[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 153 (Tuesday, October 28, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2150-E2151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IN OPPOSITION TO THE FAA CONFERENCE REPORT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JOE BACA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to recommit 
this privatization plan back to Conference Committee.
  Privatization simply doesn't make sense. It compromises the safety of 
the American public and it is simply bad policy.
  Studies have shown that it has no operational or economic advantages 
and that it can even lead to more accidents.
  How does this make Americans safer?
  In a post September 11th world, we must make safety a priority.
  Air travel has declined over the past two years because people do not 
feel safe. We must not make this situation worse!
  In Canada, privatization has lead to an accident rate that is twice 
the rate here in the United States. And their air travel system is only 
7% the size of ours!
  I remember in 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired the federal air 
traffic controllers for striking. The President said that they were 
violating Title V and that air traffic controllers must not have the 
right to strike because of public safety concerns. Now, under 
privatization, Title V will no longer be applicable. The Republicans 
cannot have it both ways. Do they want to deny private employees the 
right to strike and collectively bargain, or do they want to keep the 
current system in place to ensure America's safety?
  So I ask again, why are we doing this?
  Is it cheaper? The answer is no.
  Privatization increases costs.
  The British Government had to pay $131 million to rescue its 
privatized system. $131 million! That is nearly double the price at 
which they sold it.
  Is this good policy? The answer is no.
  Privatization has failed miserably in other countries.
  According to recent reports, the U.S. system is 74 percent more 
efficient and 79 percent more productive than the privatized European 
system.
  The U.S. air traffic control system is the safest and most 
sophisticated in the world. So why do we want to change it?
  It handles over half of the world's air traffic and cargo.
  Approximately 20,000 hard-working men and women of the FAA ensure the 
safety of more than one million passengers each day. And we should 
trust them to continue to do their jobs.
  These are the same federal air traffic controllers that landed nearly 
700 planes on September 11th and completely cleared the air space in 
two hours.

[[Page E2151]]

  When the FAA needed to respond because of an emergency, they were 
able to do so quickly and efficiently.
  Why do we want to privatize these jobs and risk putting anyone out of 
work right now?
  Unemployment is well over 6% right now. For Hispanics it is nearly 9% 
and for African Americans it is nearly 11%. We must not pass 
legislation that will put more people out of work and simply hurt more 
working families.
  This is a system that is not broke--so why does it need to be fixed?
  The safety and security of the American people should not be the 
responsibility of the lowest bidder.
  It is a core responsibility of our Government.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to recommit this conference report 
and any further efforts to privatize our air traffic control system.

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