Ed Case: “my purpose in rising today is to highlight the absolute dependence of some parts of our country on air service and thus…”

“my purpose in rising today is to highlight the absolute dependence of some parts of our country on air service and thus the absolute importance of the Essential Air Services (EAS) portions of the law and of this bill, and also the necessity as we go forward of avoiding one-size-fits-all thinking when we deal with the problems of our rural communities in providing EAS. Imagine a district in which air service is truly indispensable to providing the basic necessities, to transporting residents, to providing emergency medical service, and to the survival and prosperity of its number one industry, tourism, and several other important industries like agriculture which are based on exports. That's Hawaii today, and that's my Second District--a district that has all of Hawaii other than urban Honolulu, and is composed of seven inhabited islands--it's absolutely unique. And let me give an example of how this uniqueness doesn't work with one-size-fits-all thinking. A great deal of EAS discussion concerns how far airports are apart from each other. And both Mr. Peterson and Mr. Pitts are offering amendments today, which I fully support, that deal with 'How far apart are airports?' Well, the airport on Molokai is somewhere around 40 miles from Honolulu International Airport as the crow flies. Not too far. But guess what--no road. No road, it's on another island. So we've got to think about unique circumstances in designing legislation.”