[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 136 (Thursday, October 11, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S10546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CARNAHAN AMENDMENT NO. 1855

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio is recognized for 10 
minutes.
  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about fiscal 
responsibility. Before I begin, I take a moment to discuss the Carnahan 
amendment to the aviation security bill. First, I congratulate Senator 
McCain and Senator Hollings for the passage of the airport security 
bill. The passage of that bill is long overdue. It is needed to secure 
our airports and aviation and to build confidence in the American 
public.
  One of the things that has gone unmentioned is most economists agree 
one of the best things we can do to get the economy off the ground is 
to get our airlines into the air.
  My constituents in Ohio have a significant stake in this bill because 
Ohio has a significant aviation presence. In fact, with no disrespect 
to my good friends from North Carolina, Ohio is the birth place of 
aviation since the Wright brothers hailed from Dayton and honed their 
skills in Ohio. They just happened to test out the ``flyer'' at Kitty 
Hawk.
  Today, a number of airlines have hubs in Ohio: Continental in 
Cleveland, Delta in Cincinnati, America West has a big presence in 
Columbus.
  Thousands of men and women working in the airline industry are 
hurting. I greatly appreciate the effort of my colleague from Missouri 
to aid them. There is no question the aviation sector has suffered 
particularly hard from this economic downturn and was hit right in the 
eye with the terrorist attack on September 11. However, as my 
colleagues well know, there are tens of thousands around the country 
who have lost their jobs in the past few months. There are tens of 
thousands more who are facing tough times, particularly in 
manufacturing States such as Ohio. There are thousands of Ohioans who 
lost their jobs in the steel mills, in the polymer industry, and in the 
auto plants. According to the most recent statistics from the Ohio 
Department of Jobs and Family Services, 250,000 Ohioans today are 
unemployed. This figure is before September 11. Now, undoubtedly that 
number is larger. The vast majority of these workers would not benefit 
from the provisions of the Carnahan amendment.
  It is very important that whatever assistance Congress renders to the 
workers of this Nation, it is not just restricted to a set of workers.
  I would have offered an amendment to the airport security bill, but I 
felt it would delay the bill and I also felt it would be more properly 
a part of the economic stimulus package. I intend to offer an amendment 
to that package when it comes before the Senate. I hope that happens 
quite soon.

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