29 



not looking at the '94 date as a deadline. We are going ahead and 

 doing it now, sir. 



Mr. Coble. Very good. Admiral, as an aside, I sit as a member of 

 the House Judiciary Committee, and I am reminded this morning 

 of what we did about two weeks ago. We conducted a hearing on 

 the Waco episode, and when I examined the Attorney General, I 

 said to her — I said, "Today, we have the luxury of applying 20/20 

 hindsight." Obviously, a lot of things at Waco were done wrong, 

 were done ineptly. By the same token, that applies here, and we 

 are up here applying 20/20 hindsight. So as I do that, I don't want 

 to tear anybody's face off, but I hope as we apply 20/20 hindsight 

 we can preclude a repetition of what happened. 



Now, Al indicated, Admiral, that it appeared to him that there 

 may have been some confusion with Coast Guard personnel as to 

 whether the Coast Guard, in fact, had jurisdiction to respond to 

 this episode. My question to you, Admiral, is assuming that is 

 true — I am taking Al's word for that, that was Al's — Al observe 

 that — assuming that is true, have you all done anything to refine 

 that situation? I mean, it seems to me, Admiral, if somebody comes 

 to the Coast Guard, and I realize you MSO boys are unsung 

 heroes — a lot of folks don't appreciate what you all do — I do — but it 

 seems to me that a bell ought to go off in somebody's head, "Yes. 

 We have jurisdiction. We will dispatch someone to the scene as 

 quickly as we can," or, "No, we don't have jurisdiction. That be- 

 longs in somebody else's court." Can you respond to that for me, 

 Admiral? 



Admiral Henn. Yes, sir. As I told the Chairman, in this particu- 

 lar case, we did not do a good job. The field office didn't have spe- 

 cific guidance. That was my responsibility. I should have provided 

 more specific guidance. I have since then, but I can't blame my 

 field office. They knew it was a big case. They were trying to do the 

 best they could. They just didn't have all the tools they needed, and 

 I should have provided them. They do today. I don't expect that to 

 happen again. 



Mr. Coble. That is encouraging. Mr. Estes — and I appreciate 

 your statement as well, sir — I want to extend the question put to 

 you by the Chairman. And I am by no means pronouncing guilt. I 

 don't want this to be implied, but when the Chairman indicated 

 these crew members throwing over the side garbage, whether or 

 not that was done with the consent of the captain — may or may 

 not have been — but I was a deckhand at one time long ago, and I 

 would have been hard-pressed to have thrown a feather over the 

 side of the ship if I figured the captain didn't want it thrown over 

 there. That is the direction from which I come. 



Having said that, have your lines, Mr. Estes, developed any sort 

 of refinement since Al came into this picture as far as overcoming 

 possible language or cultural differences as you go about training a 

 diverse crew? I mean, I can understand a defense might be from 

 the Princess Line, "Well, my gosh. The guy didn't understand it." 

 Well, that may well be true. That is rather a generally phrased 

 question, but can you give me some encouragement in response? 



Mr. Estes. Well, I hope so. Whether or not it is a response to Al's 

 incident or not, I can tell you what happens is several things. First, 

 we have now on many ships cameras at midships and also at the 



