Senator fights giving ATC to 'lowest bidder'

• Sen. Frank  Lautenberg (D-N.J) introduced legislation that would require ATC to remain a government function. The bill, S.338, is in response to President Bush’s recent executive order stripping ATC of its “inherently governmental” status and designating it a “commercial” activity, allowing it to be outsourced. Lautenberg argues that ATC privatization in other countries has increased costs and jeopardized safety. “Privatization of ATC is bad fiscal policy, bad safety policy, bad homeland security policy. The safety of our skies should not be put in the hands of the lowest bidder.”