[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14818]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



      SUPPORT FOR THE DECISION TO REJECT UNITED-US AIRWAYS MERGER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, an hour or so ago the U.S. Department of 
Justice announced that they will file suit to block the proposed merger 
of United Airlines and U.S. Airways. That announcement is the best news 
in U.S. aviation since deregulation.
  The decision by the Justice Department to oppose the merger of United 
and U.S. Airways will keep airline competition alive. It will spare the 
flying public the increased costs, reduced competition, and 
deteriorating service that would have resulted from this merger, which 
in turn would have precipitated the consolidation of all of the 
remainder of domestic air service into three globe straddling mega 
carriers.
  The Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation must 
now continue their vigilance to maintain strong and healthy competition 
in aviation and prohibiting barriers to competition that result from 
mergers, from biased reservation systems, and from predatory pricing 
practices. I congratulate the Justice Department for completing a 
thorough painstaking analysis of this proposed merger, reviewing its 
effects on hub-to-hub nonstop service in currently competitive


markets, on the down-stream effect on remaining mergers, as well as the 
consequences for international competition.

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