Have not had the direct testimony of those affected by it and those who represent some who are affected by it. And so thats what this hearing was before. The fact that some senators have left, dont let that bother you. Markups are unusual. And thats why they had to come because theyre all 13, and they had to go do something else, but youre the point of all this. I want that to be very, very clear to you. So as i said, very glad to welcome four witnesses who will help us understand firsthand the consequences of the instances and what they had to go through. Yoig this is not an easy subject to talk about, let that be said, okay, so that its painful. And however you reflect that pain, the committee understands it. Welcomes it, joins you in, you know, the difficulty of coming up here and testifying before a senate committee. Although its really not that difficult after all. The cruise industry, im happy to say, is not happy that im holding this hearing. Theyre very unhappy. Those companies dont like it when congress and the media talk about the risk of taking a cruise vacation. They have repeatedly told this committee in both public hearings and private meetings that cruise ships and trips are safe. Thats it. No teed to do anything, but the facts tell a different story. It means that that doesnt mean theyre as i said, the average person will have a good experience, but you dont judge a steel plant by, you know, 500 workers not being hurt, but 30 workers being badly hurt. I mean, its the problems that you have to address. So the facts tell a different story. Last year, our Committee Releases a report that found hundreds of cruise crimes were not being publicly reported. Very basic negligence. Weve had several hearings where expert witnesses testified about ongoing safety and Security Problems like wrecks, fires, crimes, onboard these vessels. And we continue to see the same issues continuing to continue. And im fed up with it. Im fed up with them trying to stonewallace. Yes, they have lots of money and they have lots of lobbyists and thats were going to win this one. Almost exactly one year ago, carnivals president told his committee his companys number one priority is, quote, the safety and security of our guests. Explain how the cruise lines have every incentive to make sure the customers have a good experience. That sounds nice in a congressional hearing, but its little comfort to the many people whose vacations or in a number of cases, lives have been ruined by the cruise lines failure to deliver on their promises. That is if they got a chance to see what the promises were. Which is a problem in and of itself, and well talk about that. In spite of the evidence that crimes, fires, mechanical failures, drownings and mishandled medical emergencies occur with disturbing regularity on cruise ships, the industry continues to deny that it has a problem. Any problem, just denies any problems. It has circled the wagons and reflexively fought all efforts to provide consumers more information about the risks of cruise ship vacations. I dont mind if they talk about the joys and the pleasures, but people have to talk about the risk, too. Its not fair if they dont. They ought to refer to, you know, new york city doesnt. They have all kinds of problems. But they dont advertise their problems. But when youre on a cruise ship, you know, out in the ocean somewhere, there isnt a hospital next door. There isnt a Police Station to go to. Youre just on an island all by yourself. And its a very different feeling. Than being part of a community, which can come to hell. So thats where my legislation comes in. Last year, after witnessing the Costa Concordia tragedy, and learning about the underreported number of crimes on cruise ships, i introduced something called the cruise passenger protection act of 2013. In this bill, ive poposed making it easier for consumers to report crimes and make complaints about problems on cruise ships. Everything is about making it easier. If you make it hard, a lot of people just wont do it. And unfortunately, when you have an encapsulated environment like a cruise ship trip, you have to be able to report. You just have to be able to do that. And do it fairly easily. So we make it easier to report. Ive also proposed simplifying ticket contracts and publishing more information about crimes and other problems on cruise ships. You know what im talking about when i talk about the ticket problem. You have to peel, you know, layers of paper away and youre just signing a ticket. But its underneath that somewhere that says, oh, by the way, you give up your liability. That is not nice. Its a terrible thing to do to passengers. These arent crazy ideas im suggests. Theyre common sense protections people already have if their travel, for example, in airplanes or by rail, but the cruise industry vehemently opposed my bill, even the bills simplest provisions like reporting crimes against minors or putting up a website at the department of transportation that consumers could consult while theyre making their vacation plans so they can see what the problems might be, what the advantages might be, so theyre making an informed decision. When an industry opposes even the most basic Public Disclosure about its conduct, it suggests to me, frankly, that it has something to hide. Our Witnesses Today are going to help us understand why it is so important for consumers to have this information. Unlike people vacationing on land, Cruise Ship Passengers who are victims of crimes do not have immediate access to Law Enforcement. Well, you say sure, theyre out at sea. Yeah, but theyre out at sea and they dont have access to Law Enforcement. Thats pretty basic, and if they suffer a Health Emergency on a cruise, they could be hundreds of miles away from a Health Facility that operates at u. S. Standards or even below u. S. Standards, just something called a hospital. Our witnesses are also going to tell us that in spite of the cruise industrys talk about talking about taking responsibility for their passengers, Cruise Companies sometimes treat their customers with shocking callousness and disregard. My words are harsh because im angry about this. Four witnesses are appearing before this committee today, and i thank them, but there are many, many more people as you all know, who could have shared their experiences, and have with my staff. Ken carver, jamie barnet, and countless others have fought for years to help protect others from needless tragedy. I would like to thank everybody who has been willing to step forward and tell us their stories despite, as i indicated, the painful and sometimes tragic circumstances. Not just that they happened but having to recall them verbally and publicly. Having accurate statistics about crimes and others instances are important, and its even more important to understand the human cost of the safety and Security Problems that this industry is not fully acknowledging. This hearing along with other hearings and inquiries i have made into the cruise industry since i have been chairman are about one thing, and its called accountability. Being honest with people. I know the Cruise Companies think that i am singling them out, as they say, for special scrutiny, but i asuhre them that is not the case. I have never hesitated to Ask Companies tough questions when i think their Business Practices are hurting consumers. Thats my job, all of our jobs. We have oversight. Thats the main reason we exist as a committee, to have oversight and try to make things better. Ths process of asking tough questions is called, in fact, oversight. Its one of the most important jobs congressional committees have, maybe the most important. When it comes to the cruise industry, we have been doing our job. We have held hearings. We have analyzed the data, and we have talked to many different people with experiences in this industry. This oversight has led us to very clearly to the conclusion that we have to act. We need legislation to protect consumers. For anyone on this committee who still hasnt gotten the message, i urge you to listen closely today as these witnesses bravely share their experiences. I thank everybody. I have one closing statement. To the cruise industry, instead of fighting this process, i encourage you to listen careful to the testimony today. I ask you to honestly consider whether there are steps you can take to better protect the health and safety of your passengers. Look, this is the cruise industry is booming. People love to travel. People love to go on those ships. And i dont begrudge them for that. My own son has done that. I dont begrudge people that. They have a right to do that. But they also have responsibilities since they are under our jurisdiction to do it safely and properly for everyone. I believe there are steps that they can take and i will continue pushing to make those things happen. I now call upon the distinguished senator from mississippi, mr. Roger wicker. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I think youve made a number of very important and valid points. I also want to thank the witnesses for being here. As you said, mr. Chairman, it may be difficult for them to share their experiences but its important that they do so and i appreciate their courage in coming forward and being able to share with us today on some information we need. The chair has built this hearing as a forum to discuss his bill, the cruise ship passenger protection act, s1340. We need to protect passengers from crime. We need to ensure access to medical care while on the high seas. These are important and worthy issues. I would say that i think it would be best if we consider the legislation as a standalone bill and not in connection with the coast guard authorization act. I dont know what the chairs approach to this is going to be. But i do not believe the reauthorization act is the appropriate vehicle for a cruise passenger protection bill. In my judgment, we ought to consider cruise ship passenger protection legislation separately from the coast guard authorization act. Congress deserves the opportunity to examine how we can strengthen the transparency of crimes on the high seas and the public deserves a discussion with full congressional attention to making cruising safer for americans and Foreign Tourists while visiting u. S. Ports. There are many areas in which the cruise ship industry is receiving criticism, including the effectiveness of crime prevention, their response to crime, Sexual Assault, the report of incidents and tax concerns. I hope that safety standards, like those that could have been ben finishal in the treatment of Violet Butler are a priority in this discussion. There are cruise ships under way with maximum capacities larger than many of our small towns and cities in america. Some cruise ships have more than 6,000 passengers. And some 2,000 staff along with them. And yet they only require two medical professionals on board. Imagine a small town of that size, for example, in rural mississippi. Imagine my native home of ponotoc, mississippi, where theres some 5,700 people living, and what if we only had two medical professionals in the whole town . And as a matter of fact, in my native city, we have 29 health care professionals, 21 members of the police force as well as 24hour physician care in the emergency room. So that gives me great pause to think that a cruise ship of only containing 8,000 souls would have only two medical professionals aboard. So any transparency, we need to promote selfcorrecting behavior and we all have a right to hear the stories of the victims. We do not need to paint the entire industry with a broad brush because of a few bad actors. I think the chair acknowledges that. But we should look for ways to partner with the industry to make passenger cruises a safe environment for our american passengers and tourists and i encourage the cruise line industry and association to find a marketdriven solution. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And i look forward now to getting to the testimony of our witnesses. Thank you, senator wicker, very much. The senator and i come from states with lots of rural places. My sort of hometown has about 270 people. So youre urban compared to us. Okay. Let me just go right to the witnesses. Laurie dishman had a very, very bad experience on a Royal Caribbean cruise in 2006. Shes also an International CruiseVictims Association board member, which means she wants to follow through on that. Ill read each of the four and then call on one by one. Phil gerson, a lawyer who represented a 15yearold minor, 15yearold minor who was raped on a cruise ship is also on that same board and chairman also chairman of the National Center for the victims of crime. Im grateful that hes here. Amanda butler, who i just met outside, whose mother suffered a medical emergency on a Carnival Cruise in 2013, and likely passed away from a lack of adequate medical care, im proud that youre here. And kim ware, who was a passenger on the carnival triumph that caught fire in 2013, and was stranded for four days. Now, those are easy things for me to say but they are very hard to have gone through and even talk about, so lets get at it. Im going to call on laurie dishman. And thank you so much for being here. Hello. My name is laurie dishman. Id like to thank the chairman and the committee for convening this hearing and inviting me to washington. It is quite an honor and privilege to be here today. Senator rockefeller, i am a cruise ship rape victim. I have an experience to tell you about. A cruise line employee raped me during a vacation on a Royal Caribbean cruise to mexico. The crew member was working as a Security Guard in a disco on the ship. He approached me and asked me my name a cabin number. He later snuck down to my cabin and forced his way in. I resisted and struggled. He strangled me and brutally raped me. I awoke with ligature marks around my neck and my tampon was impacted during the brutal rape. I did not know what to do. I did not know who to turn to. There were no police on the ship, i learned. I was hesitant to report the crime because he wore a security badge. Just three days earlier i was looking forward to this cruise, the glossy brochures advertise an adventure every day and an experience to remember. I was celebrating my birthday and 30 years of friendship with my best friend michelle. We have known each other since i was 5 years old. I was so excited. In the evening i would find myself in the middle of a nightmare. Michelle called the desk to report the crime. A Security Officer in the head purser, both men, came to the cabin and sat on the bed where the rape occurred. I tried to tell them what happened but they insisted that i prepare a written statement and sign it. They left without securing the cabin or taking me to the ship infirmary. After i finished my statement, the Security Officer took me and michelle to the infirmary. The doctor handed us two black garbage bags and asked us to go back to the cabin and collect the evidence. We tried to preserve hair and other items folding the pillow cases and sheets, not knowing really what we were supposed to be doing. We returned to the infirmary along the public hallways and still all men surrounding us. It was a painful and humiliating ordeal. The ship doctor performed the rape kit and examined my neck but failed to administer antiviral medications. I was returned to my cabin after the ordeal in the ship infirmary. I was traumatized to be back at the scene of the crime. I could not take my eyes off the mattress where the crime occurred, stripped of the pillows and sheets and the mattress seems dirty to me, it looked like i felt. I could not stop thinking about what had just happened to me over and over again. I did not know what would happen next. I just wanted to close my eyes and go home. I was eventually given three options. To get off the ship in mexico and report it to the local port authorities, to stay off the cruise ship stay on the cruise ship and report it to the fbi when we returned, or fly back to l. A. And report the rape to the fbi. I opted to fly back to los angeles as soon as i could get off the ship. Once in l. A. , i was questioned extensively by the fbi and they photographed the bruisings around my neck. A few days later, the fbi boarded the ship when it returned to port together with the cruise line defense attorneys. The crew member denied even going into my cabin. He did not pass the polygraph but the fbi said it was just a she said he said case and declined to arrest him. The department of justice declined to prosecute on that same day. The cruise ship then set sail again full of passengers with the rapist on board. Two days later, i learned the crew member changed his story and admitted going to my cabin. It was only then that the cruise line confined him to his cabin and then put a Security Guard outside his door. And then terminated his employment and flew him home to trinidad. With nowhere to turn, i hired a maritime lawyer in miami. Why miami . Because even though i lived in sacramento, the cruise left from l. A. , the crime occurred in International Waters and in the ticket it says that you need to find an attorney in miami. My attorney found out many things that surprised and angered me. The Security Guard was actually a janitor who the cruise line called a cleaning specialist who is paid 550 a month. He was assigned to act as a Security Department because the cruise ships limited number of legitimate guards on its staff. He had no training or experience at all as a Security Guard. Royal caribbean records my attorney uncovered revealed an employee history which included lying, falsification of records, insubordination and anger management and he had also sexually harassed two girls six weeks before he raped me and they put him in this Security Guard uniform. We also learned th