Republican U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Rick Scott of Florida attempted to advance their Careful Resumption Under Improved Safety Enhancements (CRUISE) Act on the Senate Floor on Wednesday, but Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington objected, preventing the bill from passing. The CRUISE Act also was introduced by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. It would revoke the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s current Conditional Sailing Order on cruises and require the CDC to provide COVID-19 mitigation guidance for cruise lines to safely resume operations. Similar legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Don Young.
Sullivan held a colloquy on the Senate floor (see below)
The CRUISE Act would require the CDC to issue recommendations for how to mitigate the risks of COVId-19 to passengers and crew aboard the cruise ships. it would establish a working group that will develop recommendations to facilitate the resumption of passenger cruise ship operations in the United States. The recommendations will facilitate the resumption of passenger cruise ship operations in the U.S. no later than July 4, 2021. The CRUISE Act would also require the CDC, no later than July 4th to revoke the Conditional Sailing Order. Lastly, it would ensure that the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC to retain all appropriate authorities and enforce regulations necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread communicable diseases on any individual cruise ship.
More on the CRUISE Act can be found here.
