[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 121 (Thursday, September 16, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10964-S10965]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2000

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will now 
resume consideration of H.R. 2084 which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2084) making appropriations for the Department 
     of Transportation and related agencies for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2000, and for other purposes.

  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I want to announce to the Senate--a lot of 
Senators probably kept up with it over the evening's time--we have made 
considerable progress on the Transportation appropriations bill, and we 
are at that point in time--Senator Lautenberg and I and our staffs have 
been conferring with the majority leader and Democratic leader--if 
there is anyone who has an amendment they want to offer, they ought to 
come down and offer it so we can move on. We are nearly to the point--
not quite--where we would like to go to third reading of the bill. So 
this should serve as a friendly notice that if you have an amendment, 
come down and pursue it or call us and let us know if you are going to 
do something else with it later.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative assistant proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 1678

   (Purpose: To increase penalties for involuntarily bumping airline 
                              passengers)

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I have an amendment that I send to the 
desk and ask unanimous consent that it be considered in order.
  Mr. SHELBY. No objection.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from New Jersey [Mr. Lautenberg] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 1678.

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment 
be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       At the appropriate place in the bill, insert:
       Sec.   . It is the sense of the Senate that the Secretary 
     should expeditiously amend Title 14, Chapter II, Part 250, 
     Code of Federal Regulations, so as to double the applicable 
     penalties for involuntary denied boarding and allow those 
     passengers that are involuntarily denied boarding the option 
     of obtaining a prompt cash refund for the full value of their 
     airline ticket.

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I offer today a sense-of-the-Senate 
amendment on an issue that, unfortunately, is becoming more of a 
problem for American travelers; that is, the experience of passengers 
with paid reservations being bumped from overbooked plane flights.
  Our skies are more crowded than they have ever been. People need to 
move quickly between different cities to do business and also for a 
wide variety of personal reasons. As this need has grown, people who 
fly find themselves increasingly at the mercy of casual airline booking 
practices. In such cases, airlines do not treat people as they should. 
These are passengers with paid reservations. They have a right to 
expect a seat on the flight they book, but too often they discover that 
having a ticket does not mean much when they get to the gate.
  Nothing ruins a business trip, a vacation, or other trip more 
thoroughly than being bumped from a flight. It is sometimes impossible 
to make up for the lost hours and the lost opportunity, let's say, to 
attend the funeral of a friend or relative. That opportunity is never 
again presented. There is the frustration of rearranging longstanding 
business or personal plans or rearranging the connection that one takes 
from a city a couple hundred miles away from a major hub, and then 
missing a flight to Europe or to the Far East.
  I understand the airlines have a problem. I respect that they would 
like to find a solution to the problem. They should not have to fly 
with empty seats without an opportunity to cover their costs. Perhaps a 
deposit on a flight reservation, or something of that nature, ought to 
be done. But it sure ought not to be simply at the whim of a gate 
attendant to decide who is going to fly and who is not.
  On a personal note, I had that experience. I had paid for the 
tickets. I had a reservation number--with two tickets. I got to the 
airport, and they said: The flight is full. There was about 15 minutes 
left before departure, and they said: Well, sorry, just too many people 
showed up.
  What happened is they oversold the flight. The airlines should not be 
able to act as an elitist business. They should have to treat their 
customers with respect. They are the only legitimate business I know of 
that deliberately sells a product that they know they can't deliver.
  When people attend a sporting event or a concert or the theater, they 
know when they get there that they are going to have the seat for which 
they paid. They deserve the same assurance when they fly.
  This sense-of-the-Senate amendment should encourage the airlines to 
act more responsibly, by allowing travelers who are bumped from a 
flight to receive greater amounts of compensation for the airline's 
casual action. The amendment calls for the applicable penalties to be 
doubled from those under current regulation.
  The goal is to hold the airlines accountable when they put profits 
ahead of their friendliness and respect for their customer.
  People who travel for business or personal reasons should not miss 
out on an event they planned because the airlines decided to treat them 
like baggage and said: Well, we can't take all this baggage.
  So I plan to continue to fight to ensure that airlines are 
accountable to the American public.
  I want to acquaint my colleagues with current regulations pertaining 
to passengers that are bumped involuntarily.
  Currently on the books, an airline must first request passengers with 
paid reservations to voluntarily give up their seats. We know that.
  If a passenger is involuntarily bumped and delayed less than an hour, 
the passenger is not entitled to any compensation--if you can make the 
trip within an hour from the scheduled time of departure.
  Delays between 1 and 2 hours, the passenger can receive 100 percent 
of the cost of the remaining ticket to the destination but not more 
than $200; delayed more than 2 hours, the passenger

[[Page S10965]]

can receive 200 percent of the cost of the remaining ticket but not 
more than $400.
  Other details: Instead of cash, the airline can offer free or reduced 
air transportation at equal or greater value than the amount of the 
cash compensation.
  So what we are doing is we are saying: A, these rules are not 
adequately enforced; B, the public is ignorant of what kind of redress 
they have if they get bumped off a flight and the airlines are not 
adequately informing them of what they are entitled to; and C, the 
airlines must act more responsibly, toward the passenger and be more 
concerned about what is happening with the passenger.
  The airlines owe this to the public. They use our national resources. 
They use the nation's airspace. They use the FAA system. They use our 
taxpayer investments in airports. They are using public money all over 
the place. They ought to be more cognizant of what it is the flying 
public should have in return.
  With that, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Roberts). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, is the pending business the Lautenberg 
amendment that was just offered?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. SHELBY. We have examined it, and we have no problem with it.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I thank the manager.
  Mr. SHELBY. I urge adoption of the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 1678) was agreed to.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. SHELBY. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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