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Posted on 04/26/2021 1:21:02 PM PDT by Capt. Tom
Florida is seeking an immediate injunction to overturn the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) order that is keeping cruise ships from sailing from U.S. ports.
Two weeks ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit seeking the same result. Last week, Alaska’s governor announced that his state would join the lawsuit. But as the weeks pass without the federal government or CDC filing arguments in the case, Florida has taken another step to ramp up the pressure.
On April 22, Florida filed a motion in a district court in Tampa, asking for an immediate injunction that would rescind the CDC’s current orders. Florida’s argument is that the lawsuit is “likely to succeed on the merits of the case,” and it is therefore entitled to the injunction due to “irreparable harm and hardships” created by the CDC’s actions.
“Without this Court’s intervention, Florida will lose millions, if not billions, of dollars,” the motion reads. “And if companies like Carnival follow through on their threat to move operations abroad, the State of Florida may never be the same.”
All major cruise lines sailing out of U.S. ports are subject to the CDC’s ‘Framework for Conditional Sailing’ order issued in October 2020. It replaced the ‘no-sail order’ imposed last March as the global pandemic took hold. The framework outlined requirements cruise lines would need to follow, including building up testing infrastructure, enhancing onboard medical facilities, and operating test sailings before taking on paying passengers.
Revised in early April, the Conditional Sailing Order remains in effect until November 1, 2021. But cruise lines say the updated CSO still lacks essential guidance that would allow them to move forward.
The Florida lawsuit and new injunction aren’t the only legal and political efforts aiming to get the industry moving again. Earlier this month, Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio of Florida, along with Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska, introduced a bill known as the Careful Resumption Under Improved Safety Enhancements (CRUISE) Act.
If passed, it would have revoked the CSO and required the public health agency to issue new guidance to restart United States sailings. But Senator Patty Murray of Washington State — another important cruise industry homeport state — objected to the bill, preventing it from passing by consent.
“Cruise ships require specific focus and protocols in place to prevent future outbreaks,” Sen. Murrary said. “While I am as eager as anyone else to see a return to travel, we cannot cut corners. Doing so risks lives and will only further delay returning to normal, hurting our economy more in the long run.”
That didn’t sit well with Florida Governor Scott. “With the way this is going, it seems that the CDC doesn’t want the cruise industry to be in business because they are not setting the rules in a manner that the cruise industry feels they can comply and safely return to work,” Scott said in a telephone interview with the New York Times.
There’s another fly in the ointment in the fact that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants cruises to restart now, but he has also issued an executive order banning Florida businesses from requiring proof of vaccination. According to his office, the Executive Order prohibits all cruise lines from requiring vaccine certificates for their Florida operations.
Several cruise lines have made the decision to operate outside of U.S. jurisdiction this summer — in the Caribbean, Europe and Asia — and many are requiring passengers to be fully vaccinated. They see it as the safest way to restart and as a temporary measure. Full vaccination is also a current requirement for entry into some of the places ships will sail both to and from.
There are a lot of moving parts in the efforts of the cruise industry and its supporters to convince the CDC that cruising can be just as safe as other travel sectors that have already reopened.
Cruise companies have not joined the lawsuits, and in fact have recently engaged in what they’re calling “constructive” dialogue with the CDC. Recently, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Richard Fain stated: “Things are decidedly looking up. Our dialogue with the CDC has improved significantly, and the data we have obtained from sailings abroad is driving increased confidence.”
However, with May around the corner and cruise lines still holding out hope for some summer sailings, the CDC will need to make some moves quickly — if it decides to move at all. Its current guidance to potential cruisers remains the same as it has been for well over a year now — “The CDC recommends that all people avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises, worldwide.”
The saga continues. -Tom
the CDC made the virus and patented it.
SUE THEM, FLORIDA.
SUE THEM, AMERICA.
SUE THEM, AMERICANS .... for the dead and to save the future before they release MORE.
plus all cruise lines seem like they will require vaccine.
The CDC doesn’t make law. Why the cruise companies don’t tell them to F off is beyond me. What can the CDC do to them? NOTHING!
I take it you don't expect the CDC to help out the Cruise Lines like CEO Fain of Carnival does./s- Tom
I have to correct my post here-Royal Caribbean Group CEO Richard Fain is what I meant to say . -Tom
Cruise ships I believe almost always have foreign registry.
The US government CDC can no more tell a Norwegian ship what it can do than it can tell the owner of a bar in Oslo to wipe down a bar stool.
Assuming they are in international waters. But are dock different rules apply, I believe, but will stand corrected.
That would be true only if the ships were not sailing out of US ports. The bar in Oslo does not serve drinks in Miami.
CDC is just a revenge unfit of the DNC, out to punish red states under the fake guise of “public health.”
CDC is just a revenge unfit of the DNC, out to punish red states under the fake guise of “public health.”
CDC CCP DNC it’s hard to tell the difference anymore.
The CDC IS OUT OF CONTROL!!! And CONTROL is what they LIVE FOR!
uh.....they leave from US PORTS! BUT the CDC SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD THIS CONTROL!! NEVER!
Sounds like CDC doesn’t give a damn about the cruising industry or its many fans.
If the delay by the CDC keeps on going more people will lose their jobs.
You can see that from a paragraph in the article below. -Tom
“Without this Court’s intervention, Florida will lose millions, if not billions, of dollars,” the motion reads.
“And if companies like Carnival follow through on their threat to move operations abroad, the State of Florida may never be the same.”
*outfit*
Cruises can resume from FL ports, they just have to meet CDC guidelines. The current cruise guideline order signed under PDJT’s HHS in Nov. 2020:
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/CDC-Conditional-Sail-Order_10_30_2020-p.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/covid19-cruiseships.html
‘On March 20, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an emergency regulation to implement a specific aspect of U.S. health law. Section 265 of U.S. Code Title 42 permits the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to “prohibit … the introduction” into the United States of individuals when the Director believes that “there is serious danger of the introduction of [a communicable] disease into the United States.” The rule allows any customs officers—which includes officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) such as Border Patrol agents—to implement any such order issued by the CDC.
You’ll notice it mentions the word “allows.” But that gets tossed out of the pool when you consider Biden has been allowing in thousands of immigrants at the southern border without even testing them and moving them to the northern tier without quarantine. So where is the equal protection of the law when immigrants not falling under any entry rules are taken to the front of the line and American citizens are being put in their caves?
The directive was put in to keep possible sick people out. That pool toy is on the deck.
wy69
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