Campaign 2010

Oct 30, 2009

Shadegg says NO to Grieving Father Seeking Cruise Ship Safety

Opposescommonsense measures to protect against sexual assault onboard

 

In a galling move, Representative John Shadegg last weekvoted against a commonsense effort to increase personal safety measures aboardcruise ships - a bill pressed by Shadegg's own constituent, Ken Carver of Phoenix, whose daughtermysteriously disappeared from an Alaskan cruise in 2004.

 

"In the face of reports of sexual abuse onboard cruiseships, it's simply inexplicable that Congressman Shadegg would vote againstcommonsense protections even endorsed by the industry - and against his ownconstituent who pushed for the safeguards," said Andy Stone, Western RegionalPress Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.  "Byopposing simple measures such as latches and peep holes for cabin doors andvideo surveillance to increase personal safety onboard and a requirement toreport incidents of sexual abuse, Congressman Shadegg proved his Party of Nobona fides."

 

 

Background

 

  • Rep. Shadegg opposed the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, H.R. 3619, which contained H.R. 3360, the Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act of 2009.  Only 10 Republicans voted against it, including Rep. Shadegg. [House Roll Call Vote #813, 10/23/09]

 

  • According to the Arizona Republic, in 2004 Merrian Carver disappeared from an Alaskan Cruise, despite no record of her leaving the ship.  The paper reported, "Instead of reporting her absence, the ship's staffers packed up her belongings and cleaned up her cabin. They did nothing for five weeks and only filed a missing-persons report with the FBI after being questioned by a private detective." [Arizona Republic, 7/15/09]

 

  • Under federal law, cruise ships operating under foreign flags have little, if any crime prevention and/or reporting requirements. [International Cruise Victims Association, accessed 10/30/09]

 

  • The legislation would require the cruise industry to comply with a number of security provisions, ensure vessels are equipped with a video surveillance system to assist in documenting and prosecuting crimes, require vessels to maintain a log book to record reports on specified complaints, and would mandate cruise vessel personnel to contact the nearest FBI office as soon as possible to report incidents. [Matsui press release, 10/23/09]

 

 

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