Date: 1981-11-13
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. President Reagan has made it very clear that his administration is devoted to getting the Federal Government "off of the backs of the American people" wherever possible. One way he intends to accomplish this goal Is by eliminatIng any Federal rule. regulation. or statute that allegedly serves no purpose except to inconvenience the public. I agree wholeheartedly with the President. If a rule. regulation. or public law Is useless. it should be erased from the books. Today. therefore. I am introducing legislation that will. in fact. remove some burdensome and useless customs reporting requirements that have become a major nuisance to the charter boat Industry in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Passage of my bill will eliminate this nuisance and save the Federal Government time and moneya goal that we all certainly share these days. The charter boat Industry In the Virgin Islands is. for obvious reasons. very extensive and contributes significantly to the growth and wellbeing of our local. economy. Each year thousands of visitors lease or rent these vessels. for various periods of time. to take advantage of the many recreational activities afforded by our clear tropical waters and impeccable weather. Those tourist dollars. In turn. are recirculated Into our local economy. On many occasions. these charter boats make excursions into the nearby waters belonging to the British Virgin Islands. At certain points these waters are a mere quarter of a mile away from ports In the U.S. Virgin Islands. Whenever such an excursion is anticipated. a member of the crew is required to physically report to the local customs office before leaving port to complete a vast array of paperwork. The only purpose served by this paperwork is to compile statistics on how many people use the charter boat services. Meanwhile. the vessels are rarelyif everinspected. Upon returning from the waters of the British Virgin Islands. the same procedure is repeatedeven if. for example. the craft had dropped anchor and spent Just 1 hour to scuba dive. I believe that these reporting requirements are a waste of valuable time and moneyboth for the charter boat users who do not want to spend precious time stuck in port. and for the local customs officials who have more important matters to attend to than collecting useless paperwork. But wait. Thle story does not stop here. Sometimes the charter boats will return to the U.S. Virgin Islands on a weekday or a Saturday after 5 p.m.. or on a Sunday. At these times. the customs office Is closed. So what happens? Believe it or not. the captain of the charter boad has to try to track down one of the customs officials to check in and fill out the required paperwork. To add Insult to injury. the captain is required to reimburse the Federal Government for the overtime costs incurred in making the customs officials wvork after hours. There is one final Irony. Owners of private yachts who wish to venture into the waters of the British Virgin Islands do not have to go through the same laborious reporting procedures as charter boat users. The yacht owner merely has to telephione the customs office 24 hours after returning if he or she has on board any article required by law to be examined by customs. Mr. Speaker. I believe thle Congress should rectify this ludicrous situation. The customs office in thle Virgin Islands is already understaffed and overworked. Surely. they have better things to do than accumulate useless paperwork and be disturbed during their hours off. My bill would elimilnate the reporting requirement for~ charter boats and extend to them the same convenience that is now extended to private yacht owners. that is. they would merely have to call within 24 hours upon returning to ascertain if customs wishes to inspect the vessel. This is a simple measure that. in these days of fiscal austerity and deregulation fever. is highly apropos. It would save customs precious time and dollars. And it would eliminate an unnecessary and burdensome bureaucratic nuisance.