Byron Dorgan

Let's deal with identical drugs, however. Let's just talk about identical drugs.

So, I guess the first question is--you indicate you support a program to allow Americans to buy safe and effective drugs. Are you working to make that happen?

This has been a long and tortured trail, probably 10 years, in which the pharmaceutical industry has prevented the American people from accessing FDA-approved identical drugs that are sold for a fraction of the price in most other…

The administration supports a program to allow Americans to buy safe and effective drugs from other countries.

Last December, I and Senator Snowe, along with 30 other cosponsors, were preparing to have a vote on the importation of FDA-approved prescription drugs.

I urge FAA Administrator Babbitt to put in place a rule that is scientifically-based and takes into consideration the demands facing today's pilots.

The millions of passengers that fly everyday deserve an efficient, comprehensive transportation network where safety comes first.

You can be sure that I, and this committee, will continue to work to keep our aviation system the safest in the world.

I want the FAA to work, I want our government to work, and I want Ms. Hersman's most-wanted list not to be ignored.

The answer is no. We're not quite measuring up with the same level of safety with this new area of regional carriers.

We need to get at this.

Things have changed dramatically in the commercial aviation sector, and we have to make changes to respond to it.

I think there's an urgency here that needs to be reflected in the actions of the FAA.

I think that's--I don't know. I----

It's not rocket science to believe that a young woman who wants a career in aviation... is more prone to mistake.

I mean, it just will not surprise--it shouldn't surprise any of the three of us--that two of the people who got in a cockpit that day to fly to Buffalo, one hadn't slept in a bed for two nights, and the other hadn't been in a bed the night…

The larger question is--I have a list of some of the regional carriers here--Shuttle America, Pinnacle, Freedom, Chautauqua, Atlantic, Southeast, Colgan, ExpressJet Chautauqua, Trans States, GoJet, Great Lakes, Mesa, SkyWest, and the list…

Are there cases in which the regional carrier is wholly owned by the major carrier and, therefore, subject to identical requirements--training, and all the other requirements--of the major carrier?

We'd better get moving here and understand that things have changed in this industry.

Would that data be useful?

For all scheduled passenger carriage, yes, that's correct.

I'm not sure--I don't agree that the first flight--the first experience you might have with icing should be in a cockpit where you're carrying passengers.

I was put out here with almost no experience in icing.

I believe there are some cargo companies that have a ready solution for it, right?

It seems, to me at least, that the safety of the passengers, both for regional carriers and large carriers, should be the overriding factor, versus self-reporting.