[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1362 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1362
To establish a commission to study the airline industry and to
recommend policies to ensure consumer information and choice.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 14, 1999
Mr. Burns introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a commission to study the airline industry and to
recommend policies to ensure consumer information and choice.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Improved Consumer Access to Travel
Information Act''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL COMMISSION TO ENSURE CONSUMER INFORMATION AND CHOICE
IN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the continued success of a deregulated airline system
requires that consumers have full access to complete
information concerning airline fares, routes, and other
services;
(2) the means of distributing information about the
products and services of the airline industry are changing;
(3) during the past 4 years, airlines have begun selling a
larger percentage of their products and services directly to
consumers, and Internet businesses are now offering services
that allow consumers to compare prices for these products and
services;
(4) airline policies with respect to travel agencies, who
historically have sold a majority of the airline industry's
products and services, threaten the ability of consumers to
gather the information necessary to evaluate market prices,
routes, and services; and
(5) further reductions in the number of travel agents and
greater marketplace reliance on direct airline sales may result
in a marketplace in which consumers lack sufficient information
and are thereby forced to pay higher prices.
(b) Establishment.--There is established a commission to be known
as the ``National Commission to Ensure Consumer Information and Choice
in the Airline Industry'' (in this section referred to as the
``Commission'').
(c) Duties.--
(1) Study.--The Commission shall undertake a study of--
(A) consumer access to information about the
products and services of the airline industry;
(B) the effect on the marketplace of the emergence
of new means of distributing such products and
services;
(C) the effect on consumers of the declining
financial condition of travel agents in the United
States; and
(D) the impediments imposed by the airline industry
on distributors of the industry's products and
services, including travel agents and Internet-based
distributors.
(2) Policy recommendations.--Based on the results of the
study described in paragraph (1), the Commission shall
recommend to the President and Congress policies necessary to--
(A) ensure full consumer access to complete
information concerning airline fares, routes, and other
services;
(B) ensure that the means of distributing the
products and services of the airline industry, and of
disseminating information about such products and
services, is adequate to ensure that competitive
information is available in the marketplace;
(C) ensure that distributors of the products and
services of the airline industry have adequate relief
from illegal, anticompetitive practices that occur in
the marketplace; and
(D) foster healthy competition in the airline
industry and the entry of new entrants.
(d) Specific Matters To Be Addressed.--In carrying out the study
authorized under subsection (c)(1), the Commission shall specifically
address the following:
(1) Consumer access to information.--With respect to
consumer access to information regarding the services and
products offered by the airline industry, the following:
(A) The state of such access.
(B) The effect in the 5-year period following the
date of the study of the making of alliances in the
airline industry.
(C) Whether and to what degree the trends regarding
such access will produce benefits to consumers.
(2) Means of distribution.--With respect to the means of
distributing the products and services of the airline industry,
the following:
(A) The state of such means of distribution.
(B) The roles played by travel agencies and
Internet-based providers of travel information and
services in distributing such products and services.
(C) Whether the policies of the United States
promote the access of consumers to multiple means of
distribution.
(3) Airline reservation systems.--With respect to airline
reservation systems, the following:
(A) The rules, regulations, policies, and practices
of the industry governing such systems.
(B) How trends in such systems will affect
consumers, including--
(i) the effect on consumer access to flight
reservation information; and
(ii) the effect on consumers of the use by
the airline industry of penalties and
promotions to convince distributors to use such
systems, and the degree of consumer awareness
of such penalties and promotions.
(4) Legal impediments to distributors seeking relief for
anticompetitive actions.--The policies of the United States
with respect to the legal impediments to distributors seeking
relief for anticompetitive actions, including--
(A) Federal preemption of civil actions against
airlines; and
(B) the role of the Department of Transportation in
enforcing rules against anticompetitive practices.
(e) Membership.--
(1) Appointment.--The Commission shall be composed of 15
voting members and 11 nonvoting members as follows:
(A) 5 voting members and 1 nonvoting member
appointed by the President.
(B) 3 voting members and 3 nonvoting members
appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
(C) 2 voting members and 2 nonvoting members
appointed by the minority leader of the House of
Representatives.
(D) 3 voting members and 3 nonvoting members
appointed by the majority leader of the Senate.
(E) 2 voting members and 2 nonvoting members
appointed by the minority leader of the Senate
(2) Qualifications.--Voting members appointed under
paragraph (1) shall be appointed from among individuals who are
experts in economics, service product distribution, or
transportation, or any related discipline, and who can
represent consumers, passengers, shippers, travel agents,
airlines, or general aviation.
(3) Terms.--Members shall be appointed for the life of the
Commission.
(4) Vacancies.--A vacancy in the Commission shall be filled
in the manner in which the original appointment was made.
(5) Travel expenses.--Members shall serve without pay but
shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of
subsistence, in accordance with subchapter I of chapter 57 of
title 5, United States Code.
(6) Chairperson.--The President, in consultation with the
Speaker of the House of Representatives and the majority leader
of the Senate, shall designate the Chairperson of the
Commission (referred to in this Act as the ``Chairperson'')
from among its voting members.
(f) Commission Panels.--The Chairperson shall establish such panels
consisting of voting members of the Commission as the Chairperson
determines appropriate to carry out the functions of the Commission.
(g) Staff.--The Commission may appoint and fix the pay of such
personnel as it considers appropriate.
(h) Staff of Federal Agencies.--Upon request of the Commission, the
head of any department or agency of the United States may detail, on a
reimbursable basis, any of the personnel of that department or agency
to the Commission to assist it in carrying out its duties under this
section.
(i) Other Staff and Support.--Upon the request of the Commission,
or a panel of the Commission, the Secretary of Transportation shall
provide the Commission or panel with professional and administrative
staff and other support, on a reimbursable basis, to assist the
Commission or panel in carrying out its responsibilities.
(j) Obtaining Official Data.--The Commission may secure directly
from any department or agency of the United States information (other
than information required by any statute of the United States to be
kept confidential by such department or agency) necessary for the
Commission to carry out its duties under this section. Upon request of
the Commission, the head of that department or agency shall furnish
such nonconfidential information to the Commission.
(k) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date on which
initial appointments of members to the Commission are completed, the
Commission shall transmit to the President and Congress a report on the
activities of the Commission, including recommendations made by the
Commission under subsection (c)(2).
(l) Termination.--The Commission shall terminate on the 30th day
following the date of transmittal of the report under subsection (k).
All records and papers of the Commission shall thereupon be delivered
by the Administrator of General Services for deposit in the National
Archives.
(m) Applicability of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.--The
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the
Commission.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8506)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce.
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