Jay Rockefeller: “there is a very famous line that we all know from the heroic astronauts of Apollo 13. The line is: ``Houston, we have a…”

“there is a very famous line that we all know from the heroic astronauts of Apollo 13. The line is: ``Houston, we have a problem.'' Today, many of us who have spent the August recess traveling to our home States and various places across the country also realize that we ``have a problem'' in the air. This problem is not only in Houston, it is in Atlanta, it is in Chicago, it is in Cleveland, it is in Detroit and in nearly every other city across the country. Over the last month, there have been very troubling reports of unprecedented increases in congestion and delays in our national air traffic system--long hours of delay. I have not heard a speech in this Chamber about this in the last several months. We spent most of yesterday having, I guess, basically a political debate about the Puerto Rican clemency situation, but this is urgent in a very different way because it involves life and death, the national economy, and congestion which is beyond the scope of thinking of many of our fellow citizens. We are not talking about merely an inconvenience. We are talking about a potential crippling of the national economy and, if ignored, we are talking about extremely serious safety issues. I happen to be an admirer of FAA Administrator Jane Garvey. I think she is very good, and I think she is tough. She ran an airport in Boston. That is a tough thing to do. I have a lot of confidence and faith in her.…”