James Oberstar: “Mr. Chairman, I rise without reluctance with great concern about this amendment in opposition to it. I have no…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise without reluctance with great concern about this amendment in opposition to it. I have no hesitation at all in opposing this amendment, with great respect for the sincerity with which its authors come forward. But the road to destruction is paved with good intentions and sincerity, and we would be on a road to very serious problems with this amendment. As the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) has said and as the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) officially in his remarks has said, the bill before us today is the product of a very carefully thought through, debated, negotiated compromise, like most legislation that passes this House. In this case we have the benefit of the best ideas from both sides of the aisle coming together in support of a bill that both sides of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure can support this far and no farther. Now, the idea of creating a permanent program to arm pilots as compared to the bill which has a 2-year experimental program would totally undo this agreement. I could not support the bill should this pass. Then the bill, I think, would not pass because I think there is great reluctance among Members on both sides of the aisle about the issue of arming pilots.”