On the recordApril 10, 2024
Let me begin by thanking the gentlewoman from Texas for her opening remarks of this Special Order hour dedicated to make sure that we underscore the sense of tragedy, the sense of loss, and the sense of damage that has occurred as a result of the bridge collapse in Baltimore. I thank her again for sitting in and standing in. Your remarks were very well received. We appreciate it. Mr. Speaker, I rise today shortly to welcome other Members again who will be coming over to be a part of this Special Order. I want to call everyone's attention to the fact that somewhere around 1:30 a.m. on March 26, the Dali, a large 985-foot cargo ship weighing 95,000 tons when empty, collided, as we all know now, tragically with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. {time} 1445 The Dali's collision with the Key Bridge caused its fatal collapse into the Patapsco River and has forced the Port of Baltimore to suspend vessel traffic until further notice. All of the shipping lanes, with the exception of the ones that the Coast Guard was just recently able to open, have been closed, and we don't expect that to change until sometime around the end of May, if we are fortunate. Aside from that, I think it is always important to recognize that it was not the collapse of the bridge alone that troubled us, but it is also the loss of human life. Our hearts continue to go out to the families who lost their loved ones on that bridge on that fateful evening.…
