The Cincinnati Post
October 27, 2007
The campaign to keep the Delta Queen riverboat operating has gathered some broad support, including a key endorsement from the company that owns and operates the national historic landmark.
U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Cincinnati, said Friday he has enlisted a dozen co-sponsors for a House resolution that would extend for 10 years an exemption that has allowed the sternwheel steamboat to transport overnight passengers on inland waterways that include the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Chabot said the Delta Queen, whose home port was Cincinnati for nearly 40 years, is a tangible link to the city's past.
"Cincinnati history is closely tied to the Ohio River, which brought the first settlers to this region," Chabot said during a Save the Queen press conference and rally in front of the paddlewheel sculpture on the Cincinnati riverfront.
Despite the support demonstrated Friday when about 30 people turned out to support Chabot's proposal, the resolution has already run into a stiff headwind.
U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat who chairs the House committee on transportation and infrastructure, has said that he and the U.S. Coast Guard oppose extending the exemption because of concerns about the possibility of a fire on the 81-year-old boat. Chabot's resolution has been assigned to Oberstar's committee, where it could languish and die.
Read the Full Story By Greg Paeth at The Cincinnati Post
