James Oberstar: “I yield myself 1 minute. For 65 years, aviation trade has been governed by a fundamental principle and a statute which…”

“I yield myself 1 minute. For 65 years, aviation trade has been governed by a fundamental principle and a statute which requires that only an airline that qualifies as a citizen of the United States may provide service between citizens in the U.S. or on international routes. The international trade bureaucrats at the Departments of Transportation and State have decided to change that law by rule. That should not be changed by the bureaucrats. It should be done by act of Congress. We ought to have more than just a couple of hours of hearings. We ought to have in-depth hearings in the House and the Senate and decide whether or not we are going to change that statute to something else. Secondly, why would we, in the context of an international trade negotiation, trade away the one sector of economics where the United States has a positive balance of trade? Aviation. We have a $9 billion surplus balance of payments with the European Community. If we allow U.S. airlines to be sold to foreign interests, that positive balance of payments will disappear. Gone. I reserve the balance of my time.”