Have not had the direct testimony of those affected by it and those who represent some who are affected by it. And so thats what this hearing was before. The fact that some senators have left, dont let that bother you. Markups are unusual. And thats why they had to come because theyre all 13, and they had to go do something else, but youre the point of all this. I want that to be very, very clear to you. So as i said, very glad to welcome four witnesses who will help us understand firsthand the consequences of the instances and what they had to go through. Yoig this is not an easy subject to talk about, let that be said, okay, so that its painful. And however you reflect that pain, the committee understands it. Welcomes it, joins you in, you know, the difficulty of coming up here and testifying before a senate committee. Although its really not that difficult after all. The cruise industry, im happy to say, is not happy that im holding this hearing. Theyre very unhappy. Those companies
Once resuscitated, we were instructed to leave the ship. We did not have the option to stay. My father went to his room with personnel to pack his bags and carnival sent their personnel into my room to gather my belongings. They made us stay on the gangway and after we got off of the water taxi, we had to wait on an ambulance to come and get her. One carnival employee accompanied us but no arrangements were made with customs to expedite us as a medical emergency. We were all processed as tourists, including my comatose mother. The carnival employee gave my father the telephone number for the Port Authority and left us completely alone in a foreign country to find our own way to transport my mother back to the United States for additional medical treatment. Carnivals current contract states that they are not responsible or liable for anything involving the welfare or safety of its passengers. The Company Makes no assurances that a physician will be available on a cruise. And it states t