William Tauzin: “I rise today to urge the passage of H.R. 3786, the Recreational Boating Safety Improvement Act of 1994, as amended. I…”

“I rise today to urge the passage of H.R. 3786, the Recreational Boating Safety Improvement Act of 1994, as amended. I introduced H.R. 3786 after combining the most important provisions of two previous bills which I and the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, the Honorable Jack Fields of Texas, introduced last year to improve recreational boating safety. I would also like to thank the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, the Honorable Gerry Studds, for his leadership, endorsement, and prompt consideration of H.R. 3786. This comprehensive, bipartisan bill is the result of a concerted effort by many organizations involved in boating safety to improve Federal laws and funding. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3786 will create a Federal requirement for the mandatory wearing of lifejackets for children, encourage States to adopt important boating-while-intoxicated laws, require the Secretary of Transportation to submit a plan to increase the reporting of vessel accidents to State law enforcement officials, and require boating safety violators to take a boating safety course.”