[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H7502-H7503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1915
AIR SERVICE NEGOTIATIONS AIM TO INCREASE INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Cooksey). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 7, 1997, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Lipinski]
is recognized for 60 minutes.
Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois
[Mr. Shimkus].
Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues to urge the
administration to complete an agreement with Japan to liberalize air
service as soon as possible. As a new legislator, I am amazed at the
arcane and outdated restrictions on air services to and from Japan. The
restrictions agreed upon over 40 years ago severely limit the number of
flights between Chicago's O'Hare airport and Japan.
One might think that at the world's busiest airport, serving
approximately 118,000 passengers a day, a wide range of flights to
Japan would be available. Yet with 42 weekly flights, even smaller
urban airports in Detroit and Minneapolis offer more service than
O'Hare. In fact, recently a San Francisco-based firm was looking into
relocating to Chicago. However, because of the limited number of
flights to Japan, the decision was made not to relocate.
The effects of this restriction are felt not only in Chicago, but
throughout the rest of the State. According to a study recently
completed by Arthur Andersen, O'Hare misses out on tens of thousands of
passengers annually. Since 4 of Illinois' top 10 export markets are in
Asia, just one additional flight between Chicago and Japan would
generate up to $503 million annually in total economic impact.
A new agreement would unleash tremendous economic potential for the
Asia-Pacific region and enable the Midwest to capitalize on the fastest
growing economic market in the world. Again, Mr. Speaker, I urge the
administration to complete an agreement with Japan which would
liberalize air service and allow the Midwest to share in expanded
service to Asia.
Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for
participating in this special order. I know that his words are sincere,
and I think his words were potent.
Before I yield to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hastert], I would
like to make mention of the fact that the gentleman from Illinois [Mr.
Ewing], who is very much involved in aviation, who serves on the
Subcommittee on Aviation, unfortunately has not been able to join us
thus far this evening because he is tied up on other business. But in
the event that he does not join us by the time we finish our special
order tonight, I want everyone within the sound of my voice to know
that he, too, supports this and has been very much interested and
involved in this issue for a very long period of time.
I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.
Mr. HASTERT. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Chicago,
my colleague and good friend from the other side of the aisle, in
joining with this effort tonight. I think the message is strong and
clear, strong and clear to our negotiators that are going to Japan next
week and to those negotiators in Japan. It is time that we see eye to
eye. It is time that we start to let competition into the process. It
is time to let U.S. air carriers have the rights to carry passengers
beyond Tokyo. It is time to have the right of U.S. carriers to be able
to move from cities in the Midwest to other cities, such as Osaka.
Those decisions should be forthcoming. They should be made next week.
There are many, many people here in this Congress that are urging that
to happen.
Again I thank the gentleman from Chicago.
Mr. LIPINSKI. I thank the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hastert], a
leader from the Republican side of the aisle, for taking the 1-hour
special order and then joining in the 1-hour special order that I have
on this very important topic. It has been through his leadership here
in the House of Representatives that many of us have been very
fortunate to be able to achieve a number of legislative goals that we
[[Page H7503]]
have been interested in. With him aiding and assisting us in this
particular effort, I believe that we will also be successful.
I want to go out of my way, though, to thank the individuals who came
here tonight to speak in behalf of this issue: The gentleman from
Illinois [Mr. Poshard], the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Davis], the
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Blagojevich], the gentleman from Illinois
[Mr. Weller], the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. LaHood], the gentleman
from Illinois [Mr. Shimkus], the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Sessions],
who joined us, and, of course, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr.
Hastert].
Mr. Speaker, before I conclude this special order, there are a few
comments that I would like to make in regard to this subject. In recent
editorials, both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times called
for the United States to adopt a phased-in approach to open skies if
Japan continues to resist complete deregulation of air service between
our two nations. The Sun-Times wrote, ``Negotiations should not be
allowed to collapse into an all-or-nothing conclusion.'' The Tribune
said, ``The choice doesn't have to be between immediate open skies or
the status quo. The United States and Japan can allow more flights and
new alliances that will promote business and growth.''
Our largest aviation trading partner is Canada. Until 1995, the air
transport market was extremely restricted. Like Japan, Canada feared
open skies. What United States and Canadian negotiators forged was not
an open skies agreement. It was something less. For example, beyond
rights were and remain limited. The result, however, has been
extraordinary. In the first year of the agreement, an added $2 billion
was pumped into the United States and Canadian economies.
O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, the Midwest's primary
aviation hub, is the world's busiest, but it has been mentioned several
times earlier tonight that it ranks only 30th in the world for
international passenger travel. This is a direct result of the
restrictions of the 1952 bilateral agreement.
The gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Blagojevich] mentioned that back in
1952, the Baltimore Orioles did not exist. They were still the St.
Louis Browns. The Oakland A's did not exist, either. They were the
Philadelphia A's. But if we go back to that period of time, to show you
that the expansion that has taken place in so many areas has not
occurred in the aviation industry in regards to our relationship with
Japan, there were eight teams in the National League, eight teams in
the American League, and look at how many teams we have today.
The same thing could be talked about in regards to the National
Football League, the great expansion since 1952; the National
Basketball Association; the National Hockey League. Everything has
expanded. More people are involved, more businesses created. Yet our
relationship with the Japanese in regards to aviation has been stymied
because of the Japanese refusal to liberalize the agreements that were
agreed to back in 1952, before rock and roll, as the gentleman from
Illinois [Mr. Blagojevich] mentioned here earlier.
The point I want to make is that we must get the relationship between
the United States and Japan into the 21st century. The Japanese need
it, we need it in this country, and for far too long we in the Midwest,
the East, and the South have been deprived of the opportunity to expand
our business dealings, our tourism with Japan.
We have a historic opportunity this month to explode the business we
can do with Japan. All we have to do is have our negotiators be willing
to take something less than open skies. Take the deal that I outlined
the first time I spoke. It will be beneficial to every carrier in this
country. It will be beneficial to every business in this country. And
most importantly, it will be beneficial to every citizen of this
Nation.
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