WASHINGTON -- Three bills designed to improve transportation safety were approved this afternoon overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives, according to Rep. James L. Oberstar, Ranking Democratic Member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The three bills are: National Transportation Safety Board Amendments (H.R. 3159); The Child Pilot Safety Act (H.R. 3267); Airplane Pilot Hiring Safety Act (H.R. 3536).

"Since the first post roads were established more than two centuries ago, the American transportation network has become exponentially more expansive and technologically more complicated. It is the never-ending job of our Committee to keep up with those changes and to get ahead of those challenges. These bills meet some of our current challenges, and I am proud that they were achieved in a spirit of bipartisanship which is traditional when it comes to the safety of the American people," said Oberstar.

The National Transportation Safety Board has the responsibility to investigate transportation accidents in all areas of surface transportation - from highways to railroads - aviation, waterways, and pipelines. Highlights of H.R. 3159 include reauthorizing the Board through 1999, increasing the term of the Chair from two to four years, prohibiting the Board from releasing sensitive materials for two years in connection with overseas accidents, and allowing the Board to charge training fees to other agencies. H.R. 3159 as amended would authorize a total of $133.5 million over three years, including $42 million in Fiscal Year 1997, $44.5 million in FY 1998, and $45 million in FY 1999.

"I am extremely pleased that H.R. 3159 goes beyond merely reauthorizing the Board and making some good refinements in its mission. Here we make it possible to hire more investigators, which had sadly been a bone of contention in Committee consideration and voted down along party lines. Our new bipartisan agreement will make it possible to raise the NTSB workforce by 20 to a total staff of 370. That's still a mighty small workforce to fulfill the Board's immense safety mandate. But it is a step in the right direction," Oberstar explained.

"The other two pieces of legislation approved today are no less important. H.R. 3267 grew out of the tragic aircraft accident which took the life of seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff in April. This bill will make it unlikely that another child pilot will fall victim to a record-setting stunt which could cost lives, and it will do so without discouraging the interest of young Americans to become pilots," Oberstar commented, noting that children could still l take flying lessons with a qualified instructor but only persons over 17 year old with a pilot's license will be allowed to operate aircraft in competitive events.

"Finally, H.R. 3536 creates a system to share airline pilot performance records while also incorporating protections for pilots, such as the ability to correct records, to know when those records are being transferred, and to seek damages when a record has been knowingly falsified. The bill also requires the Federal Aviation Administration to develop physical and intellectual training and testing standards for pilots and to study whether the existing minimum flight time standard of 250 hours is sufficient to receive a commercial pilot's license," Oberstar explained.

"Each of these bills have one critical concern in common: the safety of American people. They embody common sense and make wise policy investments in the welfare of the traveling public. That is our job, and I hope that we can reach quick agreement with our colleagues in the Senate to send these measures to the President as soon as possible," Oberstar concluded.