Promoting National Safe Boating Week
Floor Speech
PROMOTING NATIONAL SAFE BOATING WEEK -- (House of Representatives - May 15, 2007)
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Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Res. 386.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Maryland?
There was no objection.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, I rise today in support of H. Res. 386, as amended.
This resolution recognizes the goals of National Safe Boating Week and recognizes the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Auxiliary for the outstanding work that they do to keep boaters safe and to rescue those in distress at sea.
Like so many other of the critical safety awareness campaigns in the transportation field, National Safe Boating Week came about through the dedication of a concerned voluntary group. The North American Safe Boating Campaign began some 50 years ago this year. In 1958, a year after the campaign began, Congress passed a joint resolution that authorized and requested the President to designate the week prior to Memorial Day weekend as National Safe Boating Week.
In keeping with this tradition, this year, on May 10, President Bush again
designated the week before Memorial Day as National Safe Boating Week. According to the Coast Guard, as of 2005, there were just under 13 million registered recreational boats in the United States. In 2005 a total of 4,969 recreational boating accidents were reported to the Coast Guard, although it is likely that there were many more accidents that were never reported.
According to the Coast Guard, the leading types of recreational boating accidents were collisions and falls overboard. Careless inattention on the part of a boat's operator was the largest single cause of recreational boating accidents in 2005.
However, the use of alcohol was the largest cause of accidents that resulted in fatalities. Simply put, mixing boats and alcohol can yield the same fatal results that mixing cars and alcohol can yield. In 2005, recreational boating accidents caused nearly 3,500 injuries and nearly 700 deaths. Total deaths in 2005 were down approximately 25 percent below the total of 924 fatalities experienced in 1991. Unfortunately, however, recreational boating deaths in 2005 increased after 3 straight years of steady decline.
The Coast Guard reports that of the nearly 700 people who died in recreational boating accidents in 2005, 491 died as a result of drowning and 426 of those who drowned were not wearing a life jacket. In my own State of Maryland, 13 of the 15 people who died in recreational boating accidents drowned.
In response to the prevalence of drowning as the cause of death among recreational boaters, the theme of this year's National Safe Boating Week is simply ``Wear It.'' This imperative emphasizes the singular importance of the use of personal flotation devices during recreational boating.
Importantly, however, it is not enough merely to have a personal flotational device on board a boat. Recreational boaters must familiarize themselves with the use of life jackets and should also take the time to experience swimming while wearing the device.
I commend all those in our Nation's boating clubs who work year round to train recreational boaters on safe boating practices and to maintain awareness of safe boating practices.
In closing, I want to recognize the outstanding work that the Coast Guard performs preserving life at sea. I have often said they are our thin blue line at sea, and that they are. Last year the Coast Guard saved more than 4,400 lives in the course of its search and rescue operations, many of which were performed under very difficult and dangerous circumstances.
Just yesterday, we were again reminded of the incredible dedication and skill that the Coast Guard brings to their work when they coordinated the successful evacuation of a reported 281 passengers and crew members from the Empress of the North cruise ship off the coast of Alaska.
Finally, I want to remember the Coast Guardsmen who have been lost this year, and all who have died in our Nation's service. I thank all of the members of the Coast Guard for their outstanding work. I also thank them for their work in the gulf coast during the Hurricane Katrina storm.
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Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Very briefly, we want to again congratulate Mrs. Drake on the sponsorship of this legislation. It is very important.
One of the things our Subcommittee on the Coast Guard just recently had, we had a hearing with regard to fishing safety. One of the interesting things that came forth during that discussion and during that hearing was how the industry was so very much interested in making sure that there was boating safety, and they wanted to make sure that their industry was regulated.
That was very pleasing to our ears. So it is with that, Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation.
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