It has become clear that nothing we can do will convince the House leadership to take the bill out of committee and send it to the House floor. Congressman Steve Chabot’s bill to continue the Delta Queen’s 42-year exemption from the Safety of Life at Sea Act has been sitting in the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure since October 16, 2007.

Our only hope to save the Delta Queen now lies in the Senate.

Please contact both of your Senators and urge them to support legislation that will grant the Delta Queen a permanent exemption from the SOLAS regulations. Roughly one third of the Senate is up for re-election this year, and these ladies and gentlemen should be especially eager to respect the wishes of their constituents. These are the Senators who must campaign for their seats this year:

Alexander, Lamar– (R – TN) 
455 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4944
Web Form: alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact….

Baucus, Max– (D – MT) 
511 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2651
Web Form: baucus.senate.gov/contact/emailForm.cfm?subj=issue

Biden, Joseph R., Jr.- (D – DE) 
201 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Chambliss, Saxby– (R – GA)
416 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3521
Web Form: chambliss.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactU…

Cochran, Thad– (R – MS) 
113 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5054
Web Form: cochran.senate.gov/contact.htm 

Coleman, Norm- (R – MN)
320 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5641
Web Form: coleman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Co…

Collins, Susan M.– (R – ME) 
413 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2523
Web Form: collins.senate.gov/public/continue.cfm?FuseAction=Contact…

Cornyn, John– (R – TX) 
517 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2934
Web Form: cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Con…

Dole, Elizabeth- (R – NC) 
555 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6342
Web Form: dole.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.C…

Durbin, Richard– (D – IL) 
309 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2152
Web Form: durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm 

Enzi, Michael B.– (R – WY) 
379A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Graham, Lindsey– (R – SC) 
290 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5972
Web Form: lgraham.senate.gov/index.cfm?mode=contact

Harkin, Tom– (D – IA) 
731 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3254
Web Form: harkin.senate.gov/

Inhofe, James M.– (R – OK) 
453 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4721
Web Form: inhofe.senate.gov/contactus.htm

Johnson, Tim– (D – SD) 
136 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5842
Web Form: johnson.senate.gov/contact/

Kerry, John F.- (D – MA) 
304 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2742
Web Form: kerry.senate.gov/v3/contact/email.html

 Landrieu, Mary L.– (D – LA)
724 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5824
Web Form: landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Lautenberg, Frank R.– (D – NJ) 
324 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3224
Web Form: lautenberg.senate.gov/contact/

Levin, Carl– (D – MI) 
269 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6221
Web Form: levin.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

McConnell, Mitch– (R – KY)
361-A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2541
Web Form: mcconnell.senate.gov/contact_form.cfm

Pryor, Mark L.– (D – AR)
255 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2353
Web Form: pryor.senate.gov/contact/

Reed, Jack– (D – RI)
728 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4642

Roberts, Pat– (R – KS)
109 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4774
Web Form: roberts.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInf…

Rockefeller, John D., IV– (D – WV)
531 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Sessions, Jeff– (R – AL)
335 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Smith, Gordon H.- (R – OR)
404 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Stevens, Ted- (R – AK)
522 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3004
Web Form: stevens.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Em…

Sununu, John E.- (R – NH)
111 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2841
Web Form: www.sununu.senate.gov/webform.html

Warner, John– (R – VA)
225 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2023
Web Form: warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Con…

Charles Greene, member of the Greene family formerly owned Greene Line Steamers, including the Delta Queen and numerous other steamboats, has sent an open letter to the US Congress. This is what he has to say – and I’d like to emphasis how much I supprt every single word of this letter!

Dear Members of Congress,

My name is Charles Greene. My dad, Robert Greene, was ferried off to his WWII troop ship in San Francisco Bay aboard the Delta Queen, which then returned loaded with wounded troops. My dad came back from the war. Far too many did not.

In 1947, my grandfather’s cousin, TomGreene, bought the Delta Queen, had her towed from California to Cincinnati, and put her into operation carrying passengers up and down the Mississippi River and its tributaries just as steamboats had done for more than 100 years.

Today the Delta Queen is the only remaining genuine steamboat carrying overnight passengers on our inland waterways. On her travels, she brings much-needed tourist revenue to many river towns, which will now be needed all the more after the devastating effects of the recent floods on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.

Yet now some members of Congress want to put her out of business because she doesn’t comply with a provision of a law that was never intended for riverboats.

The Delta Queen survived being towed through the Panama Canal without incident, and has served honorably and faithfully for more than 80 years without any serious safety incidents. The Delta Queen survived the recession that followed the attacks of 9-11, and Hurricane Katrina (although her then-owners did not). She is surviving $140/bbl oil.

But there is a good chance that the Delta Queen cannot survive her most lethal challenge to date: the inaction of Congress. Without an exemption to legal restrictions due to her wooden superstructure, this will be her last season.

To some in Congress the facts do not matter. They care only about the letter of a misapplied law. So to all of you I ask this question: Come July 4th, just what the hell are we celebrating?

Charles Greene
Lewisburg, KY