Bill Nelson: “As we consider a major component of America's economic engine and what to do about it, clearly there are two things that…”

“As we consider a major component of America's economic engine and what to do about it, clearly there are two things that stand out and that came out of our Commerce Committee hearing yesterday chaired by Senator Hollings. For the airlines to be able to fly again financially solvent, the security measures must be put into place so that the American public has confidence to fly again. I personally think it is safe to fly. I flew Monday night to Orlando, and there were only 10 people on the plane. Happily, when I flew back from Florida, from Tampa to Washington on Tuesday night, there were 40 people on the plane. My recommendation on the basis of going to two major airports in Florida, checking all of their security arrangements, is that the security apparatus is beginning to work. It didn't work on September 11. The first part of restoring this industry to health is security, so that we can get people back in the airplanes and the American public flying again. That, of course, has been amply demonstrated by our discussion today. I am a cosponsor of this bill. The second component that came out of our hearing was that the airlines, in order to be able to operate, have to have insurance that is available and affordable.”