[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arcane and outdated restrictions on air services to and from Japan.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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