Support in Congress
“The so-called Luxury Tax was a fine sounding slogan for the legislation, but a more appropriate slogan would have been a law to sink America’s boat-building industry. Indeed, that was the impact of this misguided effort at tax reform, for the end result was the demise of many fine, if not historic, boat builders.
During that time I was privileged to represent the 2nd Congressional District of New Jersey, an area that boasted some of the finest boat-builders in the world, including Viking Yachts. Accordingly, I saw the damage to this important industry first-hand. Bob Healey and the Healey Family of Viking Yachts were instrumental in working with me and others in the industry and in the United States Congress to garner the necessary majority to repeal the law. Without that effort, and the hard work of the coalition they helped put together to build that concensus, it would not have happened.
While some of our long-time boat builders did not survive, others, like Viking, have become quite an American success story.”
Ambassador William J. Hughes
Member of Congress, 2nd District of NJ (1975-95)
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