James Oberstar

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.

Mr. OBERSTAR. I am, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. OBERSTAR. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I just want to reinforce that on our side we would hope to be able to offer a substitute developed within our committee. We came very close to reaching agreement with the majority on our committee on one of the central issues of aviation security, how screening shall be provided at domestic airports. I think that is a pivotal difference. We would want to be sure that the rule would, in all fairness, give us the opportunity to offer our proposal as a substitute. Mr. Speaker, could the distinguished majority leader assure us that the Committee on Rules would make such a provision or substitute in order?

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I would just say to the distinguished acting majority leader that in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure we have worked very diligently on a bipartisan basis sharing ideas, coming to agreement on virtually all items in an aviation security bill but one. I would hope that we would have that legislation, either the majority version or our version. Certainly, I understand bringing up the majority version of this bill on the House floor next week, but with an opportunity for us to offer our package as a substitute, or an amendment in the nature of a substitute. I know, without going into the detail of it here, there is division over one issue. We ought to have an opportunity to elucidate that issue of who ought to conduct the screening of persons and carry-on baggage and checked baggage at airports. We ought to have a rational discussion on this subject. I hope that the majority will allow that to occur on the House floor next week.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, in light of the great confusion and dissatisfaction about the process that has led us to this point on the pending measure covered by the proposed rule, it seems to me that we ought rather to be spending our time dealing with aviation security. If we defeat the motion on the previous question, it will be the purpose of the minority side to bring up the Transportation Security Enhancement Act of 2001, which has been drafted largely in cooperation with the Republican majority on our committee, but with some significant differences. One of those key differences has to do with how screening is performed at the Nation's airports. Let me put this in context because the screener issue has been very largely overstated and not stated in the context of overall aviation security. First, what we would propose to do, and we have done this in agreement with the majority on our committee, is establish a transportation security administration within the Department of Transportation; and this approach differs significantly from the bill which just last night passed the other body on a vote of 100 to zero, to elevate security to all modes of transportation to the level of an Under Secretary of Transportation so that all modes would be considered concurrently; transfer all aviation security functions to the Transportation Security Administration except for air marshals which would stay, as they always have been, within the FAA; designate this Under Secretary to be the primary liaison to intelligence and law enforcement communities; allow the Secretary to develop the regulations to carry out the security functions. Mr. Speaker, under this general regulatory authority, because we are dealing in an area of urgency and of national significance, the Under Secretary would consider the costs, but not be required to undertake the usual time-consuming cost benefit analysis which places a monetary value on human life and has regularly been the subject of airline interference and dragging out the regulatory process when it comes to safety and security. We would consider the costs, but not be bogged down by a regulatory process which holds up rules literally for years; permits this Under Secretary to issue emergency rules or security directives without cost- benefit analysis, but opportunity for comment; create a transportation security oversight board consisting of the Secretary of Transportation, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, and a representative of the Office of Homeland Security. Further, to require the President to begin a review of whether security should be conducted within the Department of Transportation as we proposed in the legislation, or whether the President on his counsel should transfer that function to another Department or office. The key to this is the status of those who perform security at the Nation's airport security checkpoints. This has been the Achilles' heel of aviation security. The screener workforce I distinguish from functions that are performed by airlines. There are airline responsibilities in aviation. There are airport responsibilities in aviation, and there is a national security responsibility in aviation. I make that distinction based on my experience from 11 years ago in the aftermath of the Pan Am 103 crash when I was a member of a Presidential commission on aviation security. It was called the Pan Am 103 Commission. We recommended that there be a comprehensive security effort on all of aviation and that security should be seen as a matter of national responsibility.

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise to express my strong support for the point of order to ensure that the proponents of the Northeast Dairy Compact are not able to extend this unwise experiment in dairy policy. Mr. Chairman, the current milk marketing system is complex and flawed, and the creation of the Northeast Dairy Compact has exacerbated the deficiencies of our national dairy policy. Dairy reform is needed, but we should not permit the continuation of the Northeast Dairy Compact, and we certainly should not allow an expansion of dairy compacts into other regions of the country. I am greatly troubled that the supporters of the Northeast Dairy Compact are once again attempting to bypass the rules of the House to impose a regional milk cartel that has hurt dairy farmers in my congressional district and throughout the upper Midwest region. The Northeast Dairy Compact initiative was inserted into the 1996 Farm bill conference report in violation of House rules and the proponents utilized midnight parliamentary tactics to create a milk regime that distorts the market and hurts consumers. While it is worth noting that the Northeast Dairy Compact proponents are here on the House Floor today during the light of day, they are here, nevertheless, to offer an amendment to this year's Farm bill that is in violation of House rules. The rules of the House are very clear that the jurisdiction of interstate compacts falls within the House Judiciary Committee, not the House Agriculture Committee. Since this amendment to extend and expand this faulty compact is not germane to the Farm bill, it is incumbent upon the Chair to sustain the point of order and rule against this amendment. If my colleagues want this compact to continue, I would encourage them to follow the rules of the House and work with the Judiciary Committee. Point of Order

Mr. OBERSTAR

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. We are gathered here tonight because of one cataclysmic day in the storied history of aviation. Not to rescue an industry from its mistakes but to restore an industry because it was attacked as a symbol of American democracy, of our freedom, and of our great, strong economy. We are here to put back on its feet an industry that represents 10 percent of our $7 trillion gross domestic product, a $700 billion sector of our economy, one without which all the rest of our economy fails. Mr. Speaker, I express my great appreciation for the chair of our committee, the gentleman from Alaska, for the work that we have done together to bring this bill here, and to the Speaker, as the Democratic leader said a minute ago, who was so gracious and firm and showed real leadership. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), the Democratic leader who has been a tower of strength on our side.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott). (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I share the views of the chairman. General aviation is a major sector of our economy. There are some 345,000 general aviation pilots. I have written the National Security Advisor, Condoleeza Rice, urging her to lift the restrictions on VFR flights and boundaries of Class Bravo airspace and for flight school operations anywhere in the country. For these and many other reasons, I join the chairman and will work with him to develop a relief package for those sectors of the aviation industry not subject to the provisions of this bill.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson). (Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman will yield, that is not a matter I control. That is an agreement between the Speaker and the minority leader. They are certainly committed to working in the direction the gentlewoman has expressed. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee). (Mr. INSLEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Boswell), a distinguished member of our committee. (Mr. BOSWELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 40 seconds to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, that cataclysmic event that occurred a week ago brought this Nation together at the very same time that it tore us asunder. We are here tonight to attempt to thread together shattered pieces of our economy, the torn hearts and spirits of our fellow citizens. In the limited way that we can, with the limited tools at our disposal, I share the frustration of many of my colleagues on this side of the aisle who wanted to reach out beyond the provisions of this bill and extend help to those workers who were laid off in the immediate aftermath of last Tuesday. I thought we could do that and that we should do that, but there were other voices and other pressures. Since we do not have the majority, we do not dictate the course of events. The Speaker wanted to do more, and he was magnificent in his management of the competing forces in that session that concluded at two o'clock this morning in his office when the final shape of this bill was hammered out. His willingness to work with our side to address the unmet needs and concerns of Members went on into today and into late afternoon. Yes, I think we should have addressed security to a greater extent than we did in this bill. There is $3 billion to be used by the Secretary of Transportation for sky marshals, for strengthening flight deck doors and for other airport security provisions; and there will be more to come. Many on my side have said if we do not put it all in this train that is leaving the station it will never get done, but I trust the Members of this body and the leadership and the Secretary of Transportation on their word. They have given their word that we will do a broader and more inclusive security provision. With the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), we are going to start on Monday in our committee crafting that broader language for broader security to carry out the work that, frankly, I began as a member of the Presidential Commission of Aviation Security and Terrorism in 1989 and 1990. If all we have done and recommended had gotten enacted into law and fully carried out, we still would have gaps in security. That is why I asked for a review, a blue ribbon commission, in 1995 to come back and review aviation security from top to bottom; and it took a year for that to happen in the previous administration. That group that was called together by the President, the baseline review committee met, and I addressed them. It was July 17, a year later, 1996; and that night TWA 800 went down off Long Island, and then a year later we came back with new legislation to fix aviation security once again; and we did it again last year in our committee. We are going to do it again until we get it right. We have a lot of provisions in this bill to deal with the problems of those who lost their lives on the ground and the families who survived them, just as we did in the aftermath of TWA 800 and Pan Am 103, and it pains me to be on this floor once again to be addressing these matters. We are going to provide in this bill continuation of air service for small communities that feed into the hubs. We provide $120 million for essential air service for the very smallest markets in our country. We provide assistance to our air carriers with accountability, with limitations on executive pay. In the Chrysler package of 1979, there was a proposal to cap wages of UAW workers; and the Members on this side said no, and a good many on the Republican side said no; and the Congress refused to do it. But in this bill we put caps. We put limitations. Maybe we should have limited their pay below what they were making last year; but we did what was doable, capped their pay at what it was last year for the next 2 years, so that there is some shared contribution. I believe that we are going to move further ahead. The Speaker made a commitment tonight to the minority leader that beginning next week they will start on a comprehensive package of worker assistance. I hope it will include extended unemployment compensation in many provisions of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act, and I will call upon the airlines of the United States to follow the example of Northwest Airlines, which voluntarily told its unemployed laidoff workers that it will continue their health insurance through the end of this year, fully paid, employer-employee portions by the airline, whatever its cost will be; and if the other airlines will do the same, there would be a greater sense of shared sacrifice. There would be greater confidence on this floor that they are doing the right thing. I have asked the airlines to express their support for worker provisions, and they have done so in a letter, and for improved security provision that I know they have done so as well. They will stand with us next week and in the following days when we bring legislation to the House floor. This is the best we can do, and it is the most important thing that we can do to get aviation back again moving people and goods and moving our economy. It is not just here at home. The International Air Transport Association reported earlier today that European airlines since last Friday have lost $5 billion. That is a greater percentage of loss for them than for our carriers. If we do not get American aviation moving again, world aviation is going to collapse. Yes, we want to do more for the workers who are laid off, but we have to do something to keep the jobs of those who are still working. There are 1.2 million employees in the airline industry; 100,000 are laid off. But that means 1.1 million are working, and this bill is to keep those jobs, to help them stay on their feet, help them continue contributing to the national economy. That is why we are gathered around here, to do what we can in the right way, in the right time, to the extent that we can. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), a member of our committee.

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Honda), a member of our committee. (Mr. HONDA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)