II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1576

To establish a commission to study the impact of deregulation of the airline

industry on small town America.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 10, 1999

Ms. COLLINS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To establish a commission to study the impact of

deregulation of the airline industry on small town America.

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

3 SECTION 1. AIRLINE DEREGULATION STUDY COMMISSION.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.—

5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a

6 commission to be known as the Airline Deregulation

7 Study Commission (in this section referred to as the

8 ‘‘Commission’’).

9 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—
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1 (A) COMPOSITION.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), the Commission shall be composed

3 of 15 members of whom—

4 (i) 5 shall be appointed by the Presi5 dent;

6 (ii) 5 shall be appointed by the Presi7 dent pro tempore of the Senate, upon the

8 recommendation of the Majority and Mi9 nority leaders of the Senate; and

10 (iii) 5 shall be appointed by the

11 Speaker of the House of Representatives,

12 in consultation with the Minority leader of

13 the House of Representatives.

14 (B) MEMBERS FROM RURAL AREAS.—

15 (i) REQUIREMENT.—Of the individ16 uals appointed to the Commission under

17 subparagraph (A)—

18 (I) one of the individuals ap19 pointed under clause (i) of that sub20 paragraph shall be an individual who

21 resides in a rural area; and

22 (II) two of the individuals ap23 pointed under each of clauses (ii) and

24 (iii) of that subparagraph shall be in25 dividuals who reside in a rural area.
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1 (ii) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—

2 The appointment of individuals under sub3 paragraph (A) pursuant to the requirement

4 in clause (i) of this subparagraph shall, to

5 the maximum extent practicable, be made

6 so as to ensure that a variety of geographic

7 areas of the country are represented in the

8 membership of the Commission.

9 (C) DATE.—The appointments of the

10 members of the Commission shall be made not

11 later than 60 days after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act.

13 (3) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.—

14 Members shall be appointed for the life of the Com15 mission. Any vacancy in the Commission shall not

16 affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same

17 manner as the original appointment.

18 (4) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days

19 after the date on which all members of the Commis20 sion have been appointed, the Commission shall hold

21 its first meeting.

22 (5) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at

23 the call of the Chairperson.
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1 (6) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of

2 the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a

3 lesser number of members may hold hearings.

4 (7) CHAIRPERSON.—The Commission shall se5 lect a Chairman and Vice Chairperson from among

6 its members.

7 (b) DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.—

8 (1) STUDY.—

9 (A) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the

10 terms ‘‘air carrier’’ and ‘‘air transportation’’

11 have the meanings given those terms in section

12 40102(a) of title 49, United States Code.

13 (B) CONTENTS.—The Commission shall

14 conduct a thorough study of the impacts of de15 regulation of the airline industry of the United

16 States on—

17 (i) the affordability, accessibility,

18 availability, and quality of air transpor19 tation, particularly in small-sized and me20 dium-sized communities;

21 (ii) economic development and job cre22 ation, particularly in areas that are under23 served by air carriers;

24 (iii) the economic viability of small25 sized airports; and
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1 (iv) the long-term configuration of the

2 United States passenger air transportation

3 system.

4 (C) MEASUREMENT FACTORS.—In car5 rying out the study under this subsection, the

6 Commission shall develop measurement factors

7 to analyze the quality of passenger air transpor8 tation service provided by air carriers by identi9 fying the factors that are generally associated

10 with quality passenger air transportation serv11 ice.

12 (D) BUSINESS AND LEISURE TRAVEL.—In

13 conducting measurements for an analysis of the

14 affordability of air travel, to the extent prac15 ticable, the Commission shall provide for appro16 priate control groups and comparisons with re17 spect to business and leisure travel.

18 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the

19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission

20 shall submit an interim report to the President and

21 Congress, and not later than 18 months after the

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission

23 shall submit a report to the President and the Con24 gress. Each such report shall contain a detailed

25 statement of the findings and conclusions of the
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1 Commission, together with its recommendations for

2 such legislation and administrative actions as it con3 siders appropriate.

4 (c) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.—

5 (1) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold

6 such hearings, sit and act at such times and places,

7 take such testimony, and receive such evidence as

8 the Commission considers advisable to carry out the

9 duties of the Commission under this section.

10 (2) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—

11 The Commission may secure directly from any Fed12 eral department or agency such information as the

13 Commission considers necessary to carry out the du14 ties of the Commission under this section. Upon re15 quest of the Chairperson of the Commission, the

16 head of such department or agency shall furnish

17 such information to the Commission.

18 (3) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may

19 use the United States mails in the same manner and

20 under the same conditions as other departments and

21 agencies of the Federal Government.

22 (4) GIFTS.—The Commission may accept, use,

23 and dispose of gifts or donations of services or prop24 erty.

25 (d) COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.—
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1 (1) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the

2 Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, includ3 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author4 ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of

5 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while

6 away from their homes or regular places of business

7 in the performance of services for the Commission.

8 (2) STAFF.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the

10 Commission may, without regard to the civil

11 service laws and regulations, appoint and termi12 nate an executive director and such other addi13 tional personnel as may be necessary to enable

14 the Commission to perform its duties. The em15 ployment of an executive director shall be sub16 ject to confirmation by the Commission.

17 (B) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of

18 the Commission may fix the compensation of

19 the executive director and other personnel with20 out regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and

21 subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United

22 States Code, relating to classification of posi23 tions and General Schedule pay rates, except

24 that the rate of pay for the executive director

25 and other personnel may not exceed the rate
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1 payable for level V of the Executive Schedule

2 under section 5316 of such title.

3 (3) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—

4 Any Federal Government employee may be detailed

5 to the Commission without reimbursement, and such

6 detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil

7 service status or privilege.

8 (4) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTER9 MITTENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Com10 mission may procure temporary and intermittent

11 services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United

12 States Code, at rates for individuals which do not

13 exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of

14 basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive

15 Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

16 (e) TERMINATION OF COMMISSION.—The Commis17 sion shall terminate 90 days after the date on which the

18 Commission submits its report under subsection (b).

19 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be

21 appropriated $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2000 to the

22 Commission to carry out this section.
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1 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Any sums appropriated

2 pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in

3 paragraph (1) shall remain available until expended.

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