[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 177 (Wednesday, November 1, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H8307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            FLIGHT STANDARDS

  (Mr. HIGGINS of New York asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS of New York. Mr. Speaker, no family or community should 
have to relive the devastating loss we felt on February 12, 2009, the 
day Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed in western New York, killing all 
aboard and one on the ground.
  Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Flight 3407 families and a 
bipartisan collection of Members of Congress, new flight safety 
standards have saved other families from similar pain, achieving 7 
years of no commercial airline fatalities.
  Yet some, including the new nominee to the National Transportation 
Safety Board, are questioning the need for these hard-fought, 
commonsense flight safety and training standards.
  You have a right to know which airline is flying your plane, you have 
a right to know that your pilot is well rested, and you have a right to 
know that the pilot is adequately trained to handle any challenges that 
might occur in flight. For these rights and for enhanced safety, you 
can thank the families of Flight 3407 for their work in reaching these 
standards, and you can join me in fighting to make sure that we keep 
them.

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