4 FOGHORN PVA GOES TO THE HILL Advocating for Safety, Infrastructure, and America’s Maritime Future T he Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) returned to Washington this spring for our annual Con- gressional Fly-In, and the urgency was palpable. Our members walked the Halls of Congress with a clear message: The federal government is making choices that will impact America’s maritime infrastructure, and PVA is working hard to influ- ence a positive future for our industry. We came with four core priorities, and we left with progress on all of them. CRITICAL U.S. COAST GUARD RESOURCE NEEDS Fund Them Now, and Convene a Hearing Our most pressing priority going into the fly-in was focused on the state of the U.S. Coast Guard, and specifically the direction it is heading under Force Design 2028. FD2028’s Executive Plan does not use the word “safety” once. It is a strategy document built around military readiness, border enforcement, and drug interdiction. Those are legitimate national priorities, but they cannot come at the expense of the Coast Guard’s marine safety mission which includes vessel inspections, mariner credentialing, waterway enforcement, and the prevention programs that protect passengers every single day. We raised this issue in every one of our meetings on Capitol Hill. We are particularly grateful to Congressman Mike Ezell of Mississippi, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, for his time and his candor. Congressman Ezell agrees with us that a focused congressional hearing on Coast Guard priorities is necessary. In 2007, Congressman James Oberstar held this kind of hearing, and the result was the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010, which established the marine safety career track that pro- tects passengers to this day. We need that same account- ability now. Force Design 2028 is reshaping the Coast Guard in real time, and we look to Congress to ask the hard questions before the Coast Guard’s prevention mission is further degraded. We also reiterated that Con- gress’s continued inability to pass Coast Guard funding is unacceptable and not an ab- straction. It has had real con- sequences for operators who rely on timely certificate of inspection renewals and mar- iners waiting in credentialing backlogs. We are pleased that funding has since been restored but we will remain outspoken about the risks asso- ciated with repeating such injurious government shutdowns. Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky once again met with our delegation, and as always, he brought his charac- teristic depth of knowledge and genuine commitment to waterway safety. He is a true friend of the passenger vessel industry and a tireless advocate for the Ohio River and in- land waterways. We are grateful for his partnership during his tenure in the Legislature and regret losing such a good friend in Congress. We hope to see him again on the politi- ANDREW SARGIS // PRESIDENT AT THE HELM LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Continued on page 56 Our most pressing priority going into the fly-in was focused on the state of the U.S. Coast Guard, and specifically the direction it is heading under Force Design 2028.
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