James Oberstar: “Mr. Chairman, it has been referenced by several Members on the other side that opposition on our side is partisan-based…”

“Mr. Chairman, it has been referenced by several Members on the other side that opposition on our side is partisan-based, partisan-motivated, we are upset because this airport is to be named for Ronald Reagan. It is not the Democrats who initiated the partisanship. In the 'This Week' show on ABC television, conservative columnist and commentator George Will was the one who said if the renaming proposal is adopted, Washington passengers 'would fly out of two airports; one named for John Foster Dulles and the other after Ronald Reagan, and that is an ideologically perfect choice.' On the same program, his fellow conservative, Bill Kristol, remarked that naming the airport after Ronald Reagan is 'especially worth it, because it will so annoy people like George Stephanopoulos.' Those are partisan remarks. We did not initiate them. Opposition on our side is not to naming something for Ronald Reagan, but it is to taking a name off an already-named structure and renaming it.”