PRINTER'S NO. 4432
No. 901 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY TURZAI, BEYER, BRENNAN, BROOKS, CAUSER,
DiGIROLAMO, ELLIS, FAIRCHILD, FLECK, GEIST, HARHART, HELM,
HENNESSEY, HERSHEY, KORTZ, MAJOR, MANTZ, MARSHALL, MENSCH,
MILLARD, MOUL, MOYER, MURT, MUSTIO, PALLONE, PAYNE, PYLE,
QUINN, RAPP, READSHAW, ROCK, SCAVELLO, SWANGER, VULAKOVICH
AND WOJNAROSKI, SEPTEMBER 24, 2008
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
SEPTEMBER 24, 2008
A RESOLUTION
1 Recognizing October 4, 2008, as "Delta Queen Day" in
2 Pennsylvania to honor her contributions to the nation and
3 this Commonwealth.
4 WHEREAS, The sternwheel river steamboat Delta Queen, built in
5 1926, has been transporting passengers on the Ohio River and its
6 tributaries since 1947 and is the last traditional sternwheel
7 river steamboat carrying overnight passengers on America's
8 inland waterways; and
9 WHEREAS, The Delta Queen remains one of the last enduring
10 symbols of America's inland waterway system and is listed on the
11 National Register of Historic Places and was designated a
12 National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of
13 the Interior in 1989; and
14 WHEREAS, The Delta Queen was used by the United States Navy
15 in World War II, ferrying wounded soldiers and other military
16 personnel on the San Francisco Bay; and
1 WHEREAS, Following the war, she was brought from California
2 through the Panama Canal to Pittsburgh and extensively
3 refurbished on Neville Island in order to carry passengers on
4 the Ohio River system; and
5 WHEREAS, The Delta Queen serves as a reminder of a time when
6 steamboats transported people and goods on the rivers of the
7 United States, fueling the westward expansion of this nation;
8 and
9 WHEREAS, For more than 60 years, the Delta Queen has helped
10 to showcase this Commonwealth, bringing thousands of tourists
11 and contributing millions of dollars to the economy; and
12 WHEREAS, In 1966, the Delta Queen was inadvertently caught in
13 the technical provisions of the Safety at Sea Act, a piece of
14 legislation that was intended to cover ocean-going ships, not
15 riverboats; and
16 WHEREAS, Recognizing the difference between boats that
17 operate on rivers, within yards of the shore, and ships that
18 sail the high seas, the Congress of the United States
19 established an exemption for the Delta Queen in 1968; and
20 WHEREAS, Since then, the exemption has been renewed nine
21 times, in virtually every case by near-unanimous votes in both
22 the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United
23 States; and
24 WHEREAS, The Delta Queen will depart Pittsburgh for the final
25 time on October 4, 2008, unless the United States Congress acts
26 to extend this exemption which will expire in November 2008, at
27 which time the vessel must cease operation; therefore be it
28 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize October
29 4, 2008, as "Delta Queen Day" in Pennsylvania to honor this
30 unique and quintessentially American treasure.
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