[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 71 (Wednesday, June 7, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1044]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 AMENDING TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. PAUL RYAN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 6, 2006

  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, today, I take to the floor to 
reluctantly cast my vote against H.R. 5449. Although I deeply admire 
the hard work performed by our Nation's air traffic controllers and 
support their efforts to negotiate a fair contract, I cannot support 
this legislation. I believe that this bill goes too far and needlessly 
picks a winner and a loser between the Federal Aviation Administration 
(FAA) and the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers, NATCA. 
In addition, this bill will completely remove congressional oversight 
from this process.
  No workers, regardless of their profession, should be forced to 
accept a contract without having a chance to negotiate the terms. I 
believe the existing negotiating framework between the FAA and the air 
traffic controllers is broken and needs to be fixed. That is why I not 
only cosponsored H.R. 4755, the Federal Aviation Administration Fair 
Labor Management Dispute Resolution Act, but sent a letter to the 
Speaker asking for a floor vote on this bill.
  H.R. 4755 would have prevented the FAA from instituting one-sided, 
unilateral contract terms on the labor union. If negotiations were to 
stall, Congress would have 60 days to review the FAA's last proposal 
and then decide whether or not more negotiations were necessary. The 
bill would have prevented air traffic controllers from having to accept 
a contract they clearly rejected, while at the same time ensuring that 
negotiations did not remain deadlocked. I supported H.R. 4755 then and 
I support it now. Unfortunately, this is not the bill that has been 
brought to the floor today.
  H.R. 5449 goes too far and needlessly puts Congress in the position 
of picking a winner and a loser in this debate. While I agree that the 
current process is flawed, the role of Congress is to reform the 
system, not to circumvent it. This bill would further hinder 
negotiations, prevent real progress from being made, and remove 
Congress from the process. For these reasons, I cannot support this 
bill.

                          ____________________