Johnny Isakson: “I agree with the Senator entirely on the importance to the American economy of U.S. aviation. In the bill they put out…”

“I agree with the Senator entirely on the importance to the American economy of U.S. aviation. In the bill they put out, there is one element that was not addressed that I think should be. On December 31 of this year, the United States providing terrorism insurance to the airlines sunsets. If it is, there will be no access to terrorism insurance by U.S. domestic carriers because the only private insurers that will offer terrorism insurance offer it with an advanced cancellation provision, which basically means if we went to a code level orange or a code level red, the insurance company in advance of a terrorist attack could actually cancel the insurance. So the aviation industry would be without insurance. Our competition in Europe does not have that problem. They still have private insurance available for coverage of aviation terrorism. I submitted an amendment yesterday that would extend the date of December 31 of this year--which is the expiration date--to make it December 31, 2011, so airlines can continue to pay the U.S. Government for insurance against terrorism. If my understandings are correct, those premiums totaled $160 million in the last year and are a revenue source to the United States of America, as it should be.”