    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [November 18, 2008]
    [Pages 1376-1378]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Department of Transportation
    November 18, 2008

        Thank you. Please be seated. Madam Secretary, thank you for the kind introduction. Thank you for the
    reception. I am honored to be with the men and women who work here at
    the U.S. Department of Transportation. I appreciate you giving me a
    chance to come by and visit with you today. I want to thank you very
    much for the great job you are doing to make sure that across America
    our railroads and highways and airways are working to keep our citizens
    moving. You have done a terrific job, as far as I am concerned. The past
    8 years I have not seen a traffic jam--[laughter]--waited for an
    airplane--[laughter]--or had my bags lost. [Laughter]
        I appreciate very much the fabulous job--and I emphasize fabulous
    job--that the Secretary of Transportation,
    Mary Peters, has done and is doing for our country. And I want to thank
    you for your service, Madam Secretary. She has been an outstanding
    member of the Cabinet; she is a strong leader. I saw her leadership, as
    did the country, firsthand when Minnesota's I-35 bridge collapsed. The
    Secretary coordinated a swift and an effective Federal response. Swift
    was important for the people in Minneapolis. Effective is always
    important when it comes to reminding our citizens that the Government
    can respond in a way that will make them proud.
        I appreciate the fact that she launched a
    thorough review of bridge safety across our country and worked with the
    Congress to get the monies necessary to rebuild that bridge. The bridge
    reopened months ahead of schedule, thanks in large part to the
    organization, determination of our Secretary and the people who work for
    her.
        Madam Secretary, you did your job. That's
    what I expected when I asked you to serve, and I really want to thank
    you for your service.
        I'm proud to be here, as well, with the Deputy Secretary, Tom Barrett; thank you--as well as the former
    Deputy Secretary, and at one time Acting Secretary, Maria Cino.
        I know that a lot of folks in our country think about transportation
    a lot, particularly this time of year. People are getting ready to move
    around for Thanksgiving and with Christmas not very far behind. And a
    lot of our citizens are nervous about travel. They're not nervous about
    their safety, but they're nervous about what the experience will be
    like: the long delays, lost bags, overbooking of flights. One way to
    look at it is they're saying, ``Will traveling home for the holidays be
    `It's A Wonderful Life,' or will it be `The Nightmare Before
    Christmas'?'' [Laughter]
        Our job is to make sure it is as comfortable an experience as
    possible. Now obviously, the Federal Government can't control all
    aspects of how the airlines, for example, conducts their business. We're
    not

    [[Page 1377]]

    in the business of managing airlines. We are in the business, however,
    of making it easier for airlines to do the job we expect them to do.
        And so to this end, you might remember, at Mary's recommendations, that we--the military opened its east
    coast airspace to civilian flights during the Thanksgiving holiday
    season. And it worked. This year, we're going to expand what we call the
    ``Thanksgiving express lanes'' to areas of the Midwest, the Southwest,
    and the west coast, including the skies over Phoenix and Los Angeles. In
    other words, we innovated last year to ease the travel, it worked, and
    now we're expanding that innovation this year. We're also working with
    the FAA, the TSA, and the airlines to make more staff available to speed
    check-in and boarding, and to help passengers affected by cancellations
    and delays.
        We have just completed new regulations that provide increased
    protection for consumers. These include measures that will require
    airlines to provide greater compensation for lost bags, as well as
    tougher penalties when airlines fail to notify travelers of hidden fees.
    I think that's a responsible role for government. I think it makes sense
    for us to, through this Department, put regulation in place that stands
    side by side with consumers in a reasonable way.
        We expect these rules to take effect in December, in time for
    Christmas and New Year's. These efforts represent our commitment to
    making this year's holiday travel season as smooth as possible. And
    frankly, they are part of this administration's strong record on
    improving air travel for American consumers.
        During my time in office--or our time in office, we have put
    regulations in place to make airlines more accountable for the way they
    treat passengers. In other words, we have done this kind of regulatory
    regimes before, notably doubling the fine airlines pay for bumping
    travelers off of overbooked flights. Our message is: We will hold you to
    account. The consumers will hold you to account, but we have a
    responsibility in Government as well to help our air travelers.
        This administration has signed agreements with the EU and India,
    Thailand and China to increase flights between the United States and
    these countries. It makes it easier for Americans to travel around the
    globe. We have launched an unprecedented effort to reduce air congestion
    by boosting flight capacity at some of the busiest airports. The
    Department of Transportation, over the past 7 and a little more than
    three-quarters years, has completed 13 major airport improvement
    projects, including 11 new runways. This week, 3 more runways will open
    at Seattle-Tacoma, Washington-Dulles, and Chicago-O'Hare, bringing the
    total to 14, which is going to help ease aviation congestion coast to
    coast. And for those of you in this audience who have worked on these
    projects, I thank you.
        The administration has taken steps to address the source of most
    flight delays and cancellations across the country, and that would be
    the heavy air traffic around New York City. To help untangle the skies
    over New York, we have improved air traffic control. We added a new
    departure route from the metro area and capped the total number of
    flights, providing nearly $90 million over the next 8 years to upgrade
    taxiways at JFK. And in January, the FAA will start auctioning takeoff
    and landing slots at New York airports. This will increase competition
    for access to these airports, and we strongly believe increased
    competition will help lower fares to consumers.
        I remember talking about this market-based approach, Madam
    Secretary, in the Roosevelt Room in the West
    Wing of the White House, and I thank you for implementing the vision.
        Airlines need incentives. They need incentives to boost efficiency.
    And this incentive that we put out will encourage them to use larger
    planes out of the New York

    [[Page 1378]]

    area. We believe these actions will ease our traffic jams in New York,
    which will help reduce flight delays all across the country.
        In addition to tackling air congestion, this Department has built an
    impressive record when it comes to travel safety. I hope you take pride
    in the record: Department policies that helped make the past 7 years the
    safest ever in commercial aviation. Last year on America's roadways, we
    saw the lowest highway fatality rate ever recorded.
        Another important part of our transportation record is our work to
    safeguard the environment and promote energy security. The energy bill I
    signed last year will save fuel and cut greenhouse gas emissions by
    specifying a national fuel economy standard of 35 miles per gallon by
    2020.
        A lot of folks here in this Department have worked hard on this
    initiative, and I congratulate you for your good work. By dramatically
    boosting our output of clean-burning biodiesel and ethanol, providing
    tax credits for the purchase of low-emission hybrid vehicles, and
    investing in technologies like advanced batteries and hydrogen fuel
    cells, the Department can be proud of the ways in which we have made
    America's transportation system safer, cleaner, and more effective.
        Yet there's a lot more work to be done. For example, in an age when
    teenage drivers use GPS systems in their cars, air traffic controllers
    still use World War II-era radar to guide modern jumbo jets. That
    doesn't seem to make any sense to me, and I know it doesn't make sense
    to the Secretary and a lot of folks in this
    audience. Modernizing our aviation system is an urgent challenge. So
    today I'm signing an Executive order that makes this task a leading
    priority for agencies across the Federal Government.
        Members of Congress have responsibilities. As they take up the next
    highway and aviation bills in the coming year, they should adhere to a
    few key principles. They should harness the power of the free market
    through policies like congestion pricing, which uses the laws of supply
    and demand to reduce traffic on our roads and in the air. They should
    ensure that taxpayer funds for transportation are allocated based on the
    true needs of the American people, not spent on wasteful earmarks or the
    political demands of influential lobbies. They should provide incentives
    for the private sector to develop new technologies, invest in our
    infrastructure, and help make our transportation system worthy of the
    21st century. Just a little advice.
        Of course, we all wish the American citizen to have a safe and
    pleasant travel--travels during this holiday season. We wish them all
    the best. And our citizens must know there's some really fine people in
    this Department of Transportation working hard to see that goal comes
    true.
        I want to thank you for what you've done. It's been an honor to
    serve with you. May God bless you, and may God continue to bless the
    United States America. Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:50 a.m. In his remarks, he referred to
    Executive Order 13479.