b'LEGISLATIVE LEGISLATIVE REPORTLooking Back, Looking AheadED WELCH // PVA SENIOR LEGISLATIVE ADVISORAbookofmineisItto the committee with jurisdiction overneverceasetoimpressme.Ivebeen favorite LookedLikeForEver.Itsthe U.S. Coast Guard, maritime laws,able to travel to scores of new (to me) the story of Henry Wiggen,and ocean environmental protection. Ilocationsacrossourgreatcountry, theAll-Starleft-handedpitcherforam indebted to former PVA PresidentsmanyofwhichIlikelyneverwould the champion New York Mammoths,HollyAgraandCornelMartinwhohave otherwise visited. These include who, as he ages, must confront his di- were on the search committee that con- islandsthroughouttheGreatLakes minishing skills, his bodily aches andnected PVA and me. (Beaver,Washington,Mackinac, pains, and the impending twilight ofMadeline,andDrummond);towns hisprofessionalbaseballcareer.To- Im not completely severing my rela- along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers; ward the end, Henry says: Every balltionship with PVA. But I must stepurbanareassuchasSeattle,Tampa, player has arrived some time at his lastback from a full-time commitment soNew Orleans, San Francisco, and New pitch, and I have arrived at mine. I can provide more care for my wifeYork; and far-flung destinations in the Tricia who is confronting challengingKeanipeninsulaofAlaska,rugged Itsnotquitethatdireforme.Iamhealth difficulties. locations on the Maine coast, and the winding down my professional careerCanadianbordercrossingofBlaine, as legislative director for the PassengerThe two decades plus with PVA haveWash.One of the more recent destina-Vessel Association. It began in Septem- brought me tremendous satisfaction. Itions was our Western Region Meeting ber 1997, nearly 26 years ago. Previous- have worked with and become friendsin Lahaina, Maui, making it so painful ly, I spent nearly two decades as a staffwithhundredsofindividualsintheto witness the horrific destruction by member for the U.S. House of Repre- PVAfamily.Thebreadthofexperi- fire of a place so many PVA attendees sentatives, assigned most of that timeences and talents that all of you bringenjoyed not so long ago.Itsbeenapleasuretorepresentthe interests of PVA members to our law-makers on Capitol Hill. I vividly recall testifying as a witness before the late attention to detail Senator John McCain of Arizona who advocated gutting the Passenger Vessel Services Act, the law that protects our membersfromunfairforeigncom-petitors.TheSenatorsaidtome,I disagree with your testimony and po-sition, but you made the case for your point of view about as well as anyone could. He never succeeded in chang-ing the law the way he had hoped for.I remember PVA fighting back when Congressenactedaone-size-fits-all requirement for many passenger ves-www.beurteaux.comFOGHORN 46'