Notwithstanding, these Members refused even to come to the table to acknowledge legitimate interests. Let us not forget, the FAA bill was approved freestanding by the Senate on a vote of 92 to one. However, the House refused to even conference with the Senate on the bill. This is not an insignificant issue. As I noted earlier, just ask the people of North and South Dakota who were effectively paralyzed because of one airline.
Competition is the principle upon which our free market economy is based.
The omnibus appropriations bill blocks pro-consumer airline competition guidelines, which were recently proposed by the Department of Transportation. During these six months we will seize the momentum we developed this year to enact aviation competition legislation. We will also be examining additional pro-competition issues. It is too important to our country, to consumers and to the principles of our free market economy to look the other way.