[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.

                          ____________________