Arlen Specter: “at the outset, let me say I agree with my distinguished colleague from Arizona about striking section 1004. The purpose…”

“at the outset, let me say I agree with my distinguished colleague from Arizona about striking section 1004. The purpose for my seeking recognition has been to address that subject. The Congress acted promptly, after September 11, to provide for $10 billion in loan guarantees because the airlines were hit in a very drastic manner. Obviously, after the attack on the World Trade Towers, the striking of the Pentagon, and the plane which went down in Somerset County, PA, my home State, air traffic stopped instantly. In fact, for several days you could not fly at all. The FAA grounded all the planes. With the closing of Reagan National Airport, a major airport in the United States, US Airways, which is hubbed in my State, Pennsylvania, was very heavily impacted. It was very difficult. So Congress acted to provide for $10 billion in loan guarantees. When this provision was put in section 1004, which limited the guarantees to $4 billion and not more than $429 million from being spent in fiscal year 2002, it sent shudders through the airline industry, including US Airways in Pennsylvania.”