Joe Barton: “D-FW airport, except for one runway, is totally within the Sixth District of Texas, which happens to be the district…”

“D-FW airport, except for one runway, is totally within the Sixth District of Texas, which happens to be the district that I am privileged to represent. There were over 40,000 American Airlines and Delta Airlines and various other airline employees that work at that hub airport. We know the tragic events that happened on September 11 in which four American flag carriers, two Delta and two American Airlines, went into the Trade Center, the Pentagon, or into the countryside in Pennsylvania. At D-FW as we speak, it is an airport that is operating at less than 50 percent capacity. The flights that go in that airport are operating about at about 30 percent capacity. American, United, and other airlines have laid off tens of thousands of people this week. This is not the time to argue about the perfect airline relief bill. We have a very reasonable bill before us. It has been hammered out in negotiation between the minority, the majority, the airline industry, the airport associations, and the White House. We need to get the bill on the floor.”