Byron Dorgan: “it is a bit disappointing that this afternoon we had to file a cloture motion in order for the Senate to consider a…”

“it is a bit disappointing that this afternoon we had to file a cloture motion in order for the Senate to consider a piece of legislation dealing with airport and airline security in this country. All Americans understand that on September 11, when hijackers hijacked four commercial airlines and used fully loaded 767s to run into buildings and kill thousands of Americans using those commercial airliners as guided missiles--bombs, with substantial amounts of fuel to kill thousands of innocent Americans--everyone understands that from that moment forward, when the airlines were shut down--all of them were grounded, and then, following that grounding, the airlines began to ramp back up and provide some additional passenger service once again-- that the American people are concerned, and have been concerned about safety. So the Congress began working on this question of, How do we prevent this from ever happening again? How do we promote and develop the safety and security that the American public wants with respect to air travel? How do we give the American people the confidence that getting on an airplane and using that commercial airliner for travel around the country is safe and secure for them?”