On the recordFebruary 8, 2011
I want to reiterate something the leader has said and what the Senator from New Mexico said; that is, the vast importance of this bill. I have said many times on this floor there are 11 million people who work for the aviation industry. That is only the direct jobs. There are probably 2 or 3 million indirect jobs. It is one of the major parts of our economy. Here we stand, after 17 delays sort of kicking it down the road for 3 months, completely messing up FAA's ability to work with runways or make improvements. We cannot fiddle around with runways. If something goes wrong, they have to be fixed or people die. So the stakes are enormous. This business of slots has become a decision people will have to make. Do they want to see a bill which fails, which goes down, and we go into our 18th or 19th, whatever it is--I have stopped counting-- or do they want to see something which is major to the American economy, major in terms of NASA research, in terms of air traffic control systems and which is major in terms of a passenger bill of rights.
