America's Cup Act of 2011

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I too rise in support of this legislation, which would provide a narrow waiver from the coastwise laws for the vessels competing or supporting the upcoming America's Cup finals to be held in 2013.

The America's Cup, the world's premier international sailing competition, will be held in San Francisco Bay by virtue of the United States' successful challenge to reclaim the cup last year. This legislation is necessary to ensure that the competition can go forward in an expeditious manner for all competitors.

The legislation also includes several other vessel waivers that are included in H.R. 2828, which were cleared by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in September.

I appreciate as well that my request to waive the coastwise laws for the maritime education vessel, LUNA, has been included in this bill, as well as in the Coast Guard bill, and support passage of this legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time.

In conclusion, let me just say that the America's Cup is the oldest competitive sailing competition. The U.S. held the Cup for over 134 years before losing to Australia off of Newport, Rhode Island. We are very proud to have reclaimed the Cup and look forward to defending it in 2013.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I support the passage of the America's Cup Act of 2011, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source