Committees add airline aid to war spending bill
By Kathy Kiely
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON -- Two key congressional committees tacked more than $3 billion in aid for the airline industry onto an emergency war spending bill Tuesday. But to get the assistance, airline executives would have to freeze their pay.
The bipartisan decision raised the price tag of the spending bill to nearly $80 billion. When President Bush sent his emergency war funding request to Capitol Hill last week, he asked for $74.7 billion and included no money for airlines.
''This money is vital. It's a lifesaver for the airline industry,'' said the Senate's deputy Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada.
The packages approved by the House and Senate appropriations committees would require airline companies to freeze top executives' compensation at 2002 levels in order to receive federal funds.
Tom Slocum, a vice president at Delta, which gave executives $17 million in bonuses last year while posting a $1.3 billion loss, defended its compensation program as a way to ''attract, retain and motivate the management team'' as it navigates the airline financial crisis.
The precise size and format of the aid package is still to be determined. The House committee approved a $3.2 billion measure that would rebate to the airlines the passenger and security fees imposed after Sept. 11, 2001.
The Senate's $3.5 billion measure would provide a six-month holiday from the passenger and security fees, $1.5 billion to help defray the costs of hardened cockpit doors and other security measures added after the Sept. 11 attacks, extend federal ''war risk'' insurance guarantees for one year and give laid-off airline workers an extra 26 weeks of unemployment benefits.
Congress plans to pass the war spending measure and send it to Bush for his signature before April 11.
Of the funding the two committees approved, $62.2 billion would go directly for troops, equipment and ammunition in Iraq. About $4 billion is to beef up security on the home front. There's also about $8 billion in aid for countries that are helping the United States in Iraq and in the war against terrorism.
After impassioned debate, House appropriators rejected an effort to delete $1 billion in aid to Turkey. Supporters of the measure said Turkey should be punished for refusing to let U.S. troops stage there. Opponents said such a gesture would undermine Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is in Turkey on a fence-mending mission.
The House committee rejected another amendment aimed at countries opposed to the Iraq war. The amendment would have prohibited companies in those countries from winning U.S.-funded contracts for postwar reconstruction. One U.S. company, Qualcomm, is competing with a European consortium to be Iraq's cellphone provider.
Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., said the effort would be revived when the full House considers the war spending bill later this week.
By Kathy Kiely
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON -- Two key congressional committees tacked more than $3 billion in aid for the airline industry onto an emergency war spending bill Tuesday. But to get the assistance, airline executives would have to freeze their pay.
The bipartisan decision raised the price tag of the spending bill to nearly $80 billion. When President Bush sent his emergency war funding request to Capitol Hill last week, he asked for $74.7 billion and included no money for airlines.
''This money is vital. It's a lifesaver for the airline industry,'' said the Senate's deputy Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada.
The packages approved by the House and Senate appropriations committees would require airline companies to freeze top executives' compensation at 2002 levels in order to receive federal funds.
Tom Slocum, a vice president at Delta, which gave executives $17 million in bonuses last year while posting a $1.3 billion loss, defended its compensation program as a way to ''attract, retain and motivate the management team'' as it navigates the airline financial crisis.
The precise size and format of the aid package is still to be determined. The House committee approved a $3.2 billion measure that would rebate to the airlines the passenger and security fees imposed after Sept. 11, 2001.
The Senate's $3.5 billion measure would provide a six-month holiday from the passenger and security fees, $1.5 billion to help defray the costs of hardened cockpit doors and other security measures added after the Sept. 11 attacks, extend federal ''war risk'' insurance guarantees for one year and give laid-off airline workers an extra 26 weeks of unemployment benefits.
Congress plans to pass the war spending measure and send it to Bush for his signature before April 11.
Of the funding the two committees approved, $62.2 billion would go directly for troops, equipment and ammunition in Iraq. About $4 billion is to beef up security on the home front. There's also about $8 billion in aid for countries that are helping the United States in Iraq and in the war against terrorism.
After impassioned debate, House appropriators rejected an effort to delete $1 billion in aid to Turkey. Supporters of the measure said Turkey should be punished for refusing to let U.S. troops stage there. Opponents said such a gesture would undermine Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is in Turkey on a fence-mending mission.
The House committee rejected another amendment aimed at countries opposed to the Iraq war. The amendment would have prohibited companies in those countries from winning U.S.-funded contracts for postwar reconstruction. One U.S. company, Qualcomm, is competing with a European consortium to be Iraq's cellphone provider.
Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., said the effort would be revived when the full House considers the war spending bill later this week.
