[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 50 (Thursday, April 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H3585-H3586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               INTRODUCTION OF THE CHILD PILOT SAFETY ACT

  (Mr. DUNCAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation 
of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I am introducing 
legislation today, along with the ranking Democrat, the gentleman from 
Illinois [Mr. Lipinski], and others that addresses the issue of child 
pilots.
  One week ago today, 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff, her father and flight 
instructor were killed when attempting to set an age record that would 
have made Jessica the youngest pilot to fly across the United States. 
Mr. Speaker, I encourage parents to spend time with their children, 
teach them new things, and expose them to new ideas and challenges. 
Unfortunately, though, some

[[Page H3586]]

parents become obsessed with pushing their children up the ladder of 
success or notoriety at too early an age, and often common sense is 
displaced by greed and recklessness.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation will impose an age limit on any person 
attempting to set a record with an aircraft. This legislation will stop 
the type of ridiculous publicity stunts that needlessly killed Jessica 
last week. Had she been successful, next year we would have seen a 6-
year-old or a 5-year-old trying to break this record. Twenty-three 
similar accidents have happened in the last few years involving child 
pilots.
  This legislation will not result in any cumbersome regulations, and I 
encourage my colleagues to cosponsor this bipartisan legislation.

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