[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 76 (Tuesday, June 11, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H3421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL PRIVATIZATION

  (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, the U.S. air traffic control system 
is the largest and most complex in the world, and it is the safest. 
President Bush issued an executive order last week stripping aircraft 
traffic control of its inherently governmental designation. This is the 
first step in his plan to privatize our air traffic control system.
  Privatization has failed in other countries. Canada's air traffic 
controllers face 6-day work weeks, mandatory overtime and a contract 
that expired in March. Air traffic controllers on September 11 landed 
5,000 planes in the span of 2 hours without an operational error. Yet 
President Bush wants to privatize the air traffic control system. He 
wants to privatize Social Security; that will not work. He wants to 
privatize Medicare; that will not work. Now he wants to privatize our 
air traffic control system, and that will not work.
  Air traffic controllers should remain under the direct supervision of 
the FAA, which is doing a good job to maintain the necessary levels of 
training, of personnel, and of common experience.

                          ____________________