[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 31 (Thursday, February 16, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E371-E372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  BAN SMOKING ON INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS

                                 ______


                         HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 16, 1995
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, today I have introduced the Airliner Cabin 
Air Quality Act of 1995, to prohibit smoking on international flights 
to and from the United States. Congress banned smoking on all domestic 
flights of 6 hours or less in 1990. However, smoking is still legal on 
U.S. carriers on international flights. Most foreign carriers serving 
the U.S. permit smoking as well.
  To protect flight attendants and passengers, I introduced similar 
legislation last year--H.R. 4495. The bill passed the House on October 
4, under Suspension of the Rules. The bill I introduce today is 
identical in intent to the one passed by the House last fall.
  Briefly, the bill requires the Department of Transportation to issue 
regulations requiring U.S. and foreign air carriers to prohibit smoking 
in passenger cabins and lavatories on flights between points in the 
United States and foreign points, that is, the last point of departure 
prior to landing in the U.S., and the first 
[[Page E372]] point of arrival when leaving the U.S. Additionally, the 
bill would prohibit smoking in the cockpits of U.S. airliners.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is extremely timely. International flights 
between the United States and Canada are already smoke-free. Three U.S. 
carriers, Delta, American and Northwest, offer nonsmoking flights on 
some international routes. Our Government is negotiating with others to 
arrange bilateral or multilateral smoking bans.
  The latest sign of progress came last month, when the Department of 
Transportation gave the green light to eight airlines--six U.S. 
carriers and two foreign--to discuss a mutual ban on smoking on 
transatlantic flights without fear of antitrust action being taken 
against them. Those airlines are American, Continental, Northwest, 
Trans World, and United Airlines, USAir, British Airways and KLM Royal 
Dutch Airlines.
  Finally, the nations belonging to the International Civil Aviation 
Organization [ICAO], which includes most countries, have agreed to end 
smoking on airlines by July 1996.
  With all these moves to ban smoking, why is my bill needed?
  Simply, because relief can not come too fast for flight attendants 
and passengers who without my bill will have to fly for another year 
and a half in those cabins where smoking is still permitted.
  Flight attendants assigned to long international smoking flights are 
forced to spend their working lives in smoke-filled galleys at the back 
of aircraft. At hearings the Subcommittee on Aviation held last year, 
flight attendant representatives detailed ailments which they and their 
colleagues incur in the small, enclosed, smoke-filled cabin 
environment. They described health problems ranging from eye, nose and 
throat irritation, headache, nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, 
shortness of breath, and heart palpitations to permanent disability and 
even death for the occupational hazards of their jobs in airplanes. 
Nonsmoking flight attendants are suffering and dying from diseases 
common to smokers--the penalty of an honest day's work.
  Equally unacceptable is the plight of children stuck in the smoking 
section with their parents. And businessmen who must be at their peak 
when they arrive at their destination, but stagger off, jet-lagged and 
debilitated by smoke-caused allergies and sensitivities. And pleasure 
travelers whose vacations are ruined by smoke-induced illnesses. And 
the millions of nonsmoking passengers who cannot really get away from 
the smoke, no matter where they sit in the airplane.
  This bill is also needed from a safety standpoint. At our hearing, 
flight attendant witnesses showed us photographs of cigarette butts all 
over the floor of the airplane. They testified to passengers falling 
asleep in their seats, dropping lighted cigarettes on the floor. More 
than one attendant has thrown coffee on a smoldering butt to escape the 
horror of an in-flight fire.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that airlines have decided to take 
dramatic action on their own. In banning smoking they have shown great 
courage, and I believe will be rewarded with increased passengers. And 
I commend the Department of Transportation for granting them antitrust 
immunity to discuss the issue. I believe these airlines, and others, 
would like to go farther than ban smoking on all routes and flights. 
They cannot, in some cases, for competitive reasons. Therefore it makes 
eminent sense to ban smoking on all flights, now, to protect the health 
of flight attendants and passengers alike.
  Another year and a half can make a lot of difference in the lives of 
many, many, people. I believe that airlines, as well as the vast 
majority of their employees and passengers, will welcome enactment of 
this bill.


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