Aviation Investment and Revitalization Vision Act

AVIATION INVESTMENT AND REVITALIZATION VISION ACT

AMENDMENT NO. 914 TO AMENDMENT NO. 905

    Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I strongly support the Specter amendment to S. 824, the Aviation Investment and Revitalization Vision Act, that would address safety and security issues at foreign aircraft repair stations working on U.S. aircraft.

    For a number of years, I have been working with the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department and its mechanic unions)—the International Association of Machinists, the Transport Workers Union, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters—to close the safety loopholes that many foreign stations present.

    I would like to submit for the RECORD a letter I received from these unions expressing their continued opposition to unsafe foreign stations.

    I would also like to submit for the RECORD a letter recently sent from the AFL-CIO and its Transportation Trades Department to the Administration highlighting their concerns about the security at foreign stations.

    As these letters clearly demonstrate, we have legitimate concerns with regard to the current rules governing certification and oversight of foreign stations. For these reasons, I am cosponsoring the Specter amendment and urge my colleagues to support it as well.

    I ask unanimous consent that the aforementioned letters, dated April 10, 2003, and May 22, 2003, be printed in the RECORD.