II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2023

To provide for travelers’ rights in air commerce, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 2, 1996

Mr. REID introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To provide for travelers’ rights in air commerce, and for

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSES.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Travelers’ Rights Act of 1996’’.

6 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to en7 sure—

8 (1) the access to information by travelers in air

9 commerce concerning the safety and security of air

10 travel; and
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1 (2) the coordination of air carrier and govern2 mental assistance to victims and survivors of victims

3 of accidents in air commerce.

4 SEC. 2. CONSUMER ACCESS TO INFORMATION.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 447 of title 49, United

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow7 ing new section:

8 ‘‘§ 44724. Air traveler safety program

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

10 ‘‘(1) WRITTEN INFORMATION.—Not later than

11 90 days after the date of enactment of this section,

12 the Secretary of Transportation (hereafter in this

13 section referred to as the ‘Secretary’) shall issue reg14 ulations, for a period determined by the Secretary,

15 that require each air carrier that provides interstate

16 air transportation or foreign air transportation to

17 provide written information upon request, to pas18 sengers that purchase passage for interstate or for19 eign air transportation concerning:

20 ‘‘(A) safety inspection reviews conducted

21 by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation

22 Administration on the aircraft of that air car23 rier;

24 ‘‘(B) the safety ranking of that air carrier,

25 as determined by the Administrator of the Fed-
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1 eral Aviation Administration, in accordance

2 with applicable law; and

3 ‘‘(C) the compliance of the members of the

4 crew of the aircraft with any applicable certifi5 cation requirements under this subtitle.

6 ‘‘(2) GUIDELINES.—The regulations issued by

7 the Secretary under this subsection shall provide

8 guidelines for air carriers relating to the provision of

9 the information referred to in paragraph (1).

10 ‘‘(3) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION.—An air car11 rier shall be required to provide to a passenger, on

12 request, any information concerning the safety of

13 aircraft and the competency of persons issued a cer14 tificate under this subtitle for the operation of the

15 aircraft that the Secretary, to the extent allowable

16 by law, determines to be appropriate.

17 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSION OF PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December

19 31 of the calendar year in which this section is en20 acted, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall

21 submit a report to the Congress that reviews the

22 safety of air carriers that provide interstate or for23 eign air transportation, including—

24 ‘‘(A) the number of accidents and a de25 scription of such accidents of air carriers attrib-
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1 utable to each air carrier that provides inter2 state or foreign air transportation; and

3 ‘‘(B) for the preceding year, the names of

4 makers of aircraft that have been involved in an

5 accident.

6 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The

7 Secretary shall make the report under paragraph (1)

8 available to—

9 ‘‘(A) travel agencies and consultants for

10 distribution to persons served by those agencies

11 and consultants; and

12 ‘‘(B) any other person or entity upon re13 quest.

14 ‘‘(e) VICTIMS’ RIGHTS PROGRAM.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The National Transpor16 tation Safety Board shall establish and administer a

17 program for victims and survivors of aircraft acci18 dents in air commerce. Under that program, the Na19 tional Transportation Safety Board shall ensure that

20 such victims and survivors receive, to the extent al21 lowable by law, immediate and unrestricted access to

22 information that is made available from—

23 ‘‘(A) the air carrier involved in an accident

24 in air commerce;

25 ‘‘(B) the Federal Government; and
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1 ‘‘(C) State governments and political sub2 divisions thereof.

3 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION.—

4 Nothing in paragraph (1) may be construed to au5 thorize the release of information that the President

6 determines to be classified in the national security

7 interest of the United States.

8 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION OF VICTIM ASSISTANCE.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The National Transpor10 tation Safety Board, in cooperation with officials of

11 appropriate Federal agencies and the American Red

12 Cross, shall establish a program to ensure the co13 ordination of the disclosure of information under

14 subsection (e) and assistance provided to victims of

15 an accident in air commerce.

16 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF TOLL-FREE TELE17 PHONE LINE.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The National Trans19 portation Safety Board, in cooperation with of20 ficials of the appropriate Federal agencies and

21 the American Red Cross, shall establish a toll22 free telephone line to facilitate the provision of

23 information under paragraph (3).

24 ‘‘(B) ACTION BY THE NATIONAL TRANS25 PORTATION SAFETY BOARD.—The National
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1 Transportation Safety Board shall take such

2 action as may be necessary to ensure—

3 ‘‘(i) the publication of the telephone

4 number of the telephone line established

5 under subparagraph (A) in newspapers of

6 general circulation; and

7 ‘‘(ii) the provision of such number on

8 national television news programs.

9 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION PROVIDED BY TELEPHONE

10 LINE.—The telephone line established under para11 graph (2) shall provide the following information

12 concerning an accident in air commerce:

13 ‘‘(A) The identifier name and number of

14 the aircraft involved in the accident.

15 ‘‘(B) The names of known victims of the

16 accident.

17 ‘‘(C) The status of the investigation.

18 ‘‘(D) A list of appropriate Federal agencies

19 and contacts.

20 ‘‘(E) The facilities at which victims of the

21 accident may be identified.

22 ‘‘(g) CIVIL PENALTIES.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any air carrier that fails to

24 provide information in accordance with this section
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1 shall be liable for a civil penalty in an amount not

2 to exceed $100,000 per violation.

3 ‘‘(2) TRAVEL AGENCIES AND OTHER PERSONS

4 NOT COVERED.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a

5 travel agency or other person that does not provide

6 interstate or foreign air transportation.

7 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

8 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

9 necessary to carry out this section.’’.

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analy11 sis for chapter 447 of title 49, United States Code, is

12 amended by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘44724. Air traveler safety program.’’.

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