Kay Bailey Hutchison: “the Air Transportation System Stabilization Act is the effort of the U.S. Congress, working with the President, to shore…”

“the Air Transportation System Stabilization Act is the effort of the U.S. Congress, working with the President, to shore up the aviation industry in our country. Already we have seen announced almost 100,000 layoffs in the aviation industry in our country. That will have a rippling effect throughout the economy. What we are doing today is trying to stabilize this industry to keep it on its feet in very tough times so we can minimize the layoffs. Hopefully, they will not be as bad as the airlines announced they will be and we can get this country back on track so our economy will stay strong. What this bill does is have $5 billion in immediate assistance to the carriers based on their actual losses for the grounded airplane time they have had. As we know, there is still one airport that does not have service. We still have airlines losing business because of the September 11 tragedy that was not any fault of theirs. We have in addition $10 billion of loan guarantees subject to terms and conditions set by the President.”