Bill Pascrell: “let me say this: That on 9/11, this public system that we have in the United States was able to land 700 planes in a…”

“let me say this: That on 9/11, this public system that we have in the United States was able to land 700 planes in a very short period of time. They cleared the air in 2 hours. And as the ranking member of this committee has stated most eloquently, if the control of the national air space and the safety of the traveling public is not a governmental function, one has to question what is. And I think that sums it up in a nutshell. We have had a failure of privatized baggage screening in this country, and that is why we moved into the public sector. And while those on the opposition would say that this does not, this does not advocate privatization, we know what the agenda is down the street, a part-timing of the workforce in this country, no question about it, and trying to do everything we can to undermine organized labor. My colleagues know it and I know it, regardless of where one stands on this legislation. If one says this has nothing to do with this legislation, then what are we debating for? Why did this House vote 418 to 8, which is a pretty startling number, 418 to 8, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure voted, they made their decision very clear. And it is an absolute abomination that we have taken that vote and tried to strain it, cleanse it, to do everything we possibly could to it, to bring back to this floor legislation that could have had bipartisan support, that did have bipartisan support, in order to divide this Chamber.”