Maurice Hinchey: “everyone in this House wants to be sure that we have a sound airline industry and that it is functioning properly for…”

“everyone in this House wants to be sure that we have a sound airline industry and that it is functioning properly for the American people. But this bill does not do enough in too many areas and in some areas, it does what it does in the wrong way. The bill, first of all, provides $5 billion in outright grants to the airline industry. The September 21 report of the Democratic staff of the Joint Economic Committee estimates that because of the shutdown, the airline industry in the United States has lost between $360 million and $1 billion, and this bill gives them $5 billion in outright grants and another many billions of dollars and more in loan guarantees follow upon that. If we want people to get back into airlines, the way to do that is to increase the confidence of the American people in the airline industry. The way to do that is to put safety procedures in place, the kind of safety procedures that the airline industry has resisted for decades, since deregulation. These people who run these airlines are using the cover of crisis for financial gain, and that is what is happening in the context of this bill. No safety procedures, no increases in safety procedures, no additional confidence on the part of the American people. If we want people back in the airlines, we have to make them safe. Why are we not requiring the airlines to do the kinds of things that will produce confidence in the people who ride on these airlines? Where is that $5 billion going?...”