she has been talking about in part is i would have to lose 60 years off my present life length and have a strip of strong glasses and probably a -- triple glass strong glasses and probably a magnifying glass to read what you're talking about. i gave it to bill nelson. too. getting older, you give up your -- >> you give up your rights. >> you give up your liability. you have no idea because you cannot read this thing. i am breaking protocol here and i apologize. you give things up, you don't know what. you can't possibly read this. you are kind of in a hurry. is the whole point. in this is the whole trip. so to speak.

to me, it is deceitful. easy to correct and unnecessary. >> can i make one more statement, senator? >> yes. >> carnival is suing my father and myself over $1200. literally. for the lack of medical care we received after they dumped us off on an island. you do give up all your rights. my mother was left in the hot tropical sun. she did not have a chance because of the way they treated her, medically. >> thank you. and they apologize to my colleagues for interrupting the protocol -- i apologize to my colleagues for interrupting the protocol. in the shipssenger that caught fire in 2013. and was stranded for four days.

i do know how one gets stranded -- i do not know how one gets stranded on a cruise ship. >> chairman rockefeller and committee members, my name is kim. i am from houston. i'm the mother of five children and three grandchildren. my family and i have cruised many times. we love cruising. i naïvely had never given a thought to the possible dangers on board a cruise ship. being wary of the cold in february, my boyfriend and i booked a last minute cruise on a carnival triumph to enjoy some sun in mexico. for the first two days, everything went as planned. as we went to bed on the second day, we had no idea what was to come. the passengers would be adrift at sea for four days, living in a rented conditions.

in the early morning hours of our third day, we were awakened by an emergency announcement that sounded ominous. ed jumped up and went to our balcony. he saw a great amount of smoke coming from the back of the ship to read we knew it was a fire. -- back of the ship. we knew it was a fire. the crew had repeated that fire was on greatest ager -- danger at sea. director informed us there was a situation in the engine room. there was confusion among the passengers as to whether to go to the muster stations. several hours later, our worst fears work and -- were confirmed. it was out but we were dead in the water. the giant ship began to left. this caused a great deal of fear among the passengers that it would capsize.

it was soon clear carnival cruise lines had no plan in place for such a disaster. they were essentially winging it. conditions aboard the ship decayed quickly. there was no electricity. we had water intermittently. we were informed the sewage system no longer operated. given whilers were backs to use instead of the bags to useio instead of the toilets. all public toilets were quickly filled to the top with human waste. the sewer system backed up and came out the shower drain. bags lined the bio the halls filled with feces. the stench was terrible and sanitation was nonexistent. i was one of the fortunate has underscored had a balcony cabin.

who hadcky passengers booked inside cabins had no access to fresh air or sunlight. these passengers were forced to move their families to mattresses in the hallways on upper decks or the lounge chairs on the pool deck worksheets were raised as protection from the sun. a tent city was born. the passengers suffered the worst hardships. it was disconcerting to see the overly and young children in these circumstances. i couldn't help but wonder if the elderly had enough medicine. had the parents of the babies packed enough diapers? the cruise was doing its best to provide us with meals. but passengers waited hours in line for food. hoarding food became a problem as people were concerned food would run out. heatedssed many arguments over food hoarding. the buffy no longer looked clean. people who had not believed --

bathed in days were handling serving utensils and food. with the unsanitary conditions, it is a miracle and outbreak did not occur. i was concerned about coming sake. we try to stay out of the public areas is much as possible. the ship had become a refugee camp. i was concerned that violence was going to a rough as passengers struggled with these living conditions -- going to a erupt asoing to passengers struggled with these living conditions. as time dragged on, the plans to get us back to each -- shortchanged. -- back to shore changed. tugsinal decision was would pull us into mobile, alabama. this decision was made to --

with no thought. the caused them to endure conditions for an extra 24 hours. with no ways to communicate with my family and days adrift, i felt as if the cruise would never end. i broke down and cried. upon return home, the only communication i received from carnival was a letter with a $500 check and a refund voucher towards a future.cruise -- towards a future. -- towards a future cruise this seemed inadequate. i had put my trust in the industry with no knowledge of what would happen in the event of a real emergency situation. sent know that carnival the triumph out with only four of the six generators working and knowledge of a potential fire hired -- hazard. i wish i had known this prior to setting sail. i feel the cruise ship industry has a duty to provide that the a

great vacation but to ensure their safety at all cost and in part the utmost care. information should be made canic so future passengers make educated decisions on which lines to travel. passengers should have the right to pursue competition for iran -- any wrongdoing. cruising is a wonderful way for families to vacation together. it needs to be made safer for u.s. it since -- citizens. passpe is congress well legislation that ensures the industry will abide by strict standards so a future disaster of greater magnitude can be a voided -- avoided. thank you for your time. >> thank you very much. i'm going to start questioning. to be followed by senator

wicker. whosenator blumenthal, year9th -- who is the 29 attorney general of the state of connecticut and an astute questioner. there is going to be a question for you -- the major cruise lines adopted what they call a passenger bill of rights. we have been that in the airline industry and enforce it. of thehts is -- one so-called rights is passengers have the access to full time emergency medical attention as needed until shoreside care becomes available. that is their language, not mine.

weeks ago, senior representatives from the cruise line international association, which i reflect -- told my staff cruise lines have a duty to provide passengers come but it -- competent medical care. my question is would you say the medical care provided to your mother -- in the first iteration, it was full-time professional attention as needed -- all of a sudden it became competent medical care -- my question is, was the medical care provided to your mother competent? >> no. they did everything wrong. expecting one of the security guards would step forward to initiate cpr. instead, they waited at least 10 minutes.

they called for someone to come down to look at her body to see if she was breathing or not. in that case, she was not breathing. she did not have a pulse. the infirmary was closed. we had to wait literally for them to turn everything on. i had to unlock the defibrillator out of a closet. they had to set up their own hospital while we were standing there waiting and my mom was not breathing. and completely unacceptable for american citizens. >> in your mother's case, carnival claims it had no duty to provide medical care. duty to trainno or supervise medical staff to read and no duty to make the

sick they available. claim no duty to provide medical equipment. when you brought your ticket for the cruise, did you understand that if you accepted medical care, you would be doing so at your own risk? at your own cost? in the cruise line would deny liability for the quality of the care? >> we had no idea. we could not read the print. it was tiny. you have to click a link and click yes, i agree to print your ticket. you can see what they are trying to hide -- can't see what they are trying to hide. we are a humble family from mississippi. magnifyingwn a glass. we weren't going to print it off

and try to figure out what their legal jargon, or lack thereof, was hidden in the contract. >> you assume a certain level of responsibility. right? have in your folders? i would like to have it passed to each of you. i have circled the word liability. it is unbelievable. i can't read any of it. >> neither could we. at the beginning of a voyage, the cruise lines provide safety. information at a quote muster drill. to help passengers prepare for an emergency like a fire or wreck. this helps them prepare and know what to do in the event of an

emergency. for the panel. many of you experienced emergency situations that you were unprepared for. anycruise lines provide information on what to do in the event of criminal or medical emergencies? any of you? >> senator, no. in my situation, no the cruise line did not. >> in our situation, as well, senator. no. to say, be very simple our medical infirmary is on this floor. we had no idea where to go. the obvious question -- had this information, that might have helped, right? >> we could have saved her life if we had had the information. someone should have given her cpr.

>> i have more questions, but my time is up. i go to senator -- >> thank you very much. toppreciate the opportunity have you all here today. thank you for sharing your story. i think, ms. butler, you give some suggestions. suggested machines should be more visible or available. tummy what you mean. >> -- tell me what you mean. >> we have been told that carnival does have different the machines but they keep them locked up. >> your comment about cpr employees, all employees or employees related to security? >> at the very least, security.

when people are coming back on board from excursions. proposal is to ise sure this information available to potential customers. when you are researching your desire, was this your first cruise? >> we had been doing this for years. >> you are a cruiser. >> used to be. >> in alaska, we have a lot of cruise ships during tell me how you -- cruise ships. pickll me how you want to a cruise. >> i have a cousin who organizes it and we all chip in. >> unturned to find out, when not doneline -- i have

a cruise. i am familiar with cruises secause of the million person coming to alaska for a cruise. when you go online to look up you inu want to do, do your mind, are you looking for not only will your location is, you are interested in, but you decide, i want to know how safe is cruises is? is that one of the thoughts you have? >> you assume that if you are leaving out of the u.s. port, you have the u.s. health-care. safety,. it was an assumption. >> here is where i'm trying to go. anybody can answer this. ofthe legislation, it talks

putting a lot of information on the department of transportation website. my guess is that is not a place she would go if you are going to look up a cruise and thick about the safety. i mean, you see where i'm going? if you're going to a cruise site, let's say that is your question, your first instinct -- is it to go to d.o.t.'s website? where would you go? >> all of us would go to travelocity, something like that. the assumption is there, just like with air travel, regulations were in place. a corporation as large as carnival, with a reputation to uphold, i assume they would have great safety measures in place on ships of that size. i was naïve

>>. i understand. what i am worried about, and i have though the term in this -- at in another layer of information but the customer has no idea where the information is -- maybe they can say something -- i'm turned to figure out >> every cruise line needs to have an updated reporting on their website. with regards to the transportation, that would be like an airline or train. the regular consumer may go to that royal caribbean website, or even a travel -- but you should be able to know what time -- type of crimes. the television commercials give you this fall since of, let your kids go and have fun while you are on the cruise. the different crimes need to be

reported. i feel all of them need to be reported. not just if they are opened and never closed. >> you boys i do know -- >> i do not know. i thought it was taking all my rights with me and did not know it was flown under i leave dreary and flagged and they were the ones that the law was under. >> thank you very much. >> senator blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for tamping this bill which i am very proud to cosponsor. thank you for having this hearing which gives us a opportunity to express our alsort and sympathy, but to make you a part of the crusade for this legislation

which will really make something good, of your h -- calm of your horrific experiences. i have a family who is a constituent family in greenwich who suffered a loss that is reminiscent of your loss that still is with them. literally.h vanished sometime overnight going into july 4 of nine years ago. he remains missing since 2005. when was blood on the ship it went into the harbor. the crime scene was never secured, let alone adequately investigated. his death remains a mystery today. much to the understandable

consternation of his family. is with us still in connecticut. it is a reminder that the rights of people who suffer as victims of crime while at sea are inadequate protected as you have remind ied us. that is the reason that these kinds of limitations on liability make a mockery of the implicit promises that are made on cruise ships. that they will be kept safe. that is the minimal obligation to cruise ship as to its passengers -- keep them safe. they cannot guarantee that they will be happy, that they will ary.ys be celebrit to keep them safe is a

minimal. in thatse ship failed basic obligation and passengers were left without remedy and without hope of real recovery. that is the purpose of the cruise ship passenger protection act. decency,s standards of standards of minimal, basic decency and fair doing on cruise ship lines.

i would like to ask you, ms. butler, whether you have taken any legal action. i know in your testimony that you have consulted with an attorney and he advised you as to where you had to file suit and some of the basics of the law in this area. i wonder if you have taken any legal action. >> yes, we have. we have the case. >> have they indicated to you that there are obstacles because of the law is structured? david versus goliath. >> passengers like yourself are as they on an island chairman indicated, passengers are not only on an island in the high seas but it is lawless.

>> exactly. >> ms. dishman, have you taken any legal action? >> yes, i did. >> has your lawyer advised you the obstacles that are in your way because of the neck -- the inadequacy of the law? >> ice during several different challenges in regards to my case. me ask you the same question. i know you are an attorney so let me ask you whether you have taken legal action on behalf of your client. >> i didn't. . my client's case was settled for a handsome sum. just recently. i would comment on ms. butler situation that i litigated a very similar case for seven brain injuryng the

to a 26 are rolled third-year medical rest -- 26-year-old room --o glass on a treadmill talking collapse on the treadmill. they took no steps at all to resuscitate her. there was a dispute over the length of time she was down without any different relation -- the fibrillation. there are international treaties that requires crewmembers to be trained in cpr. the position that the cruise line's take is that the training is only advisory. they are not required to use it. it is discretionary as to whether or not they want to use it. federal maritime law is that they are not legally responsible if they do not use it and they did not use it in this case. this young woman who had a brilliant career ahead of her

essentially lives the life of a vegetable today with no recovery. >> thank you. ms. ware? >> i have taken legal action. by signing the ticket i was giving up all my rights according to carnival. >> mr. chairman, my thanks for having this hearing. i will ask that a letter from my connecticut colleague congressman be entered into the record in support of this legislation. that concludes my questioning. i really want to thank you again for being here today. >> thank you. there are a lot of questions. a lot of questions. the -- do you know the thing

that amazes me is you have a ve ry profitable industry. they make a lot of money. they are very popular. i think their popularity will continue to increase. many people have a pleasant experience. ay virtually no taxes in the united states even though they are based in miami and a couple of other places. they are thinks getting on american ship but they are getting -- it is always registered in some other country where there are no taxes and there is no sense of accountability or responsibility. it that myself why is they are so resistant to making some basic changes on things which are so obviously going to come back to haunt them?

we understand that 90% plus or whatever, whether it is a 3000 6000 -- it or a think they making 7000 passenger boats. are making the money, you don't have to pay taxes, you don't pay the coast guard for when they come to bill you out and drag you. when the fbi is involved, you do not pay them. they make a lot of money. they have a very good future. so why not as a matter of business sense, forget humanity, just as a matter of business sense, wouldn't they take steps issuesr up some of these we have been talking about? i remember when my wife and i -- i never have done cpr. our children were in high school. cprent and took a lesson in

and i thinkthrough three days later, i could not have repeated what i did because there was not a focus. it was something that might or might not happen. why don't they make these voluntarily things? why don't they inform you? member, -- i remember -- i come from a state with a lot of coal. coal is a dangerous occupation, but it is one where miners can be kept safe if you ventilate the mines and you pay attention. operators for the most part do not. they just get the coal out and theirners tkaake losses and die from black lung.

the companies continue to be profitable. i do not understand why these cruise industries do not send the money to fix some of these problems. it would be for their benefit. it would protect them from people like me and senator blumenthal and others who are determined to make them do what they should be doing and will do that no matter how many years it takes. they just pushed us away. they do not want to talk. they do not want to discuss just like they didn't want to react to any of your situations. in modern society, if you are in , -- these are really good people. why wouldn't you do that? that.ly do not understand

that sense of frustration, the -- you arementality talking about regulation. we do regulation and we did it on the airlines. when pilots were flying way over the limit of being alert. there was a big plane crash in new york. a lot of people were killed. jets.ngines, not the pilots had gone a long time without sleep so we put on requirements. they have to have before they get on an airplane an eight hour sleep. sleep, they do not sleep but they have to have that time to be able to sleep to prepare and get up from that.

government was running roughshod over in industry, that is not true. it is common sense protection of passengers. airlines are the safest things you can run on. you wouldn't know that reading international news recently. stay away from certain countries and air spaces. i do not understand why they would not do it. so, one of the reasons we had this hearing today and you have been patient enough to put up with it and to answer questions puttell your stories is to certain colleagues on this committee in a position where they need to help. said this colleagues is a separate bill.

you should not attach it to the coast guard bill. everybody knows with the coast guard bill is a bill that you have to pass. the cruise ships want the coast guard bill to pass, but if you separate them, the coast guard bill will pass, the cruise ship bill will get flushed down the toilet. you do not allow that to happen. you hold them accountable. it is done in life, business, family situations. you have to take responsibility. so, i have a lot of questions here. but, i do not feel the need to ask them because most of them have been responded to. this whole idea of a hotel versus a city.

know? it is mystifying. hearing,ad our last the representative of their lobbying organization which is where you are sitting -- you may as well move. [laughter] they dismissed it all. we are doing everything we possibly can. people have a responsibility for their own safety. that is true. but, you know, when general motors is discovering that when certain things do not work in gm cars, the entire nation gets interested. they are pulled before congress and they have to pay a lot of money to change their ways and to learn how to run a company with the consumer in mind. i will give you one final

example. dismiss people who were trying to help consumers, protect consumers. this committee was a commerce committee that was more business oriented. make a people oriented, consumer oriented which is what it is supposed to be. stupid but it affects people's lives so directly. it is so nasty. so they call a mover. somen all cases, but ins om cases the movers signed a contract, they move all the belongings to a van, they go five miles and go into an alley. they call and say they will triple the price. sorry about that. you have to pay is three times more money than the contract you

signed. you can go get a lawyer if you going to you are not get your furniture back because you do not know where we are. it is a horrible thing. you do not let that stuff pass by. we are making life more difficult for them and better for the consumers. i do not know. with goodde a trip spirits, with good thoughts, with enthusiasm and ran into terrible problems. there was nobody to help you. rowboat,re on a little that would'eeyou are going on ae corporation ship who has all the experience and the wherewithal, the money to solve your problems if you ran into them, but they did not.

the city concept you are talking about. that is famous throughout the world because it was such a vile thing to do toe. corporations have to be responsible. this committee exists as do others in other areas to do oversight, to find out if they are carrying out their businesses properly, with care. some mistakes can happen, we understand that. if there is this attitude of just neglect -- i was asking behind me and i am not sure the answer, but i remember that when you signed the ticket with that , you give away your liability and your ability to have recourse. thisieve, i may be wrong, is what i remember.

it was in the signing of the ticket, after your signature was on the ticket, it was then -- youe able to not take were able to take the sticky co vering of the next page which had that liability clause which you are not going to look at when you couldn't read it even if you decided you wanted to. then, you could see it if you could see it. it is awful behavior, if it was true. i remember that was the case but i may be wrong. what happened to you was just societyrong in a modern from corporations that are doing very well and have every right to want to make people have a happy experience and to make sure they do because everybody

knows that not everything works out the way it should. there will be problems. stranded.waiting a mother didn't get any attention and a 15-year-old girl who gets raped in your own case. you do not let stuff like that pass. if it happens with a certain degree of consistency. that is why we have had this hearing. , it is all in the record. everything you said is all in the record. are goingbill, if we to pass the coast guard bill which i will tell you those cruise lines want because they need that coast guard and that coast guard is so broke they have ships that are very old but

they are still functioning and they are still used by the cruise ship lines. leader asking why we have to do these things. he had a very clear purpose for asking that question because he knew if we did it separately, the coast guard bill would pass and the cruise ship bill would fail. it is my job to make sure that we do not play the game that way. i just want to totally thank you. one for talking about experiences that are not comfortable to talk about. doing so in a very forthright way. for educating this panel and, believe me, just because not all the members are here, a lot of the staff is. it is always the staff that really counts. if you have a good staff, you will be a good senator. notou don't, well -- i am

going to carry this hearing forward because i think the points that need to be made have been made and that is because you have made them clearly with firmness and with certainty. and a degree of anger which i share. from, gover you come back safely. i thank you. this hearing is adjourned. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] next, house hearing

investigating reports the irs targeted conservative groups applying for taxes and status. 9/11ochairs of the commission discussed the new reports on national threats. live at 7:00 a.m., your calls and comments on washington journal. this week on newsmakers, border protection commissioner will talk about the situation that the u.s. border were unaccompanied minors and others from central america are entering the u.s. newsmakers, 10:00 a.m. 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. eastern on c-span. on wednesday, house subcommittee get an update from irs agency'sner about his response to ongoing congressional oversight and inquiries into alleged targeting of conservative groups. this portion of the hearing is about 2.5 hours.