[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9973-9974]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 AVIATION BILATERAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a piece of 
legislation entitled the Aviation Bilateral Accountability Act.
  The Aviation Bilateral Accountability Act is a bill that will require 
congressional review of all U.S. bilateral aviation agreements. 
International aviation is governed by a series of bilateral civil 
aviation agreements between nations. This means that if an air carrier 
from the United States wants to fly into or out of another country, the 
United States Government must first negotiate with the government of 
that foreign country to determine the terms under which the carriers 
from both countries will operate.
  U.S. bilateral aviation agreements are executive agreements. They are 
negotiated and signed by representatives from the Department of State 
and from the Department of Transportation. In fact, Secretary of State 
Madeleine Albright and Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater recently 
joined representatives from the People's Republic of China in signing a 
new U.S.-China civil aviation agreement.
  The new agreement will govern aviation policy between the United 
States and China for the next 3 years. Unfortunately, like all 
bilateral aviation agreements, Congress did not play any official role 
in the review or the approval of this new agreement.
  As ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Aviation, I strongly 
believe that Congress deserves to play a role in reviewing and 
approving bilateral aviation agreements. As Members of Congress, we 
represent the business person, the leisure traveler, the consumer, and 
the flying public in general. We should have the right to make sure 
that bilateral aviation agreements are negotiated to give U.S. 
consumers the most access to international aviation markets at the best 
prices possible.
  For example, the new U.S.-China civil aviation agreement increases 
U.S. access to China by doubling the number of scheduled flights and 
designating one additional U.S. carrier. However, many industry 
observers believe that U.S. negotiators should not have settled for 
anything less than access for

[[Page 9974]]

two additional U.S. carriers through this very large Chinese market.
  Therefore, I am introducing the Aviation Bilateral Accountability 
Act, a bill to require congressional review of all U.S. aviation 
bilateral agreements. International aviation, which is based on 
bilateral aviation agreements, has a tremendous impact on the U.S. 
economy and U.S. citizens. Congress should not be excluded from 
agreements of such magnitude.
  Under the Aviation Bilateral Accountability Act, the executive branch 
must submit each new and updated bilateral aviation agreement to 
Congress. Then a Member of Congress must introduce a disapproval 
resolution within 20 days after receiving the agreement. If a 
disapproval resolution is not introduced within 20 days, the bilateral 
agreement is automatically approved and can be implemented.
  However, if a disapproval resolution is introduced, Congress then has 
90 days to review the bilateral agreement and enact a disapproval 
resolution if necessary. If a disapproval resolution is not enacted by 
the end of the 90-day period, the bilateral agreement is then 
automatically approved and can and will be implemented.
  As elected representatives of the people, we owe it to the American 
consumer to look out for his or her best interest. My legislation will 
help Members of Congress better represent the flying public by giving 
Congress a vital role in the review and approval of U.S. bilateral 
agreements.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to thank the 13 Members who 
have joined me as original cosponsors of this important legislation, 
including the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. John Duncan, Jr.) Chairman 
of the Subcommittee on Aviation.
  I urge all Members of the House to join us in cosponsoring the 
Aviation Bilateral Accountability Act.

                          ____________________