Don Young

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 2926, the bill just passed.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica), who is conducting hearings as of today and will have a bill on security, as I assured everybody else in this body, our outstanding subcommittee Chairman.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, in response to my colleague from Kansas, I too am greatly concerned about this issue of potential unlimited liability for the air transport industry. It is always my intent to ensure adequate liability and protection for all transport elements such as aircraft manufacturers and manufacturers of aircraft components and parts. I had hoped we could have this specifically addressed in this bill. However, I too agree that the definition of ``air carrier'' in section 402 should include those elements of air transportation.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Tiahrt) for the purposes of a colloquy.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for yielding. General aviation is of vital importance to our Nation's economy. In my home State of Alaska, general aviation aircraft are the only pipeline bringing supplies to those living in remote areas, and we are experiencing our small communities. We are experiencing a shortage of pilots to fly those, and a failure of the flight school industry will cause severe economic hardship to not only those in Alaska, but to those living in remote areas of the U.S. Therefore, it is my intention to present to this body by next week a bill, if possible, that will provide real economic relief to those in need.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I can assure the gentleman that we will look into that. We will also contact the airlines and make sure they try to do this voluntarily. If they do not, we will make them do it in future legislation.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield further, the gentleman from Ohio is correct on both accounts.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, that is my understanding.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert). (Mr. BOEHLERT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I have listened with great interest to the debate on this legislation tonight. I commend those that brought up points that are not in this bill. But as I heard the Speaker say and the minority leader speak, this is just the beginning. I know there are those of you who wanted more in this bill, and I understand that and I would like to have had more in this bill, but I believe this is the best way we can do the job and get this problem solved tonight. The gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and I last week introduced a bill about this time on Friday night, and it was objected to, and we are here tonight. But if we do not do this, as I said then and I will say now, this airline industry is in serious trouble. We will have an opportunity to bring up a bill on security with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) who is already working on it. That will happen next week if everything goes all right, although it is a shortened week. We will have an opportunity to think about those workers that lost those jobs. But may I remind you, as it has been said today, that if we do not do anything, there will not be any jobs to come back to. The security issue is one that has been talked about and thought about, discussed for many, many years. And now I think we are awakened and we shall take care of that. Mr. Speaker, I will suggest that if we do not do this legislation tonight, the workers you are trying to protect, and which I am trying to protect, will have nowhere to go. This is just the beginning of a series of packages we hope that will come to the floor. I will do everything in my jurisdiction. May I remind my colleagues, one of the problems we had in this legislation is we had different committees that had other jurisdictional problems than what we are trying to do. I kept saying, ``If you don't want us to do it, you do it.'' Yet we had to step up, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and myself and the leadership of this House, to say we are going to do this and we did that. We also had another effect. We had the other body. Working with the other body is sometimes a very tedious process. What we have here tonight is not perfect, but it will do the job. We will have an airline industry. We will protect the workers. We do have the liability provision in it. And this money is not going to be a bailout. It is going to make sure that this airline industry survives. Mr. Speaker, may I suggest, and I hope all Members will consider voting ``yes'' on this legislation for the benefit of this country. Mr. Speaker, we bring to the floor tonight a bill that will address the threat to the continued stability and viability of our U.S. air transportation system. It is the first critical step toward addressing the financial burdens that last week's terrorist attacks put on our transportation and related industries and their employees. The terrorists who attacked our country last week, were trying to destroy our way of life and our economy--we will not let them do that. They have murdered thousands of innocent people, destroyed billions of dollars in property and have dealt a terrible blow to an air transportation system that is vital to the economic health of our country. On September 11, 2001, the FAA grounded every airplane in this country within a two-hour period. This was necessary for the safety and protection of our country and of our people. I want to commend the FAA and the air traffic controllers for their quick response and decisive action. I also want to commend the aviation industry for their cooperation and willingness to put the safety of others first. Unfortunately, we are not facing a serious crisis in our air transportation system. The reductions in schedules and flights have started and layoffs are being implemented. The capital markets are not coming to the aid of most of the airlines. We are seeing the ripple effect in our economy as layoffs occur in other related industries. Our economy is at risk. Our national security is also at risk. Last week, my colleague, Jim Oberstar and I introduced H.R. 2891 to keep our U.S. air transportation system viable in the short term. Unfortunately, the House did not pass the bill last Friday when it had the chance. Since that time, we have conducted a hearing to document the needs and to fine-tune the bill. The bill before us today reflects much information that has been brought to light. Mr. Speaker, today's bill is not the end. In the coming weeks we intend to address other issues, including aviation security and the economic impacts on other affected businesses and their employees. H.R. 2926 authorizes the President to provide direct compensation and loan guarantees to the air carriers. This assistance is intended as a short term, emergency response to keep the air transportation system operating for the benefit of the American people. We will soon take further action to address the vitally important issue of aviation security. However, the bill now before us includes a congressional affirmation of the President's authority to use the emergency supplemental appropriations. The bill's language on using $3 billion of such funds sends a strong message of our resolve. These funds should be used to beef up the sky marshall program, to address other modes of transportation such as port security, and for other activities that have an immediate impact. The critical task before us is getting the airlines back to health so that all communities, large and small, can continue to receive air service. However, we also address the specific needs of small communities. The bill includes strong support for continuing air service to small communities. Authority and high priority is given to assuring that service to small communities does not suffer. In addition, we increase the authority for the ``essential air services'' program to $120 million. The bill also is responsive to air carriers' requirement for insurance during times of war. We modified the so-called ``war risk'' program to make it more flexible, such as making it applicable to domestic flights as well as international flights. The bill is also very responsive to victims of terrorist attacks, whether those victims are on the aircraft or on the ground. I know many of us are concerned about financial losses sustained by other businesses. However, I urge you to focus on the issue of how best to ensure the continued operation of our air transportation system. By assuring the survival of the air carriers, other related industries, and their employees, will gain a measure of economic stability. We conducted hearings today and will conduct another next Tuesday to continue the evaluation of airline security issues and other economic issues. I want to assure members of this body that we will take necessary steps to address those matters. The current crisis requires this bill to become law as quickly as possible to protect the well being of all Americans by preserving a functioning air transportation system. I urge the Members of this chamber to fully support the effort to pass this legislation overwhelmingly. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Oxley), the chairman of the Committee on Financial Services, to engage in a colloquy.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 244, I call up the bill (H.R. 2926) to preserve the continued viability of the United States air transportation system, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Dunn), who has been deeply affected by this act of terrorism.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton). (Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman). (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica), the chairman of the subcommittee.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg). (Mr. SHADEGG asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. I object, Mr. Speaker.