The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“GORTON-ROCKEFELLER AMENDMENT TO S. 82, THE AIR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Senate section on pages S12097 on Oct. 6, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
GORTON-ROCKEFELLER AMENDMENT TO S. 82, THE AIR TRANSPORTATION
IMPROVEMENT ACT
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I appreciate that the Senate has finally acted on S. 82 to reauthorize the FAA and to deal with some of our Nation's air transportation issues.
In particular, I am pleased that the amendment offered by the Senator from Washington and the Senator from West Virginia was adopted to allow exemptions to the current perimeter rule at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. I recognize that this is a serious matter affecting a number of cities and high-profile airports, and I commend my colleagues who worked long and hard to develop this amendment.
While I would have preferred that the final bill include the 48 exemptions contained in S. 82 as it was reported by the Commerce Committee, I recognize that reducing this number to 24 reflects a reasonable compromise. I believe the amendment proposed by Senators Gorton and Rockefeller achieves the central objective, which was to maintain the current level of safety while improving air service for the flying public--which is now almost everyone at one time or another. The compromise also assiduously avoids adversely affecting the quality of life for those living within the perimeter.
Today, my constituents in Utah and in other western communities must double or even triple connect to fly into Washington, DC. The Gorton/
Rockefeller amendment goes a long way to addressing this inconvenient and time-consuming process and to ensuring that passengers in Utah and the Intermountain West have expanded options.
I believe that use of this limited exemption should be to improve access throughout the west and not limit the benefits to cities which already enjoy a number of options.
Therefore, when considering applications for these slots, I think it is important for the U.S. Department of Transportation to consider carefully these factors and award opportunities to western hubs, such as the one in Salt Lake City, which connects the largest number of cities to the national transportation network. I want U.S. DOT officials to know that I will be carefully monitoring the implementation of the perimeter slot exemption.
I look forward to working with Transportation Department officials as well as my colleagues in the Senate to ensure that the traveling public has the greatest number of options available to them. I thank the chair.
____________________
