On the recordMarch 16, 2010
I rise to get back to something called the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill. It is the bill we are on. I do not hesitate to say my daughter was one of the cofounders of a charter school, very successful, in Washington, DC, but I would also say to her, as I would to proponents of this legislation which is being discussed--vouchers--that in the Federal aviation bill, we are talking about 500 million Americans who fly every year. Not to diminish them nor my daughter's incredible work--1,300 students--that figure is going to rise very shortly to over 1 billion, and therefore what we do in the Federal aviation bill, which is the pending business, is incredibly important. Senator Byron Dorgan has discussed safety issues and other aspects of the legislation and he is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security, which I was for 10 years before I became chairman of the full committee, so I care passionately about the Federal Aviation Administration bill. I recognize it is not the most colorful, gallant legislation in the history of the world but, believe me, it affects every single American. It used to be that only 16 percent of Americans fly. Now everybody flies. There is no way to describe how frustrated passengers are, and they have every right to be. This Federal aviation bill, incidentally, has been extended or laid over 11 different times.
