tennessee and massachusetts. we'll continue to have coverage on c-span networks and check out our site for politics at cspan.org,/campaign 2012. tomorrow morning, we'll continue the conversation as we always do on the "washington journal." the cofounder of ben and jerry's the ice cream company, ben cohen is joining us to talk about, among other things, occupy wall street, the movement raising about 1.8 million to help the occupy wall street movement around the country. he'll be with us to take your phone calls from new york city and gas prices, the excel pipeline and what to expect from the obama administration. a republican perspective from the member of the house natural resources subcommittee on energy and mineral resources. the chair of that committee is doug land born, a republican from colorado. he'll be with us tomorrow morning. the washington journal every day. thanks for being with us on this wednesday. i hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.

up next, a congressional hearing looks at cruise ship safety, following the costa concordia accident. we'll hear from survivors and cruise line officials. and then in case you missed it, you can watch c-span radio "washington today" later tonight. and interior secretary, ken salazar testifies about his department's 2013 budget request. if you had said in 2006 the world would be begging for the united states to use force again in the middle east within three and a half years, everybody would have said, you're they ski. >> brookings institution fellow, rob better kagan is not only am advisers to the romney campaign but serves on secretary of state hillary clinton's advisory board. >> what i've been writing for years, actually, there's a lot of continuity in american foreign policy. a lot of broad consensus and i think what you're seeing here is

the kind of consensus that exists in the foreign policy community and probably, there's a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> more with robert kagan an foreign policy and his latest, "the world america made" that's sunday night at 8:00 eastern. survivors of the costa concordia ship wreck today testified that the crew on board told passengers to go back to their cabins more than an hour after the ship ran aground off the coast. the death toll from the accident now stands at 25. the house transportation subcommittee on maritime transportation held a hearing on cruise ship safety that also included witnesses from the coast guard and the cruise ship industry. >> i want to thank the witnesses for appearing today. and we want to note on behalf of the subcommittee that we understand very clearly that there's an ongoing investigation and as such, we understand that

the witnesses today may not be able to answer all of the questions we have about what happened, and clearly due to the nature of investigation and legalities that are involved with this. we'll continue to monitor the investigation. and look forward to a full accounting of what happened when the investigation is complete and that information becomes available. in the interim we'll look for ways to improve passenger safety based on what we know so far. and with that i yield to mr. larson. >> mr. chairman, thank you and i lou me to express my prayers and thoughts to the u.s. coast guard and the wen and men and who passed or are missing in the recent accident. i want to change you for scheduling the morning hearing to delve into the safety of cruise vessels in light of the grounding of the costa concordia off the coast of italy. before i begin my remarks, i'd like to extend my condolences to

the families of the 25 passengers and crew members that died as a result of the tragic marine casualty. and also, the seven other families for whom their loved ones remain unaccounted. i want to welcome mr. and mrs. shivia that traveled from massachusetts on short notice to be with us. mr. chairman, the sea is beautiful and most often, benign, nevertheless it remains relentless and an ever-present threat to those that travel over it depths at times. this incident reminds us we cannot be complacent while at sea. the ocean becomes in a moment, capable of sinking our most technological ships. it will be a year before the investigation is concluded and the exact circumstances are shown but there's no reason for us to delay efforts to re-assess the present regulatory regime

for cruise vessels. and now, the allegra that was due to an onboard fire should further focus our attention. i welcome this opportunity. we need to insure that cruise ships operating in u.s. waters meet or exceed all standards for safe design, construction, manning and operation. the traveling public expects no less a standard. after all, all forms of transportation, be it plane, train, automobile or ship, are successful only to the extent the public sees them to be safe and reliable to use. in general the cruise industry is considered a safe, leisure travel option by most travelers and it generates substantial economic benefits in the united states. in 2010, according to information, cruises arriving and departing from u.s. ports generated $18 billion on goods and services and provided $18.7 billion towards total economic

benefits and over 300,000 jobs were created in the u.s. because of the cruise industry. it's head headquarters for holland america and wind star. it generates spending in washington state. but clearly, there's a lot at stake economically. but also at stake are the lives and safety of the more than 11 million passengers in 2011 that embarked from u.s. ports on cruise vessels with nothing but the expectation of safe passage and a trove of wonderful vacation memories. the costa concordia accident begs us to ask the question, are we vigilant? for instance, are the international standards established under the international convention of safety of life at sea and the standards of training and certification, to insure that cruise vessels are built and

operated and manned to the highest standards? our training and certification requirements under these conventions especially for emergency evaluation and crisis management, adequate in light of the greatly incomed size and complexity of newly constructed cruise vessels. and are passengers given adequate indoctrination into what to do during emergency drills? these are some of the questions that immediately come to mind. i would be interested to hear from the coast guard and cruise industry with respect to their progress and implementing new requirements established. and in close, the best way to insure long-term economic health of the cruise industry in the u.s. is to insure there remains appropriately regulated and that the american public jiffbly considers a cruise vacation a safe and secure form of leisure travel. with that, mr. chairman, i yield

back. i have one consent request if i may. consent request to put into the record the statement from the international labor -- long shoer and warehouseman union. >> without objection, so ordered. i'd like to recognize the chairman of the full committee of transportation infrastructure, mr. mika. >> first of all, thank you for yielding to me and, also, to you and mr. larson for complying with the request to conduct this hearing this morning. and i felt as chair of the full committee, it was incumbent upon our committee and this subcommittee to review both this incident and where we are on cruise ship safety. in light of this and other incidents, but i must first also identify my remarks with others today who have expressed their

sympathy to and condolences to the united states coast guard. we've learned in the last 24 hours, again, the high price that's been paid by the men and wm that serve us every day. making certain that we're safe and secure on the seas and waterways. and, again, incredibly, saddened to hear of your loss and our prayers and thoughts are with the families. and as will larson said, the same holds true for cruise ship passengers and crew and others that were lost in the concordia tragedy. some day maybe we shouldn't hold this hearing and i said, no, i think that it's very important that we examine what took place

and where we are far as cruise ship safety. you know, it's sort of a warning signal when you have a new -- fairly new megaliner hit rocks. suddenly sink! in light of that incident, again, there will be investigation as to responsibility. but our responsibility in the united states congress is to make certain that every passenger on cruise ship, particularly from our shores, and also u.s. citizens who board internationally, have the very safest experience possible and that this congress has provided and updated the laws, the regulations and work with the agencies like the coast guard to make certain that those protections are in place. first of all, the cruise

industry, i think it's one of the most incredible entrepreneur achievements by the private sector that i've seen in my lifetime. probably myspace great grandparents came by steerage and maybe at the turn of the century and for so many decades, cruise ship experience or passenger experience who cruised for pleasure was limited to the rich and famous. and here entrepreneurs have made what was once a very limited experience for a very few one of the most pleasurable experiences of their lifetime. and i've been on cruises and i've seen the joy people have,

they save their hard-earned money all year to go on a cruise and it's an incredible experience that makes some of their dreams come true. by the same token, though, we are very dependent with now, on this as an industry. my state of florida is one of the premiere cruise states, departure and arrival locations. we have ports from -- i was at port canaveral last week, i believe it was, touring there and looking at some of what's going on. but the economic impact of the industry is just huge, not to mention the great the experience and pleasure and vacation it affords folks. but again, we have a responsibility to make certain that that experience is safe. some of the responsibility is not just the united states, but it's also to international organization. so i intend and i'd ask both --

chairman to take from this hearing information and we need to make certain that our international organizations that also set standards are updating those standards. and we can't do this just by ourselves. or put in place laws that just protect americans from our ports but we have a responsibility to work with the international organizations to make certain that they, also, update their standards. that being said, we also have a new era cruise ships. some of these cruise ships have five, 6,000 people. i believe this one had over 4,200 people on board. we also saw, too, a cruise ship and this cruise ship was, i

think, the lengths of an aircraft carrier. that cruise ship, when it hit the rocks and it tilted over, it certainly got everybody in the world's attention to what can happen with a megacruise liner and we're very fortunate in a way that the cruise ship landed on some land and rocks. if it had sunk -- would have been incredible. the other thing that was astounding to me having been on cruise ships when you go over sideways, everyone thinks of the titanic and the way it sank, or a ship going down in the sea. but when a megaliner tilts over and turns over, immediately, you have disabled -- in that case, probably half of the safety evacuation vessels, so we may

need to look at some different types of equipment for different types of megaliners and different types of safety procedures, including the practice and drill that there were questions raised about. so i think we can take from this hearing, some positive improvemention, unfortunately, at great personal loss to some families and hopefully, we can make this experience which we've relied on and we've grown to take for granted, an even safer experience. so, again, i salute the coast guard for their fine work. look forward to their recommendations. the other witnesses that have been assembled here today and chairman, mr. larson, thank you and we'll yield back. >> thank you, mr. chairman. our first witness today is coast

guard vice admiral brian selerno, welcome, admiral. you're recognized for your statement. >> good morning, chairman mica and ranking member larson and distinguished members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you and discuss issues related to cruise ship safety. thank you especially for your expression of sympathy for the coast guard's loss last evening. we are a small service and events like that touch us all very deeply so we very much appreciate your acknowledgment of that this morning. every year, over 170 large passenger ships operate from the united states ports and they embark approximately 11.5 million passengers. the safety of these passengers and the crews which operate these vessels has been a long-standing focus of the coast guard. every year thorough examinations

of the vessels to comply with all united states and international safety, security and environmental standards and insure their crews are well-trained. in my role as deputy -- i'm responsible for setting the safety, security and environmental dards for u.s. flag, foreign vessels and foreign vessels which visit our ports. conducting investigations when accidents occur. regarding the conduct of search and rescue. for all of these reasons, the recent casualty involving costa concordia is a great suppreinteo us. we're certain there will be much to learn and we're opened to the possibility that our regulations and the international regulations produced by the international maritime organization, may need to be strengthened based on the outcome of the investigation being led by the italian

government. accordingly, we have offered to assist at an interested party due to the significant number of american citizens who were on board including two that remain missing. a tragic event and all of us in the coast guard extend our heart-felt condolences to the families and friends of the missing and lost. this year marks the 100th anniversary of the lost of the titanic. and despite a century of technological improvements in maritime passenger safety, the costa concordia accident reminds us that all of our new technologies, as beneficial as they are, cannot be taken for granted. they're only as good as the human systems that operate and maintain them and the regulatory regimes which enforce the rules. to improve passenger vessel safety, the coast guard leads the u.s. efforts at the international maritime

organization where world maritime safety standards are set. the focus on international standards important because just as in the costa concordia case, american citizens are frequently passengers on vessels which, otherwise, have no u.s. connection. as the agency responsible for verifying the safety of foreign vessels which visit our ports, the coast guard has established the most rigorous ports control program in the world. all foreign flag cruise ships with passengers in the united states, a controlled verification exam before they are permitted to operate. this examination is comprehensive in nature. it includes preconstruction, concept reviews. examinations of the hull and test of safety systems during construction. followed by annual and periodic examinations for however long the vessel operates from u.s. ports. it is during these exams that we also verify compliance with environmental standards and security procedures. including those procedures required under the cruise vessel

safety and security act. in 2009, the coast guard established a cruise ship national center of expertise. this center is the focal point for providing coast guard marine inspecifmepectors with the inde cruise ship line investigator and serves as an indicator of how seriously we take our responsibilities. the potential challenge could be a mass evacuation involving a cruise ship. why we want to minimize the risk we have developed and continually refined our search and rescue and mass rescue we undertake this level of emergency planning and conjunction with the cruise industry. we hold copies of cruise ship emergency plans and we paid yodally test them to ensure seamless coordination in the event of a national emergency. over the last five years the coast guard has conducted 36 mass rescue exercises involving

passenger vessels and each coast guard district has specific positions authorized by congress to focus on this responsibility. as mentioned, we do not have the facts on the costa concordia accident. however, as an immediate measure, i've directed koed guard field inspectors to witness passenger mustard drills required by the international safety of life at sea convention, whenever they are on board for an annual or periodic examination. this contrasts with the requirement in place with the muster drill within 24 hours of leaving port. i'm also pleased that the cruise industry itself has announced new emergency drill policies requiring mandatory muster drills during embarking passengers, prior to departure from port, again, exceeding the international requirement. in closing, i want to assure the committee that the coast guard views the safety of passengers as its highest maritime priority. we have the best port-state controlled program in the world

for verifying the safety of vessels embaurking in our ports. and although and through the imo, we work diligently to enhance the safety of u.s. passengers regardless of where they embark a vessel anywhere in the world, meanwhile, we've taken measures to implement the cruise ship safety and security -- an additional regulatory efforts to give full effect to that law and to enhance the personal protection of passengers on cruise ships. thank you, again, for the opportunity to testify today and i'll be pleased to answer questions. >> thank you, admiral. your statement, actually, covered a number of i wa going couple for you. does the coast guard have any plans to conduct an independent

investigation on the loss of the two american lives? >> sir, we are conducting an investigation. in fact, we're currently embarked in interviewing the process of interviewing all of the u.s. citizens that were passengers on the costa concordia. we're about 30% complete in the process. there's a standard series of questions we ask each of the passengers. we invited the national transportation safety board to participate with us in that and from that, we expect to develop a picture of what took place on board and to truly understand some of the human factors that were, i think, critical in the unfolding of this casualty. >> admiral, we'd be very interested when that's concluded if you're able to share those results with us, it would be very helpful to the subcommittee. >> yes, sir, we'll be happy to share this information. >> you may have commented on this but i wanted to just make sure that i understand. has the coast guard reached out

to italian authorities to offer your assistance with their investigation? >> yes, sir, we have. the italian authorities have indicated that they will welcome our participation. there are a number of other countries that have also sought the same status as interested parties and the italians have indicated they will do that extend that same courtesy to them. incidentally, with the more recent event on the costa allegra we've asked for the same status as a interested party and expect to be granted that status as well. >> do you have any reason to believe that the italian authorities would not share their final results of their investigation? do you believe they will share with us? >> we believe they will share with us. all the indications are that there will be full disclosure. >> okay. thank you. that's all from me right now. admiral and mr. larson? >> thanks, mr. chairman.

admiral, as you know, the concordia and thealeggra, does the coast guard examine these vessels. >> the concordia, initially, was intended for service in the united states but plans changed very early on so we commenced an initial investigation examination overseas but it was never completed because the company's plans change and that ship has never come to the united states. the other vessel, to my knowledge we've not had any contact with them at all. >> at all? >> uh-huh. >> is that process by invite only or is there a formal in this case because there are u.s. citizens involved? so we can inject ourselves or is it by invite? >> it's based on a casualty code put forward by the international maritime organization which has

procedures for cooperation. and so we are using the provisions of that code to make the approach to the italian government and they have responded accordingly. >> so it's not driven by the italian government or by u.s. coast guard? it's driven by the imo standards in place? >> yes. we as an interested party did request and the italian government has responded. >> that's all part. >> okay. remind me while we're an interested party in the allegra? >> because there are eight u.s. citizens who are passengers on board that vessel. >> okay. can you talk a little bit about the center for excellence and how it operates? more of a school setting? seminar set something how is that? >> it actually has multiple functions. it is first and foremost, designed to train our marine inspectors from around the country so wherever we have in the pacific northwest,

inspectors go to miami where the center is located, receive their with the coast guard specialists and with industry partners. industry provides vessels for our examinations. we can not only have classroom instruction, but hands-on, understand in detail, how all the systems work. so it's a cooperative effort that we undertake with the industry and, in fact, the industry members go through the center as well so they can better understand coast guard expectations, that informs the industry as to what we look for in a safety culture on board the ship. the kinds of systems that we pay particular attention to, so that they are always maintained and they are integrated into the ship's safety manuals. >> with regards to the mass rescue exercises, how many did you say you've conducted?

your oral testimony? >> let me get the number. 36, and they are conducted in every coast guard district. all passenger vessels. so not all of them are cruise ships. some of them are high capacity passenger vessels that are smaller than what we typically think of, like a victoria clipper. >> exactly. >> so we do mix it up. they operate a little bit differently but each one of them poses unique risks so we exercise all different types of ships all around the coast in every district. >> okay. i think for now that's it, mr. chairman. i know we have further questions. i'll yield back. >> thank you, mr. larson. mr. mica? >> thank you. admiral, that's interesting, your last time salerno and my family sailed from there when they came to the united states and i'll be there on easter with

some of them. i love the coast guard. they never come and will bey me. they -- with all the other federal folks earn, they never pick at me. there's just a -- they are wonderful folks to deal with and they're just so -- they do such a great job, i can't say enough about what you do. muster drill thing, you know, right now we're all dealing with anecdotal accounts and we'll hear some from the passengers and i think it's great that we bring them in. this is pretty big ship but they're even bigger ships out there. is the musterll