Bid to renew exemption for Delta Queen fails

WASHINGTON — The future of the storied Delta Queen steamboat appeared in peril Tuesday after a key House committee rejected a vote on legislation to renew a fire-safety exemption for the vessel.



The exemption has allowed the Delta Queen to run overnight trips.



The House Rules Committee on Tuesday rebuffed Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, who wanted to amend a Coast Guard reauthorization bill to exempt the Delta Queen from federal fire safety standards.

But the Rules Committee said Tuesday that Chabot could not offer his Delta Queen proposal as an amendment when the bill is scheduled for debate.

For more than 80 years, the Delta Queen has cruised the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, operating on an exemption from Coast Guard rules that bar overnight trips on vessels made primarily of wood. The exemption has been renewed nine times since 1968, but it will expire Nov. 1 unless it is reauthorized.



Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, who cosponsored the exemption, told the Rules Committee that to deny a debate and vote "flies in the face of reason and will only contribute to the declining respect that Americans hold for this institution."



Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, opposes the exemption.



"The Coast Guard thinks it's a fire hazard," said Mary Kerr, a spokeswoman for Oberstar's committee.



Delta Queen supporters say the Coast Guard rules are intended for ocean vessels, and that the Delta Queen is safe for use on rivers, where the shore is never more than a few hundred feet away.



An Ohio-based group of Delta Queen fans delivered last week to House Democratic leaders a petition with 5,000 signatures from people supporting the exemption. People from around the world are networking online for grassroots lobbying.



Proponents said Chabot's measure could still be brought up for a House vote as a stand-alone bill, but prospects for that seemed dim.