Political Quotes

“Mr. President, this evening, there is a vote scheduled on the Ensign amendment, which would amend an archaic regulation, called the DCA perimeter rule, that has limited competition and travel options for those who fly in and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport or DCA, as it is called. More specifically, the DCA perimeter rule restricts the departure or arrival of nonstop flights to or from airports that are beyond 1,250 miles from DCA. This restriction effectively forces passengers who are coming from the Western States or going to the Western States to use Dulles International Airport or to connect in some other city and then come on in. Obviously, this is inconvenient and discriminatory. The rule was first codified as a Federal statute in 1985. But actually it goes back to 1962. It first had existed as a Federal rule in its various iterations since the 1960s when Dulles was first built. The original purpose of the DCA perimeter rule was to establish Dulles as the long-haul airport serving the Washington area, and that has worked. In 1962, Dulles only served about 52,000 passengers. But today Dulles is thriving. In 2009, the airport served approximately 23 million passengers. According to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority: Dulles has emerged as one of the fastest growing airports in the world and a major East Coat gateway for domestic and international travelers as well as cargo activities.…”