Political Quotes

“I also wanted to talk briefly, if I could, about the legislation we just passed, S. 89. It has to do with the Delta Queen. The Delta Queen is a wooden ship that is very important to my community of Cincinnati. It is part of our Queen City heritage. The boat was actually in Cincinnati during my childhood. From 1946 until 1985, it called Cincinnati home. It is a beautiful paddle wheeler, and people love to get on it and go down the Mississippi River. It is no longer docked in Cincinnati, which is why the folks in Missouri were interested in this legislation tonight too. We just had a big vote, over 80 votes in favor of simply saying, for the first time since 2008: Let's allow people to spend the night on this boat and go overnight on this boat, despite the fact that there is legislation called the 1966 Safety at Sea law, which prohibits wooden boats of a certain size from carrying overnight passengers. Let's make an exception here because the Delta Queen is willing to undergo the kind of renovations that are necessary to make it safe. It also requires new safety requirements for the Delta Queen going forward. So I really appreciate the fact this vote was taken tonight. It is about a treasured part of our history. It is also about the economy because it will produce tourism and economic advancements all along the river everywhere the river stops, including in my hometown of Cincinnati.…”