[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9946]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       FLIGHT SAFETY LEGISLATION

  (Mr. HIGGINS of New York asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS of New York. Mr. Speaker, 8 years ago, Western New 
Yorkers witnessed tragedy due to inadequate pilot training. A poorly 
trained pilot crashed a commercial jet into a neighborhood in our 
community, ending the lives of those on board and one on the ground.
  Since then, the victims' families of Flight 3407, who suffered 
unimaginable loss on that day, have turned their grief into a powerful 
citizens' fight to strengthen pilot training and flight safety rules.
  The families of Flight 3407, who are here today, led the charge 
urging Congress to pass landmark flight safety legislation in 2010, 
including rules that could have prevented the tragedy that they all 
suffered. Since then, there have been 7 years of no fatal commercial 
crashes on domestic U.S. airlines.
  Now the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization is nearing 
and some want to beat back this tremendous progress. Let's be clear, 
what is being proposed is a rule change that will allow less 
experienced pilots to fly commercial jets again.
  The safety of the flying public should never be compromised again. I 
am prepared, along with the Western New York delegation and with the 
3407 families, to protect these reforms once again, because we know the 
painful lessons of accepting anything less.

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