[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 121 (Thursday, September 16, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10970-S10971]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT--
                               Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Allard). The Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, we have a sense-of-the-Senate 
resolution by the Senator from Louisiana. She asked for a study, which 
in this place is a relatively harmless gesture. But what I hear in 
response is that suddenly the Senate wants to be an expert on airlines. 
No. I don't see it that way. What I see is that we are experts on 
protecting the public. That is our responsibility. That is why we are 
sent here--to take care of the public and not to take care of the 
airlines ahead of the public.
  The airlines are wonderful companies. But they are not beyond 
criticism. They have what amounts to a very uneven playing field. They 
get their slots. The facilities are paid for by the airline passengers, 
not the airlines. The airlines have unlimited use of our nation's 
airspace. They get preferential treatment. They have an air traffic 
control system paid for by the taxpayers in this country.
  There is an objection that I hear to this study that is proposed by 
the Senator from Louisiana.
  When we get discount tickets, that is not a freebie. It is a 
marketing calculation. The airlines say you can buy a discount ticket, 
and we are going to make it up elsewhere, and make it up elsewhere they 
do. No one is objecting to that. That is their marketing scheme.
  I have some objection to the fact that in one case flying down from 
the New York area costs, at a government rate, $165, and if you fly out 
of another airport right nearby it is $38. Why? Because one airline has 
a stranglehold on the traffic at the costlier airport.
  I am going to relinquish the floor momentarily.
  I want it abundantly clear that this Senator makes no apology for 
defending the public first before defending the airlines. I hope the 
public will take note of this debate.
  I yield the floor.
  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from 
Louisiana for working with me. I think we have worked out language that 
I can live with and which I think basically does what she wants, which 
is gather information, and then as a policy-making arm of government we 
could choose how to deal with it and what to do with it.
  I will not object to the modification of her amendment. I think it 
deals with that problem.
  I say to the Senator from New Jersey that it is a stormy Thursday and 
we all want to finish the bill. But my objection is for preserving 
private property with the sanctity of contracts and free enterprise. If 
the government could run airlines better we all would be trying to 
rebuild our airlines based on the Soviet model. It didn't quite work 
out that way. We had an empirical test in the world, and our approach 
won.
  I am not trying to defend any interest here other than private 
property and contracting, and simply noting that for some reason on 
this stormy day all of a sudden everybody wants to run the airlines.
  I want to especially thank the Senator from Louisiana. She has been 
very kind to me. Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I have a few observations. My friend, the 
distinguished Senator from Texas, makes a lot of sense a lot of times. 
I agree with him most of the time. I especially agree with him on this. 
We certainly don't want the Government running the airlines. We want 
the airlines to be as responsive as they can be to the public, which is 
their customer. That is all of us. We have benefited.
  As the Senator from Louisiana said in her remarks, we have benefited 
immensely from the deregulation of the airlines. We want to keep it 
that way. I want to deregulate just about everything I can think of, or 
see, or feel, because I think there is a benefit.
  The Senator from Texas is absolutely right. There is something in 
private enterprise and a contract, and we should respect that. We have 
to respect that. But I hope the airlines are getting the message that 
we are getting from the public that there is a lot of unrest out there. 
Maybe it is lack of communication with the public. But if I buy a 
ticket and if it is a special ticket, I know it is a special ticket. 
That is a contract. I know that if I don't use it, I guess I will lose 
it. I certainly can't skip around on it. Maybe that is a communications 
problem with whoever is purchasing it. But whatever we do, let's not 
ever have the Government running any business, especially the airlines.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate the willingness 
of the Senator from Texas to work out the objection but to maintain a 
strong amendment in addressing the sense of the Senate to look into 
those issues because if there is a way this can be worked out that 
benefits the airlines and the passengers, I think we most certainly 
should be about doing that.
  I thank the Senator from New Jersey for his comments because, while 
we all want to see the deregulation work, I think we can all agree it 
is not perfect and that we could make some good suggestions as to how 
to improve it to keep the private contracts between the airlines and to 
honor the sanctity of those private contracts and private arrangements. 
This is a very public business, as is all business. There is a private 
side and there is a public side. That is why we have a public sector 
that does the job we do and a private sector that does the job they do. 
When we work together, the public is served in the best way. That is 
all this amendment attempts to do.
  I thank the Senator from Alabama, our distinguished leader on this 
issue, for helping work this out.


                     Amendment No. 1679, as Modifed

  I submit a modified amendment to the desk. I don't think it will be 
necessary for the yeas and nays.

[[Page S10971]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment will be so modifed.
  The amendment (No. 1679), as modified, is as follows:
       On page 65, line 22, before the period at the end of the 
     line, insert the following ``: Provided, That it is the sense 
     of the Senate funds made available under this heading shall 
     be used for the submission to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress by the Inspector General, a report on the extent to 
     which air carriers and foreign carriers deny travel to 
     airline consumers with non-refundable tickets from one 
     carrier to another.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment, 
as modified.
       The amendment (No. 1679), as modified, was agreed to.
       Mr. SHELBY. 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.

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