John Chafee: “I applaud my colleague from Kansas for her tenacity, perseverance, and great patience in bringing once again the issue…”

“I applaud my colleague from Kansas for her tenacity, perseverance, and great patience in bringing once again the issue of general aviation liability reform before this body. By granting an 18-year statute of repose, the Kassebaum legislation addresses one of the most important factors that have brought about the decline of the general aviation industry: increased product liability exposure, and its staggering cost to aircraft manufacturers. General aviation manufacturers are spending a huge amount of time and resources on defending lawsuits instead of developing or perfecting products and manufacturing technology. That burden is having an extremely detrimental effect on the health of the general aviation industry in this country. Sales of domestic aircraft have dropped sharply since the late 1970's. Cessna, Piper, and Beech aircraft among others have cut back production dramatically. Listen to this: In 1979, U.S. companies turned out 17,000 general aviation aircraft; in 1992, our companies made 400. The loss in this particular manufacturing sector has in turn had a ripple effect on the overall economy, with an estimated 100,000 jobs lost in general aviation manufacturing and those industries who supply general aviation parts and service. And U.S. manufacturers, who used to produce more than 95 percent of the world's general aviation aircraft, no longer have that leadership. The world leaders now are France, Germany, and Italy.”