Political Quotes

“I rise today to strongly support the amendment introduced by Senator Kassebaum. Mr. President, we cannot ignore the fact that product liability remains an extremely serious problem for many industries. I recently did some research with respect to the impact of product liability in general aviation. The information available reveals without a doubt that product liability has been the greatest single obstacle to the success and survival of the American light aircraft industry. General aviation has been seriously impacted. Production of new aircraft has plummeted from 18,000 just a few years ago to around 1,021 last year. Industry employment has been cut in half. Cessna Aircraft, which used to produce nearly 9,000 aircraft a year, has not produced a single- or twin-engine piston powered airplane since 1986. Piper Aircraft is in bankruptcy, largely due to product liability costs. The dire state of this previously healthy industry has serious consequences. If we do not provide new training aircraft for our future pilots, what will happen to our air transportation system? The average age of the single-engine aircraft is now 26 years. Increased foreign competition is targeting the U.S. marketplace with a number of general aviation airplanes. Mr. President, the general aviation industry is intensely regulated by the Federal Government. Every stage of design, production, and testing is scrutinized by the Federal Aviation Administration.”