[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 124 (Friday, September 21, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H5922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2340
                ASSISTING AIRLINES AND AIRLINE EMPLOYEES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Platts). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, many times the legislative 
process proceeds as the American people watch, and there is sometimes 
much confusion. There is no obligation for any of us to take the added 
time that this House sometimes does not allow to be able to discuss a 
very important subject.
  Because I come from an area that is heavily impacted, as I would 
imagine most of my colleagues, by the legislation that we have just 
passed, I believe it is important to discuss extensively in the brief 
time that I have, or at least broadly, the legislation that dealt with 
the Air Transportation System Stabilization Act that was debated today.
  For the first time it appeared, since the heinous acts of September 
11, 2001, that many Americans might say they were back to business as 
usual. There was a divided debate, I consider it a healthy debate, on 
the approach that we should take for something that all of us agreed 
with, that is, to provide assistance to the airline industry pursuant 
to the Federal actions that were taken after the September 11, 2001, 
heinous terrorist actions.
  We, the United States Government, grounded the airlines of America. 
Certainly we have the responsibility to compensate them for Federal 
actions that resulted in large losses of revenue. At the same time, let 
me say to the American people that that grounding also took into 
account the safety of Americans, to be able to protect them and to turn 
to the tragedies that occurred and to prepare ourselves for what should 
happen next.
  I have no quarrel with the fact that we acted, and I certainly 
realize that we impacted those airlines as we did so. So this Air 
Transportation System Stabilization Act has merit from the perspective 
of giving direct aid to the airlines based upon accounted-for losses 
during that time.
  But my question becomes, because no legislation is perfect, why there 
is such a disparate representation of those losses? The Democratic 
staff of the Joint Economic Council says that during that time frame, 
the airports or airlines lost $360 million to $1 billion. The aid that 
we have given them, direct aid, is $5 billion. I would hope that helps 
to restore them, but I also hope that that may increase their 
generosity.
  Why do I say that? Because the difficulty I have with the legislation 
today is that the broad concept of employees who may be laid off now or 
perspectively, or for those employees who really want to have jobs, as 
opposed to unemployment insurance, what guarantee do we have that this 
airline industry will be sensitive, that they will pull their 
bootstraps, tighten their belt and work hard to reinvest in their 
airlines and build the airlines and build employment?
  Loan guarantees in this legislation were $10 billion. I would hope 
that as those particular support systems are in place, that we will 
find the airlines being able to sufficiently rebuild, that the laid off 
or furloughed employees will return.
  There are hundreds of letters that I received, probably many from 
Continental Airline employees, all believing that this package was 
going to save their jobs. I pray to God that it will, because I want 
them to work and to have the ability to have a livelihood. But I am 
sure that many of them are not aware that this package does not carry 
with it any protections for workers.
  That is why I supported the Hastings amendment that provided 
unemployment benefits, extended them from 26 to 78 weeks, a year-and-a-
half, provided 26 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits for workers 
who would otherwise not qualify, possibly the skycaps or contract 
workers who are now suffering. What about our cab drivers, who cannot 
even afford to pay their daily rental fee? This Hastings amendment also 
extended job training benefits from 26 to 78 weeks so that we could 
retrain individuals and also provided them with health care.
  In addition, this bill could have been an omnibus bill and included 
the federalization of security. It did not. To my traveling public, I 
say to you, get on the airlines. But I also say that we have the 
responsibility to work over a period of time to direct our attention 
towards security.
  Then we also have the opportunity and the responsibility to ensure 
that we do not act in fear, we do not act recklessly; that we provide 
an overall bill that does two things, to keep the airlines strong, and, 
as well, keep the working people of America strong.
  I would hope that this coming week we will make good on the promise 
of the gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert) and as well our 
leader, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt). We will pass real 
worker assistance so the hundreds who have written me will have written 
me not only to support the airline industry, but as well to support the 
working people of America. I believe that this is crucial. I believe 
that we must do that, and that is the reason that I made the votes that 
I did, not voting for the martial law, wanting to extend the time of 
debate, but supporting the legislation and as well the motion to 
recommit to protect the American workers.

                          ____________________