(Washington, DC) – Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who authored the aviation workers
assistance amendment in the Senate version of the War Supplemental, has spearheaded a
bipartisan letter to the President to urge him to support the worker provision during the
House-Senate conference on the War Supplemental.
The text of the letter follows
April 3, 2003
The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
These are challenging times for our nation’s airline industry. The economic downturn,
wartime travel anxiety, and concern over the spread of SARS are all taking their toll on an
already weakened industry and its workers. According to the Air Transport Association
(ATA), half of all U.S. jobs lost since September 11, 2001, have been in the aviation and
travel industries. Over 10,000 aviation industry workers have received pink slips since the
start of the Iraq War and just this week, two of our nation’s major air carriers announced
further layoffs. The future outlook is not encouraging as the ATA is reporting that advance
airline bookings have dropped by 30 to 40 percent. Our airlines, our airports, and our
aviation workers need help now.
The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill passed unanimously by the Senate
Appropriations Committee includes a provision providing direct relief to our airlines and
airports as well as expanded unemployment insurance for laid-off aviation industry
workers. The companion bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee provides
roughly the same level of overall assistance but targets that assistance solely to airlines. We
are concerned by reports that the Administration views both the House and Senate
packages as too large and misguided.
As members of the upcoming Conference Committee on the Emergency Supplemental
Appropriations bill, we strongly urge you to support aid for our airports, airlines and
industry workers. Today’s challenging times require aggressive action by Congress and the
Administration if we are to avoid the complete collapse of our aviation industry. We ask
that you recognize that any airline relief package must be sizeable enough to make a real
difference in stemming the industry’s precipitous decline and must recognize the
extraordinary needs of the people who have suffered the most from the industry downturn,
our unemployed aviation industry workers.
Sincerely,
Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
Arlen Specter (R-Penn.)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tx.)
Ernest Hollings (D-SC)
Richard Durbin (D-Ill.)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
cc: The Honorable Ted Stevens
Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations
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