[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 134 (Wednesday, October 6, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S12097]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     GORTON-ROCKEFELLER AMENDMENT TO S. 82, THE AIR TRANSPORTATION 
                            IMPROVEMENT ACT

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I appreciate that the Senate has finally 
acted on S. 82 to reauthorize the FAA and to deal with some of our 
Nation's air transportation issues.
  In particular, I am pleased that the amendment offered by the Senator 
from Washington and the Senator from West Virginia was adopted to allow 
exemptions to the current perimeter rule at Ronald Reagan Washington 
National Airport. I recognize that this is a serious matter affecting a 
number of cities and high-profile airports, and I commend my colleagues 
who worked long and hard to develop this amendment.
  While I would have preferred that the final bill include the 48 
exemptions contained in S. 82 as it was reported by the Commerce 
Committee, I recognize that reducing this number to 24 reflects a 
reasonable compromise. I believe the amendment proposed by Senators 
Gorton and Rockefeller achieves the central objective, which was to 
maintain the current level of safety while improving air service for 
the flying public--which is now almost everyone at one time or another. 
The compromise also assiduously avoids adversely affecting the quality 
of life for those living within the perimeter.
  Today, my constituents in Utah and in other western communities must 
double or even triple connect to fly into Washington, DC. The Gorton/
Rockefeller amendment goes a long way to addressing this inconvenient 
and time-consuming process and to ensuring that passengers in Utah and 
the Intermountain West have expanded options.
  I believe that use of this limited exemption should be to improve 
access throughout the west and not limit the benefits to cities which 
already enjoy a number of options.
  Therefore, when considering applications for these slots, I think it 
is important for the U.S. Department of Transportation to consider 
carefully these factors and award opportunities to western hubs, such 
as the one in Salt Lake City, which connects the largest number of 
cities to the national transportation network. I want U.S. DOT 
officials to know that I will be carefully monitoring the 
implementation of the perimeter slot exemption.
  I look forward to working with Transportation Department officials as 
well as my colleagues in the Senate to ensure that the traveling public 
has the greatest number of options available to them. I thank the 
chair.

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