James Oberstar: “Mr. Chairman, on the overall measure before us, since this is apparently the last amendment, and hopefully we will vote…”

“Mr. Chairman, on the overall measure before us, since this is apparently the last amendment, and hopefully we will vote in the next 10 or 15 minutes, it is a good time to reflect back on where we are and where we have come with this legislation. The gentleman from Florida (Chairman Mica) has already referenced the strong support of the commercial airline pilot community for this legislation, and that certainly has become evident in the months since the tragic events of September. When first approached with the idea of arming flight deck crews, I was opposed to the idea. I have mentioned this in my opening remarks on the legislation. But as I weighed the progress being made by the Transportation Security Administration in putting in place the many provisions of our Transportation Security Act of last November, it became very clear that the interlocking web of security measures that we envisioned in that legislation is not in place.”