Political Quotes

“the managers' amendment to S. 149 adds a new provision to address a pressing humanitarian issue: flight safety. U.S. aircraft manufacturers have sold commercial passenger aircraft internationally since the 1950s. Moreover, some European-made commercial aircraft are made with U.S. components. As a result, U.S. aircraft are used widely around the world. The safe operation of these aircraft depends on the replacement of worn parts, repair of unsafe components, and receipt of technical bulletins and airworthiness directives. These parts, services, and information are highly specialized, and often are available only from the original manufacturer. Over the years, several nations that operate U.S.-made aircraft, or European-made aircraft that incorporate U.S. parts, have become subject to U.S. embargo. As a result, U.S.-made aircraft items cannot be exported to those countries. This poses a significant threat to the safe operation of those airplanes. Without replacement parts, repair, and technical information, the planes literally may fall out of the sky, with terrible humanitarian implications for passengers and those on the ground. We all remember with horror the terrible 1992 crash, resulting from a failed part, of an El-Al plane into an Amsterdam apartment complex. All 4 crew and an estimated 70 Amsterdam residents were killed. The risks are real for U.S. citizens traveling to embargoed countries, or making up part of United Nations delegations.”