On the recordJune 18, 2012
This evening the House will take up Senate bill S. 404, a bill authored by my colleague in the Senate, Senator Carl Levin. As you heard, I authored a companion bill in the House last November. This bill will end a bureaucratic roadblock that has prevented the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum from making improvements to its facility located in Chippewa County, Michigan, along the southern shore of Lake Superior. Only an act of Congress is able to correct an error in the land patent that was enacted in 1992. From the bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald to the U.S. Coast Guard's Whitefish Point Lighthouse, the shipwreck museum's exhibits tell the story of brave men and women who have navigated the Great Lakes for hundreds of years. This facility displays important parts of Northern Michigan's history. Each year, some 60,000 individuals visit the museum and explore firsthand the rich maritime traditions of Michigan's First District. Preserving Michigan's maritime history is a resource that both Senator Levin and I agree warrants enthusiastic bipartisan support for the benefit of future generations of visitors. I want to thank Chairman Hastings for bringing this bill to the floor today, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support this measure and bring it one step closer to the President's desk.
