Barbara Boxer: “I discuss why I am voting against cloture on the FAA Reauthorization bill. This bill includes some very good provisions…”

“I discuss why I am voting against cloture on the FAA Reauthorization bill. This bill includes some very good provisions, including funding for our Nation's airports and two provisions that I was able to include in this bill--certification of flight attendant anti-terrorism training and allowing trained cargo pilots to carry guns in the cockpit. However, these good provisions do not make up for the threat to the safety of air travel that this bill will cause. On June 12, 2003, Senator Lautenberg's amendment to the FAA bill passed 56 to 41. His amendment, which I supported, would have prevented the Administration from privatizing the U.S. air traffic control system. The House bill had a similar provision. However, during the conference process the provisions in both bills were ignored. This summer, Republican conference leaders filed a conference report that specifically sanctioned privatization at up to 69 airports, some of which are the busiest in the country in terms of flight operations. For instance, Van Nuys airport in California is the eighth busiest airport in the country in terms of flight operations. When that clearly did not have the support of the Congress, the conference report was rewritten, and the privatization language was dropped. But, the language prohibiting privatization was not reinserted, and the administration has indicated it intends to go forward. Privatizing the controllers is a bad idea.”