[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 49 (Tuesday, April 28, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E680-E681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         INTRODUCTING THE AVIATION BILATERAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM O. LIPINSKI

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 28, 1998

  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a piece of 
legislation entitled the Aviation Bilateral Accountability Act. The 
Aviation Bilateral Accountability Act is a bill that will require 
Congressional approval of all U.S. aviation bilateral agreements.

[[Page E681]]

  International aviation is governed by a series of bilateral civil 
aviation agreements between countries. Unlike other sectors of the 
economy that tend to be handled through multilateral agreements, such 
as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, issues regarding 
international aviation are resolved through government-to-government 
negotiations. For example, if a U.S. air carrier wants to fly into and 
out of another country, the American government must first negotiate 
with the government of that country to determine the terms under which 
the carriers from both countries will operate. Terms of bilateral civil 
aviation agreements include, among other things, route assignments, 
capacity and frequency limitations, carrier designations, and pricing 
controls.
  U.S. bilateral aviation agreements are executive agreements. They are 
negotiated and signed by representatives from the Department of State 
and the Department of Transportation. Unfortunately, Congress does not 
play any official role in the approval of bilateral aviation 
agreements.
  As the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Aviation, I 
strongly believe that Congress deserves to play a role in approving 
bilateral aviation agreements. As Members of Congress, we represent the 
businessperson, the leisure traveler, the consumer--the flying public 
in general. We should have the right to make sure that bilateral 
aviation agreements are negotiated to give U.S. consumers the most 
access to international aviation markets at the best price.
  For this reason, I introduced the Aviation Bilateral Accountability 
Act, a bill to require Congressional approval of all U.S. aviation 
bilateral agreements. International aviation, which is based on 
bilateral aviation agreements, has a tremendous impact on the U.S. 
economy and U.S. citizens. Congress should not be excluded from 
agreements of such magnitude. As elected Representatives of the people, 
we owe it to the American consumer to look out for his or her best 
interests. My legislation will help Members of Congress better 
represent the flying public by giving Congress an integral role in the 
approval of U.S. bilateral aviation agreements.
  The Aviation Bilateral Accountability Act will require implementing 
legislation for each U.S. bilateral aviation agreement, similar to the 
legislation required for trade agreements such as NAFTA. Under the 
bill, each bilateral agreement would be presented to Congress by the 
Secretaries involved in the negotiations. An approval resolution would 
then be introduced and referred for a limited number of days to the 
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate 
Commerce Committee. After Committee review, a straight up-or-down vote 
would then be required in both chambers. Finally, once the approval 
resolution passes both the House and the Senate, and is signed into 
law, then the bilateral aviation agreement would be official.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to thank the gentleman from 
Oregon, Representative Peter DeFazio, for joining me as an original co-
sponsor of this important legislation. In addition, I urge all my 
colleagues to co-sponsor the Aviation Bilateral Accountability Act.

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