[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 22 (Monday, February 27, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1490-S1492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CELL PHONE USE ON PLANES
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I thank the leadership for allowing me
these few minutes. There are a number of grave issues facing our
country. The Senator from Virginia has talked about the management of
ports. The governors from across America are meeting here to talk about
National Guard
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strength and about the rising costs of Medicare. We are all interested
in those issues, but this issue I rise to speak about is one that
threatens our national unity as much as any of those graver issues.
Let me put it this way: Where is Dave Barry when we really need him?
As he would say, what I am about to say to you, I am not making up.
Apparently someone has discovered that it may not be true, as is now
suggested at the beginning of each airline flight, that using our
cellular phones will cause our planes to plunge directly to the Earth.
As a result, airlines and cell phone companies, as the presiding
officer, who is chairman of the relevant committee, well knows, are
encouraging the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal
Aviation Administration to allow the approximately 2 million Americans
who fly each day to talk on their cell phones while they are traveling.
There are many issues facing our country, but as I say, I can't think
of one that threatens our national unity quite so much as this proposal
to turn airplanes into cacophonous, steel-sheathed missiles of Babel
rocketing through the skies.
Imagine squeezing into your 17-inch middle seat between an oversized
gentleman shouting into his Blackberry and an undersized teenager
yapping into her cell phone, while in front of you a foreign traveler
orders dinner and across the aisle a saleswoman lectures her child--all
of them raising their voices to be heard. It would be 5 hours of
perfect hell from Dulles to Los Angeles--a rising, deafening chorus of
``Can you hear me now?'' In multiple languages.
I can promise you that this noisy symphony will cost the airlines
money. To begin with, passengers will demand expensive headphones to
drown out the noise. These headphones will be twice as expensive to
replace when passengers begin wrapping them around the throats of the
yapper in the next seat. Not to mention the added cost of the medical
bills that will be the result of fistfights or the cost of emergency
landings to remove brawling passengers. To prevent these airplane
fistfights, the airlines would need to hire three times as many air
marshals. And I cannot imagine how many they would have to hire for a
long flight to Alaska.
Stop and think for a moment about what we hear now in airport lobbies
from those who wander aimlessly or stand next to us yelling every
imaginable personal detail into a microphone dangling from one ear. We
hear them babbling about last night's love life, rearranging next
week's schedule, or lamenting their children's behavior. We hear them
barking orders to an assistant, dictating messages, or engaging in
negotiations. All of this is done, of course, in a loud, unnatural cell
phone voice and completely oblivious to those of us nearby who are
being forced to learn more about this person than we would ever want to
know. An airplane is a close environment, and we are assigned to one
seat, strapped in, and limited in our choice of seatmates. We are also
limited in the ability to walk around or walk away.
I have just one cell phone to turn off for my country, but I will
assure you that there are many other airline travelers who will gladly
make the same sacrifice. I offer as evidence the statement of a senior
member of the House Transportation Committee and former chairman of the
Aviation Subcommittee, Mr. Duncan of Tennessee, which he made on July
14 of last year; the thoughtful comment by Court Television anchor Fred
Graham from USA Today, November 14, 2002; and another USA Today
article, this one by Craig Wilson on June 1, 2000.
I ask unanimous consent that each of these articles be printed in the
Record at the end of my remarks.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit No. 1)
Exhibit 1
[From USA Today, November 14, 2002]
Keep Skies Cellphone-Free
(By Fred Graham)
As a person who makes his living in New York, I am
accustomed to an occasional hassle. But as a person who
commutes weekly on the airlines from Washington to my job in
New York, I can see that many more hassles may be on the way.
The reason is that the airlines' longtime ban on cellphone
chatter while aloft may be lifted. Thus air passengers could
be confronted with the nightmare of all cellphone annoyances:
being assigned a seat next to a traveler who shouts into a
cell phone for the duration of the trip.
Warning flags surfaced recently when USA TODAY reported
that two electronics companies--AirCell and a unit of
Verizon--are racing to develop technology that will eliminate
the interference problems that led to the ban on cellphone
use during flights. The troubling aspect of the article is
that the statements attributed to airline and Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) officials seemed to assume
that if the technological problems could be solved, that
would settle the matter. The bottom line: The electronics
companies would make huge profits, and cell phone users would
be accommodated in the air. There was no mention of the
impact that this could have on the comfort and civility of
traveling by air.
Airline passengers have heretofore been spared cellular
unpleasantries because government regulators decreed that
cellphone transmissions might interfere with airplane
electronics or with cellular frequencies on the ground. This
made air travel a blissful refuge from the cellphone
indignities that have spoiled many a trip on a train or bus.
Anyone who has used mass ground transportation in recent
years has witnessed it: passengers squirming in discomfort as
a nearby cell phone user prattled on about matters that no
stranger would want to hear.
No way to escape chatty seatmates.
The reality is that air travel is unique in ways that would
make cell phone use far more upsetting than in any other form
of travel. Airline passengers in tourist class are usually
tightly packed in these days. If an air passenger is offended
by the cellphone excesses of his seatmate, he often cannot
move to another seat, and a flight to Los Angeles could be
interminable. I have witnessed a near-fistfight over
obnoxious cellphone use on an Amtrak train. That was
unpleasant, but fistfights on airplanes could be dangerous.
There's good evidence that cellphone users on airplanes
don't suffer grievously from the current cellular ban. Many
jetliners offer their own telephones within arm's reach of
every passenger, which, if used frequently, could be just as
annoying as a cellphone. But fortunately these calls are very
expensive, so passengers rarely use them. This suggests that
very few air passengers really need to get messages to people
on the ground, and that much cellular chatter, if it were
allowed, would serve mostly to relieve the boredom of the
flight.
One small step for sanity.
The government regulators and the airlines should take a
bold step: Declare that, even if cell phone use in the air
ceases to be a threat to the aircraft, it should still be
banned as a threat to the peace and comfort of the
passengers.
But with so much money at stake, it seems reasonable to
expect that once the safety problems are solved, the
regulators and airlines will permit cellphone calls from
airplanes. If so, the airlines should copy the ``quiet car''
concept that Amtrak has crafted by designating one car of
passenger trains off-limits to cellphone use.
Airliners could have a ``quiet space'' toward the front of
each plane, and every passenger who agrees not to use a
cellphone should have the right to be seated there--with the
blissful assurance that the cellphone users would be
chattering away in the rear.
[From USA Today, May 31, 2005]
(By Craig Wilson)
Cell Phone bullies Change the Tone at Airports
It was 6 in the morning in Las Vegas. I had not been up all
night like most everyone else in town, but I felt as if I
had, mainly because everything was surreal, even by Vegas
standards.
I was at the airport, drinking my coffee, wondering why I
had booked such an early flight home, when a man appeared out
of nowhere and began screaming into his cell phone that ``the
fools'' at the gate area would not give him the seat he was
always assigned. It was his seat, after all, in the emergency
exit row. He always sat there.
I know this because he was telling not only the person on
the phone, but also all of us in the 702 area code.
What he had done was call the airline's customer service
number. He was unhappy with the answers he was getting from
the gate agent who was standing right before him.
I haven't seen anyone his age, or size, throw such a temper
tantrum in a long time. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen
anyone throw such a tantrum.
And then he was gone. Poof.
Maybe angry gods swept him away, or the security guards
shuffled him out, or maybe his own two feet were embarrassed
for him and carried him off, but he was gone--much to the
relief of everyone waiting to board.
It could just be bad timing on my part, but I'm running
into more cell phone jerks these days. They're everywhere.
Just the other day, a man regaled a boarding area at
Washington's Reagan National Airport with his business of the
day. It was very clear very early that he was very important.
He was berating one of his underlings for all the world to
hear.
Being a bit of a jerk myself, I decided to try a little
experiment. Instead of fleeing, as I would usually do, I
remained next to the
[[Page S1492]]
man. He continued his lecture--staring at me on occasion as
if I shouldn't be eavesdropping!--then moved a few feet away.
So I quietly moved with him. I followed for three more moves
until he finally told the person on the phone he'd call back.
Some jerk was following him around, he said. Actually, jerk
wasn't the word he used.
I chuckled all the way to New York's LaGuardia.
A number of airlines are looking into the possibility of
cell phones being allowed in flight. The Federal
Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation
Administration have to agree before it can happen, but
reports indicate it could come to pass as early as next year.
Heaven help us all.
If so, I have a couple of wishes. I want whoever votes to
allow cellphones on planes to take a flight with the young
man who threw the fit at sunrise in Las Vegas. And I want
them to sit right next to him. But not in his emergency row.
I want him to be unhappy and calling people to tell them so.
I also want them to take a flight with the businessman who
was berating his colleague back at headquarters. I'm just
curious about whether he has whipped the office into shape
yet.
Then give me a call. I'll be home, because I doubt I'll
ever fly again.
____
Duncan Statement: Subcommittee on Aviation Hearing Cell Phones on
Aircraft: Nuisance or Necessity?
Mr. MICA. Mr. Duncan.
Mr. DUNCAN. Thank you very, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for
calling this hearing. I was one of the more than 7,000 who
sent letter or comment to the Federal Communications
Commission in very, very strong opposition to the lifting of
this cell phone ban. And I can tell you, I come down very
strongly on the nuisance side of this equation. I remember
reading a couple of years ago that Amtrak tried out a cell
phone free car on its Metroliner train from New York City,
and so many people rushed to that car that they immediately
had to add on another cell phone free car. Around that same
time, I read about a restaurant in New York City that banned
cell phones from one of its dining rooms, and the next day it
had to double that by adding on a second dining room because
so many people wanted to participate.
Among the comments to the FCC, passenger Richard Olson
wrote the Commission: A fellow passenger's signal was
breaking up, so his remedy was to talk loudly. The flight
attendant had to ask him to quit using the phone. On the
ground, we can walk away from these rude, inconsiderate
jerks. In there, we are trapped.
The Boston Globe wrote about a conversation that Gail James
of Shelton, Washington found on one flight. She said, quote:
I was seated next to a very loud man who was explaining his
next porn movie on his cell phone. Everyone on the plane was
subjected to his explicit blabbering. Should cell use during
flight be allowed, we had all better be prepared for a whole
lot of air rage going on.
A CNN/USA Today Gallup poll found that 68 percent were
opposed to lifting this ban; only 29 percent in favor.
Now, cell phone technology is, in many ways, a wonderful
thing. It can be used, as we all know, to help in
emergencies, to let someone know that they are going to be
late for an appointment, to call for directions when you are
lost. But I also wish that we had much more cell phone
courtesy. I think most people do not realize that they talk
much more loudly in general on a cell phone than they do in a
private conversation. And almost everyone has a cell phone
today. A former Knoxville city councilman told me at the
first of this past school year that three young girls were in
the office at Fulton High School in Knoxville saying they
could not pay a $50 activities fee, but all three of the
girls had cell phones on which they were probably $50 a month
cell phone bills. Today, cell phones are heard going off, I
have heard them go off at funerals, weddings, at movie
theaters, restaurants, congressional hearings. One was even
answered by a reporter asking President Bush a question, and
apparently it caused President Bush to get very upset as it
should have. Gene Sorenson wrote recently in the
Washington Post, quote: I don't mean to interrupt your
phone conversation, but I thought you should know that I
can hear you. I would close the door, but I can't seem to
find one on the sidewalk, the path at Great Falls, in line
at Hecht's, or at table 4 by the window. It is not like
I'm eavesdropping. As titillating as it sounds, I am not
drawn into your conversation about yoga class, tonight's
dinner, or Fluffy's oozing skin rash.
Although cell phones have been around for a while, we still
associate one with privacy. Put one to your ear, and you will
think you are in your kitchen, office, or, what was called a
phone booth, But take a moment to look around. You are in
public.
On June 21, Robert McMillan wrote in The Washington Post
about some of the comments to the FCC, and he quoted Steven
Brown who described the perfect trajectory of what he called
hell: Just imagine that ring conversation being mere inches
from your head and on both sides of you while occupying the
middle seat for a five-hour flight from L.A. to New York.
Hideous.
In addition, I know there are security concerns and some
concerns regarding possibly the effect on aircraft avionics.
But I hope that we do not lift this ban, and I hope that it
becomes very clear in this hearing that there is a great deal
of opposition to this proposed change. And I thank you very
much for calling this hearing.
Mr. MICA. I thank the gentleman. Mr. DeFazio.
Mr. DEFAZIO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this is
not an issue of first impression for this committee. I
remember a number of years ago we had a hearing on cell
phones. We had a professor from Embry-Riddle who said--sorry,
Mr. Chairman.
Yeah. Yeah. No, we are in this thing. Yeah. No, it will be.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Sorry. I'm sorry, Mr.
Chairman. Okay. Bye, yeah. Yeah. All right. See you. Bye.
Mr. MICA. You are just lucky you didn't do that with Mr.
Young.
Mr. DEFAZIO. I know. I would have been in deep trouble. We
are going to put Chairman Young in charge of this issue.
But that is the point. I mean, and he told us and at the
time I was suspicious that we were being held captive by the
industry to these air phones, you know, and their
extortionate charges. But he said, convincingly, that there
was a possibility, particularly in a fly-by-wire aircraft,
small but possible, of a damaged cell phone or other
transmitting device causing a problem. Now they are trying to
deal with that with this pico technology, I guess. But I am
not sure that totally addresses his problem. I think the * *
*
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, each of these travelers argues for
preserving one of the last refuges of privacy--the quiet of an airline
cabin where one may read a book, listen to music, sleep, or be left
alone. This privacy may not be enshrined in the Constitution, but
surely it is enshrined in common sense.
If there must be cell phones on airplanes, common sense suggests
following Fred Graham's advice: Create soundproof conference rooms in
the back of the which passengers may rent for the privilege of yelling
into their cell phones. Or perhaps technology itself will rescue us.
Perhaps the Federal Communications Commission or airline plane
executives in a real outburst of common sense will earn the gratitude
of 2 million Americans who fly each day by deciding text messages, yes,
but conversations, no.
I yield the floor.
____________________