[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1105 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1105
To provide COVID-19 mitigation instructions for cruise ships, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 13, 2021
Mr. Sullivan (for himself, Mr. Scott of Florida, and Mr. Rubio)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide COVID-19 mitigation instructions for cruise ships, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Careful Resumption Under Improved
Safety Enhancements Act'' or the ``CRUISE Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) On March 14, 2020, in response to the COVID-19
pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
issued the ``No Sail Order and Suspension of Further
Embarkation'' which prohibited all cruise ships with capacity
to carry 250 or more individuals from embarking passengers in
the United States.
(2) Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the cruise industry
supported nearly 450,000 American jobs and contributed over
$55,500,000,000 to the United States economy annually. More
than 300,000 jobs have been lost in the United States due to
the suspension of cruises. The majority of the individuals
impacted are independent business owners or individuals
employed by small- to medium-sized businesses, including travel
agents, taxi drivers, port employees, baggage handlers, and
longshore workers, as well as airline, hotel, and restaurant
employees.
(3) On October 30, 2020, the CDC issued the ``Framework for
Conditional Sailing Order'' for cruise ships that laid out a 4-
phase approach for the resumption of cruise activity. At that
time, the CDC released technical instructions for only the
first phase of this conditional sailing order. On April 2,
2021, more than 5 months later, CDC released the technical
instructions for half of the second phase. Without the complete
technical instructions for all 4 phases of this framework, no
large cruise ships are able to resume operations in the United
States under the CDC's conditional sailing order.
(4) The cruise industry is the only segment of the United
States economy that is completely prohibited from operations by
the CDC due to COVID-19. For every other sector of the economy,
CDC provides recommendations for how to mitigate the spread of
COVID-19 without issuing orders to prohibit operations.
(5) Since July 2020, cruising has continued in Asia,
Europe, and the South Pacific with nearly 400,000 passengers
sailing with health protocols to mitigate the spread of COVID-
19.
(6) The increasing availability of vaccines provides a path
to the resumption of pre-pandemic activities. On March 2, 2021,
President Biden stated: ``We're now on track to have enough
vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May. .
. . The more people who get vaccinated, the faster we're going
to overcome this virus and get back to our loved ones, get our
economy back on track, and start to move back to normal.''.
(7) As of March 11, 2021, 65 percent of people over the age
of 65 and more than 70 percent of people over the age of 75 in
the United States were fully vaccinated against COVID-19,
leading President Biden to state: ``All adult Americans will be
eligible to get a vaccine no later than May 1. . . . After this
long, hard year, that will make this Independence Day something
truly special, where we not only mark our independence as a
nation but we begin to mark our independence from this
virus.''.
SEC. 3. COVID-19 MITIGATION GUIDANCE FOR CRUISE SHIPS.
(a) In General.--Not later than the earlier of 30 days after the
date of enactment of this Act or June 1, 2021, the Secretary of Health
and Human Services (referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary''),
acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (referred to in this Act as the ``Director'') and in
consultation with the interagency working group established under
subsection (c), shall issue recommendations for how to mitigate the
risks of COVID-19 introduction, transmission, and spread among
passengers and crew onboard cruise ships and ashore to communities. The
Secretary may later update or modify such recommendations as necessary
to mitigate such risks.
(b) Applicability.--The recommendations issued under subsection (a)
shall be applicable to all cruise ships subject to the order entitled
``No Sail Order and Suspension of Further Embarkation'', issued by the
Director on March 24, 2020 (85 Fed. Reg. 16628), or any modification
to, or extension of, such order.
(c) Working Group.--
(1) Establishment.--There is hereby established an
interagency working group, for purposes of developing, not
later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the
recommendations described in subsection (a), in order to
facilitate the resumption of passenger cruise ship operations
in the United States not later than July 4, 2021.
(2) Members.--The interagency working group shall consist
of--
(A) the Secretary (or designee) serving as Chair;
(B) the Secretaries (or designees) of
Transportation, of Homeland Security, and of Commerce;
and
(C) industry stakeholders appointed by the
Secretary.
(3) Scope of recommendations.--In developing the
recommendations described in subsection (a), the interagency
working group shall consider public health safety needs; risk
mitigation strategies and health protocols for passengers and
crew that are consistent with, and not substantially more
burdensome than, the guidance applied by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to other business sectors and
travel-related industries; and overall economic impacts, costs,
and benefits of the recommendations.
SEC. 4. RESUMPTION OF CRUISE SHIP OPERATIONS.
Not later than July 4, 2021, the Secretary shall revoke the order
entitled ``Framework for Conditional Sailing and Initial Phase COVID-19
Testing Requirements for Protection of Crew'', issued by the Director
on November 4, 2020 (85 Fed. Reg. 70153), under the authority of
sections 361 and 365 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264;
268), and any other order or regulation that prohibits the operation of
all cruise ships in United States waters, requires such ships to obtain
approval from the Director prior to operating, or otherwise acts as a
de facto prohibition for cruise ship operations in the United States.
SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act shall limit the authority of the Secretary to
make and enforce such regulations that, in the judgment of the
Secretary, are necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or
spread of communicable diseases on any individual cruise ship
presenting a public health threat by reason of the existence of any
communicable disease.
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