Senate Democrats Torpedoed the Cruise Line Industry, Block Cruise Act

Florida Republicans have set their sights on ensuring that the cruise line industry reopens, but it appears that plans for that will be put on hold as Democrats have torpedoed the cruise line industry blocked by blocking the CRUISE Act. The bill was introduced by Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan (R) and Florida Senators Rick Scott (R) and Marco Rubio (R). If passed, it would have ended the CDC’s No Sail Order, urging the CDC to instead provide COVID-19 mitigation guidance for cruise lines to safely resume operations domestically.

On Twitter, Senator Scott shared his disappointment, commenting that Senate Democrats have blocked the bill. “More than 300,000 jobs have been lost in the… cruise industry shutdown, and Democrats don’t care,” Scott added.

He shared a video of comments he provided on the Senate floor. In speaking, Senator Scott slammed the CDC, saying that “our nation has made enormous progress in fighting COVID-19, yet the CDC continues to like we’re still in March 2020.”

Noting that “there’s cruising all over the rest of the world,” Scott added, “my colleagues and I are simply asking the CDC to provide a timeline [of] when the cruise industry can begin to open like so many other sectors, and the Cruise Act ensures they can do that in a safe manner.”

After introducing the Cruise Act, the former Governor of Florida explained that “Florida is a tourism state with thousands of jobs relying on the success of our ports, cruise lines and maritime industries.” In order to get those jobs up and running again, Scott admitted that “we’re not waiting on the CDC any longer.” However, although he mentioned on the Senate floor that he believes “the CDC is treating the cruise sector unfairly while other industries are open for business,” it seems that Republicans and Democrats have not yet reached an agreement on whether or not the cruise industry should resume operation.

Again, Democrats have torpedoed the cruise line industry. Sunk the industry.