Julie Nelson

Acting Deputy Maritime Administrator and Chief Counsel

Christening Ceremony, Pride of Hawaii

Port of Los Angeles, World Cruise Center, Terminal 91/92, San Pedro, CA

Saturday, May 20, 2006

6 p.m.

I bring warm greetings from President Bush, Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta, and my colleagues at the Maritime Administration.

This is a magnificent ship. Everywhere you look there is something to dazzle the eye. But to those of us at the Maritime Administration, the most beautiful thing about the Pride of Hawaii is the American flag on the stern.

It is very gratifying to us to see the continued revival of the Hawaiian cruise trade. The addition of this cruise ship to the fleet adds nearly 4,000 U.S. jobs. We look forward to thousands of additional jobs as the industry continues to grow.

More than 300-thousand people took a Hawaii cruise last year; that’s a 38-percent increase over the last two years. That is a great indicator not only of how well the Hawaii cruise industry is doing, but also of the strong growth of our economy as a whole under the Bush Administration.

All of us can truly rejoice in this very happy event.

May the Pride of Hawaii always set her sails to fair winds, and may she always find good fortune by her side.

Mahalo—thank you.

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