[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 8, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H11911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SAFETY IN OUR SKIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Mascara] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MASCARA. Mr. Speaker, as a new Member of Congress I sought a seat 
on the important Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and was 
fortunate to be appointed to the committee in July by my Democratic 
colleagues. I pursued the committee because I believed that a strong 
transportation system is the first step to a positive and sound 
economic growth. In fact, many studies around the world have shown a 
strong correlation between infrastructure and economic development and 
sustained economic growth.
  I was on the board of county commissioners in Washington County, 
Pennsylvania, and was a proud participant of the Southwestern 
Pennsylvania Regional Planning Commission, which played an integral 
role in developing seriously needed infrastructure projects in 
southwestern Pennsylvania. I am working with my colleagues on the 
committee, including the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster], the 
chairman, to promote vital transportation projects in my State, 
including the Mon-Fayette Expressway and other such programs around the 
country.

  But, Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the House on a matter which 
is of extreme importance to thousands of Americans who fly in this 
country everyday, safety in our skies. Safety is and should be the No. 
1 concern of all who oversee the management of our Nation's air 
transportation services, the Federal Aviation Administration; namely, 
the FAA.
  Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the air traffic control 
tower at Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, which is in the 20th 
Congressional District. What at first was a tremendous opportunity to 
see the activities at such a busy FAA site and to meet the dedicated 
people who man the tower soon turned into an eye-opening experience. A 
very scary experience.
  I was struck first by the age of some of the equipment, certainly not 
state-of-the-art by any stretch of the imagination. Although the 
airport is a new facility, with close to $900 million in investment, 
some of the equipment in the tower is from the old Pittsburgh tower.
  We have all heard recently of the problems experienced at several air 
traffic control towers around the country, such as power failures, 
equipment breakdowns, and computer outages. Unfortunately, while I was 
in the Pittsburgh tower observing the radar room, the system 
experienced a brief but serious power outage. The back-up system kicked 
in, but for several seconds the controllers lost visual contact on 
their monitors and scrambled to establish verbal contact with each 
plane in the sky to try to determine their altitude and their speed.
   Mr. Speaker, while power problems are not new to air traffic 
controllers around the country, the Pittsburgh tower has experienced 
roughly six power interruptions of various lengths over the last few 
months. Unfortunately, I am told this is not an isolated problem.
  I have sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pena requesting 
that Pittsburgh receive funding to install a UPS system, an 
uninterrupted power supply system, which would eliminate any visual 
suspension of radar. I will also work with my colleagues on the 
Transportation Committee, Mr. Speaker, to remedy other problems at air 
towers around the country. Remember, a problem at Los Angeles causes a 
problem in Chicago, which, in turn, forces backlogs in New York and 
Pittsburgh.
  Though the system is in a partial fix mode for some of the problems 
experienced by the FAA system, we need a long-term solution to the 
problem. We know there is a problem with some major radar systems in 
this country and they still use, remember, vacuum tubes to keep their 
screens operating. Some towers actually are using new ground radar 
systems which have yet to be authorized, even after several years of 
testing and millions of dollars in cost. These pieces of equipment are 
used simply to detect fog on the ground.
  I am pleased that the FAA Administrator, David Hinson, has recently 
restated his commitment to providing modern equipment and computers to 
the busiest air traffic centers in the Nation. This is a step in the 
right direction. We need to continue those efforts which will lead to 
increased public confidence in our air traffic controller system.
  The FAA procurement system must be revamped and reformed. We must 
work together, Congress, the FAA, and the airline industry. We must all 
work together to solve these problems, both Republicans and Democrats, 
on a bipartisan basis. The money is there. A 10-percent surcharge is 
assessed on all tickets purchased by airline passengers and is 
dedicated to the aviation trust fund. Funds amounting to approximately 
$4 or $5 billion are available, and I urge the Congress to correct the 
errors associated with the radar in the air traffic control system.

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