Political Quotes

“Madam President, well, I am clearly disappointed that my colleague from Washington would object to this commonsense proposal. The cruise industry impacts thousands of jobs, not just in Florida and not just in Alaska but in the State of Washington. Everybody here I know wants to make sure that we can start cruising again in a safe manner. Let's remember what my colleague was talking about. She was talking about what was going on in March and April in 2020. But today, hotels are open, airlines are flying, beaches are open, restaurants are open, tourism sites are open, and amusement parks are open. They are all open, but for whatever reason, the CDC has made the decision to not allow cruising to happen, and they have singled out this industry and cannot tell any of us why they singled this out. All we are asking is for the CDC to provide a timeline of when the cruise industry can begin to reopen. The cruise industry wants to do it safely. It is a lot of American jobs, including--I think it is--23,000 jobs and a billion dollars in economic impact in the State of Washington. So I know everybody says they want to get this done, but the only way this is going to happen is if we make sure that we force the CDC to finally make a decision and allow the cruise industry to get open again in a safe manner. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas. Nomination of Colin Hackett Kahl”