John Shaw: “While H.R. 435 contains many worthy provisions, I am particularly pleased that two sections, which I drafted, were…”

“While H.R. 435 contains many worthy provisions, I am particularly pleased that two sections, which I drafted, were included in this legislation. These two sections concern renewing the Customs user fee and language that would benefit domestic boat shows, respectively. As my colleagues may recall, in 1997, the Customs user fee expired and thereby caused a possible diminution in Customs inspectors at Florida ports where the fee was being collected. To avoid disruption of the cruise ship industry, Congress passed a bill I introduced, H.R. 3034, which preserved Customs inspections in Florida for fiscal year 1998, but 1998 only. Now that we are well into a new fiscal year, Customs inspectors serving Florida cruise ships are again in jeopardy. Passage of H.R. 435 today will ensure that Customs inspectors at Florida ports are preserved and it will also allow the cruise ship industry to schedule new cruises without being impeded by a shortage of manpower at Customs.”