no responsibility for the loss.…”