July 30, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 135 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page H3992]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             ENSURING SAFETY FOR THE AMERICAN FLYING PUBLIC

  (Mr. HIGGINS of New York asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS of New York. Mr. Speaker, August 1 marks the 10th 
anniversary of Congress passing landmark legislation to ensure one 
level of safety for the American flying public.
  The success of this legislation belongs to the courageous advocacy of 
the families of flight 3407, who lost their loved ones in a tragic 
plane crash in Clarence, New York, in 2009. These families lost sons 
and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, friends and 
loved ones. No one would have blamed them had they gone on to live 
their lives in quiet solitude. They did not do that.
  They turned their personal tragedy into a life-giving force, a 
citizen army to fight for change so that what happened to them would 
not happen to others. These families were relentless, pushing Congress 
to strengthen pilot training standards, as the National Transportation 
Safety Board found pilot error was responsible for the crash. The 
families did not blame the pilots, for they, too, were victims. They 
attacked the system that allowed pilots who were ill-trained to fly 
planes.
  There is still much work to be done, but today we honor and express 
our graduate to the good and courageous families of flight 3407.

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