Another letter against the proposed bill

Sent to my Ohio Representative

I am writing to you regarding the bill H. R. 5035 introduced by Mr.
Weiner. This bill seeks to curtail one of the fundamental freedoms we
enjoy in this country. It attempts to severely limit the freedom of
general aviation pilots, and eliminate it entirely in larger cities. If
the bill is passed, every passenger of every aircraft will have to be
screened just like a commercial airline, and no flying will be permitted
over large cities. I doubt Mr. Weiner has any experience or knowledge
about how our national air traffic system operates. This bill is so
ridiculous, it could easily pass for a joke. The proposal is not much
different than asking every driver to screen their passengers and to
stop driving in large cities. There are almost 20,000 landing facilities
in this country, but only a tiny fraction of them are designed to serve
the airlines. General aviation accounts for over 80% of the number of
departures and landings, and over 50% of all the flight hours flown. The
cost of implementing a security screening system at every one of the
20,000 landing facilities would be enormous.

As you know, Ohio has a proud aviation heritage that started 100 years
ago. It continues today in the hundreds of small airports all over the
state. I urge you to visit one of the small airports in your area, and
see for yourself the level of commercial activities taking place. The
passage of this bill will be very expensive for Ohio, not only through
the direct shutdown of small airports and the loss of jobs, but also
through the elimination of indirect commercial activities generated by
these airports. Furthermore, there is no evidence that this bill
improves our national security. I am sure you are aware that this action
would not have prevented the 9/11 attacks. In fact, this bill could
actually compromise our national security. Since almost all pilots
initially start their training at small airports, this bill would
virtually eliminate our supply of pilots, and our national airlines
would have to look for pilots from other countries, posing a risk to our
national security.

I strongly urge you to vote against this bill. The passage of this bill
will be a national embarrassement, enormously costly and many Ohio jobs
will be lost.