Earlier this week, Florida Senators Marco Rubio (R) and Rick Scott (R) joined Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan (R) in introducing the Careful Resumption Under Improved Safety Enhancement (CRUISE) Act. The bill, if passed, removes the CDC’s No Sail Order that’s currently in place along with requiring the CDC to offer COVID-19 mitigation guidance for cruise lines to safely resume domestic operations. The discussion has taken prominence because of the effect the No Sail Order has had on the Sunshine State, and Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R) is showing her support by meeting with the CDC, informing that “they would come to the table & work with us” on the issue.
The freshman lawmaker took to Twitter to post a video, saying that she had taken the trip herself to meet with the Deputy Director of the CDC, vowing that she will “never stop fighting until” the Port of Miami “is OPEN & our ships are back at sea!”
I walked over to the @CDCgov myself and met with the Deputy Director.
She assured us that they would come to the table & work with us.
I’ll never stop fighting until @PortMiami is OPEN & our ships are back at sea! pic.twitter.com/Wenur0qGcz
— Rep. María Elvira Salazar (@RepMariaSalazar) April 15, 2021
In the video, Elvira Salazar commented that she “had a very good meeting” with the Deputy Director, “who assured me that we were gonna be talking to the Director very, very soon.” She also added that the Deputy Director assured that they “were gonna work together, so we could open the Port of Miami and have those cruise ships back at sea.”
She shared that she was “very happy because they were receptive, and we see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Senator Scott, who formerly served as Governor of Florida, addressed the economic impact that the CDC’s No Sail Order has had on the state. In a statement, he addressed that “Florida is a tourism state with thousands of jobs relying on the success of our ports, cruise lines and maritime industries.”
In a time when the Sunshine State is loosening its COVID restrictions, some lawmakers argue that it also signals that cruise lines should be operation again, doing so in a safe manner while following safe guidelines.
