[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 95 (Monday, July 15, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H4577-H4578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 URGING MEMBERS TO JOIN IN OPPOSITION TO H.R. 3479, LEGISLATION WHICH 
    EXPANDS O'HARE AIRPORT BUT EXCLUDES FUNDING FOR PEOTONE AIRPORT

  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, today is the first day we are in session in 
the week. Usually on the first day we deal with noncontroversial 
issues, something called the Suspension Calendar.
  It is my understanding we have almost 15 pieces of legislation before 
us today on what is normally a noncontroversial day. But I want to draw 
the attention of my colleagues to a very controversial piece of 
legislation that is on the Suspension Calendar, and I want to ask my 
colleagues to join me in opposition to this legislation, legislation 
which, frankly, breaks a bipartisan agreement back in my home State in 
Illinois.
  I am referring to H.R. 3479, legislation that is before us that we in 
the Chicago area know as the O'Hare bill, legislation that federally 
mandates construction of O'Hare and expansion of O'Hare. I want to ask 
my colleagues to join me today in opposition to this legislation.
  Let me explain why. I stand here in strong support of O'Hare. I stand 
in strong support of Midway. I also believe we need to build a third 
airport to serve the Chicago region. As we know, air travel is going to 
double over the coming decade, and O'Hare and Midway in the Chicago 
area are today at capacity. We need to rebuild and modernize O'Hare, 
but we also need to build a third airport in south suburban Peotone to 
serve the Chicago region.
  This past year, Governor Ryan and Mayor Daley entered into a historic 
agreement which provided for the reconfiguration and expansion of 
O'Hare, as well as development of Chicago's south suburban airport near 
Peotone, Illinois. My colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Lipinski), introduced legislation which originally would have codified 
this agreement into law, modernizing O'Hare, and pushing development of 
a south suburban airport.
  I had originally stood here and stated time after time that I wanted 
to support this legislation and that I was ready to cosponsor the bill 
if it truly reflected the integrity of the agreement between the 
Governor and the mayor.
  However, this legislation, H.R. 3479, which will be before us this 
afternoon, does not reflect the agreement between the Governor and the 
mayor. In fact, the Governor has indicated he does not support the bill 
today in its current form. That is why I think it is important to note 
that H.R. 3479 breaks the bipartisan agreement between Governor Ryan 
and Mayor Daley on

[[Page H4578]]

O'Hare. That is why I ask my colleagues to join me in opposition to 
this bill today.
  My hope is that the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
will go back and move legislation again, and bring it back to the 
floor, which truly reflects the bipartisan agreement which expands 
O'Hare as well as moves forward on construction of an airport at 
Peotone.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation, as I noticed, breaks the agreement 
between the mayor and the Governor. I would note that the legislation, 
H.R. 3479, has no language in it which reflects the agreement that the 
Governor and mayor agreed to, which moves forward with the construction 
of a third airport at Peotone.
  The legislation takes away the State of Illinois's rights and 
undercuts the authority of the State of Illinois to make its own 
decisions regarding air travel.
  H.R. 3479 completely ignores the needs of the south suburbs of 
Chicago, where 2.5 million people live within 45 minutes of the 
proposed airport at Peotone. Additionally, I would note that failure to 
develop Peotone would shortchange the entire Chicago region by 
forfeiting almost 250,000 new jobs.
  Unfortunately, H.R. 3479 does not pay any heed to the studies that 
have, since the 1980s, consistently shown that Chicago, the region, and 
our Nation will have aviation gridlock, and the best solution is a new 
airport, a third airport to serve the Chicago region. Both the Governor 
and mayor recognized these studies when they reached their agreement 
last year.
  I would note that the bill that will be before us today breaks the 
agreement between the mayor and the Governor and does not reflect the 
integrity of the agreement. Nevertheless, the bill imposes a Federal 
solution on a State problem and does not have the full support of the 
Illinois delegation nor the people of Illinois, who will be most 
impacted by the legislation.
  In fact, the three members of the Illinois delegation most affected 
by H.R. 3479, the gentlemen from Illinois, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Jackson, and 
myself, stand in opposition to this bill this afternoon.
  I support Chicago-O'Hare and believe it needs to be expanded and 
modernized to be a safer airport with more capacity, but expanding 
O'Hare is not enough. It will not solve the capacity problem or face it 
in the future. Even with the development of a south suburban airport, 
O'Hare can still expect a 40 percent increase in passenger load, so 
they are still going to increase their business.
  Air travel is expected to double in the next 15 years. Expanding 
O'Hare will take 12 to 15 years, and we know we cannot land airplanes 
while pouring concrete. The south suburban airport at Peotone could be 
expanding capacity in just 4 to 5 years as a complement to O'Hare 
expansion. However, this legislation will kill any development of a 
south suburban airport and keep Chicago aviation gridlocked for years 
to come.
  Mr. Speaker, we need a bipartisan solution. The mayor and the 
Governor came together with an agreement. The bill before us today, 
H.R. 3479, fails to honor that agreement; in fact, it breaks the 
agreement between the mayor and the Governor.
  I urge opposition to this bill and ask that my colleagues join me in 
voting ``no.''

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