E662 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks May 1, 2014 In a quintessential American story, 15-year- chael Ferriter, Assistant Chief of Staff for In- cerest appreciation and best wishes to Lieu- old Joseph Dager came to America from Leb- stallation Management and Commanding Gen- tenant Michael Ferriter, a ‘‘Soldier’s anon in 1903 without knowing a word of eral, Installation Management Command, for Soldier,’’ and Mrs. Ferriter, upon the occasion English. Eleven years later he started his ice his distinguished service to the United States of his retirement from a stellar career of 35 cream business in the basement of a local of America. Lieutenant General Ferriter will be years in the . confectionary. His hand-cranked ice cream retiring from the United States Army after f batches set his family and Central Ohio on a nearly 35 years of service. He will be honored RECOMMENDATION TO REJECT path that would make Velvet Ice Cream and at a retirement ceremony on Friday, May 2, NORWEGIAN AIR INTER- Central Ohio famous. 2014 at 10:00 a.m. at McGinnis-Wickham Hall NATIONAL’S APPLICATION FOR A Although they no longer hand-crank ice at , Georgia. FOREIGN AIR OPERATORS CER- cream in a basement, the company strives to LTG Ferriter graduated from The Citadel in TIFICATE maintain its connection to those by-gone Charleston, South Carolina in May 1979, and years. In homage to Velvet’s adherence to old was commissioned in the Infantry as a Second time values and tradition, Velvet is now Lieutenant. After the Infantry Officer Basic HON. RICHARD M. NOLAN housed in a refurbished grist mill from the Course, his first troop assignment was Platoon OF MINNESOTA 1800s. The ‘‘Ye Olde Mill’’ now manufactures Leader, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, Fort IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ice cream, plays host to thousands of visitors Riley, Kansas. From there, he successfully Thursday, May 1, 2014 and marks the center of activity during each completed numerous command and staff as- Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to annual Utica Sertoma Ice Cream Festival. signments at Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Fort draw the attention of my colleagues concerned Thousands stream into Utica each year for Lewis, Washington; Fort Benning, Georgia; about our nation’s aviation industry and the the festival. Having attended many myself, I and , North Carolina. delicate balance in our international relations know the joy locals and outsiders alike find in LTG Ferriter’s first Joint Staff assignment to the pending decision by U.S. Secretary of a bowl of good, old-fashioned ice cream. In a was as Deputy Director for Operations and Transportation Anthony Foxx regarding the ap- way, the festival commemorates the simple Plans before he became Executive Assistant plication of Norwegian Air International for a beginnings of a business started by an immi- to the Commander of the United States Joint Foreign Air Operators Certificate. grant named Joseph Dager. Like so many Forces Command. In June 2004, he was This important issue was addressed with ut- other enterprises, Velvet Ice Cream started called to duty as Assistant Division Com- most clarity recently by my friend, former U.S. humbly but grew into a Central Ohio institu- mander of Operations of the 82d Airborne Di- Congressman Jim Oberstar in the following tion. America is richer for Velvet’s founder’s vision at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He com- letter to Secretary Foxx. Jim Oberstar served contributions to our country and Central Ohio- pleted a combat tour in Operation Restore in the U.S. House from 1975 to 2011 and was ans are grateful he chose to settle here. Hope in Somalia with the 3rd Battalion, 75th for many years Chairman of the House Trans- As the fourth generation of the Dager family Ranger Regiment; two tours in Iraq as Deputy portation and Infrastructure Committee. He is carries Joseph Dager’s legacy into its 2nd Commanding General (Operations), Multi-Na- known as the nation’s leading expert on Do- century, Central Ohio proudly celebrates one tional Corps, Iraq; and one tour as Deputy mestic and International Transportation issues. man’s vision, hard work and sweet legacy. Commanding General (Advising and Training), Former Congressman Oberstar urges Sec- f United States Forces—Iraq. retary Foxx to reject the Norwegian Air Inter- The Second Congressional District of Geor- national Application. HONORING DANIEL PUGH gia gained a respected and compassionate APRIL 28, 2014. leader when LTG Ferriter was appointed Com- Hon. ANTHONY FOXX, HON. SAM GRAVES manding General of the United States Army Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, OF MISSOURI Infantry Center and the Maneuver Center of New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC. DEAR MR. SECRETARY: I have watched with IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Excellence at Fort Benning. He became a great interest the public debate over the ap- Thursday, May 1, 2014 close friend and confidant as he served in my plication of Norwegian Air International Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I district and when he was appointed Assistant (NAI) for a foreign air operator’s certificate Chief of Staff for Installation Management and from the U.S. Department of Transportation proudly pause to recognize Daniel Pugh. (DOT). As a former chairman of the House Danny is a very special young man who has Commanding General, Installation Manage- ment Command, he demonstrated tremendous Transportation and Infrastructure Com- exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship mittee, it is my strongly held view that the support for the Congressional Military Family and leadership by taking an active part in the approval of NAI’s application would run con- Boy Scouts of America, Troop 177, and earn- Caucus, which I co-chair with Congresswoman trary to the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agree- ing the most prestigious award of Eagle Scout. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R–WA). LTG ment and the labor article embodied in the Danny has been very active with his troop, Ferriter and Mrs. Ferriter graciously partici- agreement, and contrary to the best inter- ests of U. S. commercial aviation. I respect- participating in many scout activities. Over the pated in the CMFC’s annual Military Family Summit held at Fort Benning in 2012, dem- fully urge you to reject NAI’s application. many years Danny has been involved with During my 36 years of service in the U.S. scouting, he has not only earned numerous onstrating strong support for our nation’s mili- House of Representatives on the committee merit badges, but also the respect of his fam- tary families. of jurisdiction over international aviation ily, peers, and community. Most notably, LTG Ferriter’s service to his country is but trade issues, I witnessed dramatic changes in Danny has contributed to his community a small testament of the high caliber of char- the U.S. and global airline industries. Begin- acter that he embodies. As the head of a fam- ning with deregulation in 1978 and con- through his Eagle Scout project. Danny tinuing through the modern era of mergers, cleaned and cleared a city lot near the town ily heavily involved in the military, he recog- nizes the challenges that face service mem- code sharing, anti-trust-immunized alli- square in Bowling Green, Missouri, that had ances, and expansive Open Skies agreements, bers, veterans and military families across the been abandoned for a decade. much of the airline industry today is glob- Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in nation. Throughout his tenure, he has worked ally interconnected; U.S. airlines and their commending Daniel Pugh for his accomplish- tirelessly to find and implement solutions to employees are directly impacted by the ac- ments with the Boy Scouts of America and for these challenges. tions of foreign competitors more than ever LTG Ferriter has certainly excelled in all before. During my tenure of watchfulness his efforts put forth in achieving the highest areas of life, but none of this would be pos- over the U.S. aviation industry, I sought to distinction of Eagle Scout. sible without the love and support of his wife, ensure that liberalization was pursued in bi- f lateral agreements which assured a balance Margie Ferriter. LTG Ferriter’s motivation also of benefits with our international trade part- IN RECOGNITION OF LIEUTENANT comes from being a role model to his four chil- ners, protecting the integrity, safety, and GENERAL MICHAEL FERRITER dren Dr. Meghan Ferriter, MAJ Dan Ferriter, competitiveness of the U.S. aviation system. CPT Paddy Ferriter, and former CPT Mary In the early 1990s, the U.S. government HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR. Whitney Whittaker. Mary Whitney and her hus- began negotiating bilateral Air Transport, or band, Garret, are the proud parents of Parker, Open Skies agreements that were intended OF GEORGIA to open aviation markets, promote competi- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES LTG Ferriter’s and Margie’s first grandchild. tion and tourism, create jobs and increase Mr. Speaker, today I ask my colleagues to Thursday, May 1, 2014 consumer choice for international travel. join me, my wife, Vivian, the nearly 700,000 These Open Skies agreements are quali- Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise people in Georgia’s 2nd Congressional Dis- tatively different from other trade agree- today to pay tribute to Lieutenant General Mi- trict, and all Americans, in extending our sin- ments which deal with services in that they

VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:59 May 02, 2014 Jkt 039060 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\K01MY8.018 E01MYPT1 tjames on DSK3TPTVN1PROD with REMARKS May 1, 2014 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E663 are almost exclusively bilateral. As such, Today, in light of NAI’s application for a EU Open Skies Agreement in a productive they reflect a balance of benefits for the U.S. foreign air operator’s certificate, as well as and responsible manner. and our trade partner, often with in-country the plethora of public comments that the With this background, I believe that this is and beyond operating rights, and they are DOT has received on this application, I be- an important inflection point for how we as overseen by the Departments of State, lieve that the inclusion of Article 17 bis and a nation project and secure America’s role in Transportation, and Justice, rather than the the concerns that led to its inclusion were the global aviation marketplace. The nego- United States Trade Representative. Given particularly prescient. tiators for both sides in the U.S.-EU Open the complexity and size of the U.S. aviation Mr. Secretary, you and the DOT Inter- Skies Agreement negotiations understood market—which accounts for over half of the national policy staff are familiar with the the risks and adverse consequences that irre- world’s aviation marketplace—retention of details of NAI’s application and business sponsible liberalization could pose to the air- this model is necessary to ensure that the model, but key facts are worth repeating: line industries and workforces on both sides exchange in air traffic rights is done in a NAI is a subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle of the Atlantic. They resisted deliberate ef- way that promotes strong safety, labor and (NAS), a low-cost European carrier based out forts to dismantle the U.S. ownership and working condition standards, while also en- of Norway. When Norway became a signatory control and cabotage laws, and they in- suring an equitable competitive environment of the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement in cluded, for the first time ever, a labor article for U.S. airlines. Critical to achieving this 2011, NAS was afforded the same access to air in the final agreement. In doing so, they goal has long been the continued enforce- traffic rights under that agreement as other made an unmistakable statement that the ment of U.S. foreign ownership and control EU carriers. Rather than expand its oper- terms of competition must not be set by and cabotage laws, along with strong U.S. ations with its existing corporate structure, those who would seek to gain an unfair ad- DOT and DOJ regulatory oversight. its workforce and collective bargaining vantage at the expense of quality jobs and The negotiation of the U.S.-EU Open Skies agreements, NAS created NAI and proceeded high labor standards. agreement, which began in the middle of the to register its long-haul aircraft in Ireland The Department should implement the last decade, presented many unique chal- and obtain an Irish Air Operator’s Certifi- Agreement in the spirit of Article 17 bis and lenges. While the European Union is an eco- cate—effectively becoming an Irish airline concern for both fair competition and bal- nomic and political union of 28 member despite the fact that it has no announced anced trade benefits. Were NAI to be allowed states, each of these states has retained its plans to operate in Ireland. to operate as proposed, the dynamic of trans- This move allowed NAS to expand its long- respective governmental aviation regulatory atlantic aviation competition will be haul operations through NAI, but also to es- authority. Therefore, rather than dealing changed for the worse, creating a situation cape Norway’s social laws and to evade exist- with a single aviation regulatory body and where Flags of Convenience become the ing collective bargaining agreements with one set of labor and social laws as we had norm, not the exception. its Norwegian pilots and flight attendants. with previous agreements, we were dealing I urge you to reject the NAT application, For example, NAI’s pilots are based in Thai- with multiple aviation regulatory authori- and thereby uphold the spirit and intent of land and employed under individual employ- ties and sets of labor and social laws. While the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement and Arti- ment contracts that are covered by the laws there are base standards for safety and labor cle 17 bis. Thank you for your consideration of Singapore. These pilots are then con- laws, the individual nation-state laws still of my views on this vital international avia- tracted to NAI. The individual employment differ widely. tion policy issue. Given the unique nature of negotiating contracts prevent collective bargaining, and Sincerely, with the EU, many of my colleagues and I allow NAI to drastically reduce labor costs JIM OBERSTAR, M.C. were concerned about proposed changes in and gain an unfair competitive advantage regulatory structure that would allow any over U.S. and European carriers who cur- f EU airline to operate from any point in the rently operate in the transatlantic market. OUR UNCONSCIONABLE NATIONAL EU to any point in the U.S. and to establish The workforce arrangement for flight at- subsidiaries in other EU states. Despite this tendants is still evolving, but what I have DEBT ‘‘European status’’ for operating and cor- learned is that NAI is hiring and basing its porate rights, there was no EU-wide law that cabin crewmembers outside of its home HON. MIKE COFFMAN governed key labor-management relations country in what is clearly a plan to secure OF COLORADO aspects of these airlines. Instead, these as- substandard wages and working conditions pects—such as selection of bargaining rep- and to blatantly evade its collective bar- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES resentatives and contract negotiations— gaining obligations in Norway. NAI is pur- Thursday, May 1, 2014 were, and continue to be, subject to the na- suing, quite simply, what in maritime law is tional labor laws of the respective European called a ‘‘Flag of Convenience’’ strategy. Mr. COFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, on January countries. NAI has not denied that it registered in 20, 2009, the day President Obama took of- During the negotiations, EU representa- Ireland to avoid the application of Nor- fice, the national debt was tives expressed concern that such an ar- wegian labor laws to its crews. Other eco- $10,626,877,048,913.08. rangement could lead to ‘‘forum shopping’’ nomic justifications presented for selecting Today, it is $17,447,321,527,551.15. We’ve where European airlines would seek to oper- Ireland over other possible places to incor- added $6,820,444,478,638.07 to our debt in 5 ate out of countries with less robust labor porate, the validity of which also have been and social laws. This could allow airlines to effectively rebutted by several opponents, years. This is over $6.8 trillion in debt our na- seek the lowest common denominator in appear to be intended to distract from this tion, our economy, and our children could terms of labor and regulatory standards central and undisputed motivation. The com- have avoided with a balanced budget amend- thereby lowering their own operating costs pany is thus taking advantage of the oppor- ment. but driving down standards throughout the tunities provided by the U.S.-EU Open Skies f EU. In other words, the EU was concerned Agreement in order to lower its own labor that new airlines could be launched using a costs and undercut the competition, the very HONORING CARMEN VELASQUEZ NAI-like business model. scenario that EU negotiators feared when OF CHICAGO FOR HER LIFETIME This concern led negotiators to include in Article 17 bis was included in the U.S.-EU OF SERVICE TO THE UNDER- the agreement Article 17 bis (‘‘Social Dimen- agreement. SERVED LATINO COMMUNITY IN sion’’), which states that ‘‘the opportunities I believe that the evidence and arguments created by the Agreement are not intended submitted in the public docket provide the CHICAGO to undermine labour standards or the labour- Department with ample justification to deny related rights and principles contained in the the application. HON. RAUL RUIZ Parties’ respective laws.’’ It further states During my years of service on the House OF CALIFORNIA that ‘‘the principles in paragraph 1 shall Committee on Transportation and Infra- guide the Parties as they implement the structure, conducting vigorous oversight of IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Agreement.’’ The fact that there was no international aviation trade, I learned that Thursday, May 1, 2014 equivalent to Article 17 bis in any of the pre- liberalization and market expansion could vious Open Skies agreements with EU mem- provide numerous benefits to consumers, Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to rec- ber states is a direct acknowledgement of open business opportunities for U.S. carriers ognize a dear friend of mine, Carmen the challenges posed by the regulatory and and create jobs. But I also observed that ef- Velasquez of Chicago as she retires from her legal arrangement within the EU. fective market expansion required the position of executive director at Alivio Medical Article 17 bis was a critical factor in the thoughtful and careful approach of balancing Center, for her incredible dedication to the ‘‘Agreement’’. I applauded its inclusion as an reduced trade barriers with the assurance of medical community and the underserved important and necessary step in protecting fair competition and the public interest. We against the use of market-opening aviation understand the strategic and economic sig- Latino community of Chicago. trade agreements to lower labor standards nificance of the U.S. airline industry to our Carmen devoted her life to the care of oth- throughout the transatlantic aviation mar- nation’s well-being, and further understand ers in her community, advocating for health, ket: the largest aviation trade market in the the unique challenges inherent in imple- education, civil rights, and equitable heath ac- world. menting the expansive and complicated U.S.- cess for all in Chicago. As founder of the

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