[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 25168-25169]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                NATIONAL AVIATION CAPACITY EXPANSION ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Osborne). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to introduce the National 
Aviation Capacity Expansion Act. This measure will codify into Federal 
law a historical agreement reached between Illinois Governor George 
Ryan and Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley that would benefit not only the 
Chicago area, but the entire Nation.

[[Page 25169]]

  This agreement and legislation will modernize O'Hare International 
Airport by constructing new runways and reconfiguring old intersecting 
runways. It will also address automobile traffic congestion near O'Hare 
that will include western airport access, and it will maintain the 
quality of life for residents near O'Hare by committing $450 million in 
funds for soundproofing. In addition, this agreement will construct a 
new south suburban airport near Peotone and continue the operations of 
Meigs Field on Chicago's lakefront.
  Because O'Hare is the epicenter of the Nation's aviation community, 
this agreement is great news for airline passengers across the Nation. 
O'Hare is one of the world's largest airports and is the only dual-hub 
airport in the Nation, as both United and American Airlines base a 
significant amount of their employees, equipment and activities at 
O'Hare.
  O'Hare serves more than 190,000 travelers per day, with 2,700 daily 
flights. Communities big and small are served by O'Hare. Forty-eight 
States in this union have direct access to O'Hare International 
Airport.
  O'Hare is badly in need of an upgrade to meet the demands of the 21st 
century because the airport design was developed in the 1950s. By 
replacing old runways with a safe and more modern design, weather 
delays and cancellations will be greatly reduced, eliminating delays 
that often make the rest of the Nation shudder.
  In addition, my bill ensures that O'Hare modernization will be paid 
for primarily through airline and airport generated-funds, such as the 
passenger facility charge, landing fees, concessions and bonds. 
Contrary to what the few opponents of this measure say, this bill does 
not put the Federal Government on the hook for the cost of this 
project.
  This bill also moves ahead with a south suburban airport near 
Peotone, Illinois. While some of those few opponents argue that 
expanding and reconfiguring O'Hare will put a stop to the State of 
Illinois' plans to build an airport at Peotone, nothing could be 
further from the truth. As the Chicago Sun Times wrote yesterday in 
their lead editorial: ``The road to an airport in Peotone runs through 
a revitalized O'Hare. The two are linked. Demand for air travel is a 
key ingredient of the economic vitality of Chicago, our region and the 
country. A crowded, overwhelmed O'Hare, delays air traffic nationwide, 
and costs uncalculated billions every year. Another 2 decades of a 
decaying O'Hare, and a lot of people won't want to fly into Peotone or 
anywhere else.''
  I applaud Governor Ryan and Mayor Daley for their courage, tenacity 
and resolve that made sure that this agreement was done. But for this 
agreement to become reality in the long run, we must codify it so that 
no future Governor may rescind the agreement, and that is what my 
legislation will do.
  I urge all of my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation that will 
do more than any other measure in Congress to meet the aviation demands 
of the 21st century.

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