Political Quotes

“Madam President, this February I joined with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to offer an amendment to the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Act to secure aircraft cockpits by making it a Federal criminal offense to knowingly aim the beam of a laser at an aircraft. Our commonsense and bipartisan amendment to protect passengers and pilots received overwhelming support in this body, and was agreed to by a vote of 96 to 1. A similar measure subsequently passed the House, without controversy, by voice vote under the suspension rules. Unfortunately, the larger bill to which my amendment was attached has been held up because of unrelated issues. As a result, today I am joining with Senators Kirk, Boxer, and Feinstein to re-introduce this provision as a stand-alone bill. When targeted at aircraft, laser pointer strikes can instantly flash throughout the cockpit, temporarily blinding the pilot and crew. One pilot described the feeling of being hit by a laser like this: ``It immediately [lit] up the whole cockpit and it hit both of my eyes and burned both of my corneas. Instantly, I was blinded. It felt like I was hit in the face with a baseball bat-- just an intense, burning pain.'' FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt warned that lasers can ``damage a pilot's eyes or cause temporary blindness.'' In an event on this topic held last year at T.F.…”