chairman lobiondo, mr. schuster, members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear today to discuss the issues that are related icon before this body today wearing a number of path that i've collected over the years almost five decades in aviation. those hats are a current airline executive, former administrator of the faa, former president of an airline union and a commercial airline pilot. because of my former lives, if you would, in aviation i think i offer a unique perspective on a number of these issues. first and foremost, i am here today as a senior executive from southwest airlines. southwest is as you may note the nation largest domestic carrier in terms of carrying passengers in a country roughly 150 million passenger customers annually with a combination of low fares, no annoying fees and a friendly customer service developed by outstanding people at a safe and reliable operation. we operate a southwest a fleet of over 700 boeing 737 aircraft operating nearly 4000 flights a day

lobiondo and lois capps. i'm impressed with the hard work that the staff and chairman and ranking members do to bring this legislation forward. my amendment would simply increase the amount of money available for lung cancer 12 rch by $2 million from to 14, in the hope that we can do better. $2 million i know is but a dent in the defense operations budget, but it is a source of great hope and great promise for people struggling with lung cancer. the most deadly of all cancers. 159,000 people, including many veterans are victims of that each year. i think so many of you know that my daughter katherine was diagnosed sometime ago with an advanced staged form of lung cancer and i would be remiss if i didn't thank my colleagues for their prayers, support and support for this medical research to give hope to the victims of lung cancer for the future, because but for the money that this congress has appropriated, my daughter wouldn't be experiencing the hope that she has for her recovery and with this additional ame