Contact:  Steve Hansen (Communications Director)  (202) 225-7749
 Email: Steve.Hansen@mail.house.gov
    Justin Harclerode (Communications Assistant)  (202) 226-8767
  Email: Justin.Harclerod@mail.house.gov

To:  National Desk/Transportation Reporter
February 27, 2002

        Washington, D.C. - The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today unanimously approved several pieces of legislation, including bills to assist individuals and general aviation entities adversely affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11th.

        The Committee’s agenda included four pieces of legislation, as well as several other matters of business.

• H.R. 3347, the General Aviation Industry Reparations Act of 2001, was unanimously approved with one amendment;
• S. 1622, a bill to extend Disaster Unemployment Assistance to those individuals who lost their jobs as a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, was substituted for H.R. 3593 (the bills are identical) and unanimously approved;
• H.R. 2804, designating the “James R. Browning United States Courthouse”, was unanimously approved;
• H. Con. Res. 255, expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the 30th anniversary of the enactment of the Clean Water Act, was unanimously approved;
• Three public buildings 11(b) resolutions were unanimously approved;
• Views and Estimates on the FY 2003 Budget were unanimously approved.

        “Unlike the major commercial airlines, most of these are small, locally-owned enterprises,” said U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-FL), Chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee.  “Sadly, hundreds of these ‘mom and pop’ shops have already closed their doors, and hundreds more are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

        “While their losses are a direct result of the September 11th disaster, most of these businesses do not qualify for relief under any established federal law or program.”

        H.R. 3347 contains the following provisions:

• It provides emergency relief in the form of $2.5 billion in grants to cover direct and incremental losses from the airspace restrictions on general aviation.  It provides the President the power to establish priority for compensation to a GA business based on the length of time that business has been unable to operate.  It also provides direct compensation provision to GA workers who lost their jobs as a result of the 9/11 tragedies.  It compensates laid-off employees for lost wages and healthcare costs that would have been otherwise covered.
• It provides loan guarantees to help GA enterprises secure private financing that had been available prior to the September 11th attacks.
• It provides funding for the loan guarantee program through funds previously made available through the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, making use of monies that will not be used by the commercial airlines.
• It requires any GA entity receiving a loan guarantee under the bill to provide healthcare coverage for six months to all current and former employees who had coverage until September 11th.
• It extends the War Risk Insurance program to include general aviation.
• It compensates GA entities that were adversely affected by airspace closures associated with the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

        “This important legislation provides much needed assistance for displaced workers who are not eligible for regular unemployment assistance,” said U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH), Chairman of the Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Subcommittee.  “By extending these benefits for a year, we are helping those workers most in need.”

        This bill, already passed by the Senate, was substituted for its identical House counterpart, H.R. 3593.  The substitution was made in order to expedite the bill’s movement to the President upon House passage.

        H.Con.Res. 255 encourages the American people to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of the Clean Water Act, and to recommit to achieving its goals.  The Clean Water Act was enacted 30 years ago and has made dramatic progress over the years in cleaning and protecting the nation’s waters.

        The 11(b) resolutions instruct the GSA to (1) study the need to construct a new border facility in El Paso County, Texas, (2) study the need to construct a facility to house Federal agencies in Columbia, Missouri, and (3) to study the utilization of the Federal Trade Commission headquarters in Washington, DC.

        The Committee also approved its views and estimates of the fiscal year 2003 budget proposal.