let me acknowledge that you and others have, senator kennedy's unwav unwavering personal and professional commitment to try to address the issue of healthcare in this country, making sure all americans have adequate healthcare. and obviously it is with considerable reyet he is not here today to participate in this because he is an exceptional force on this issue and somebody we all admire. i also thank you, mr. chairman for picking up the mail and getting on this issue a

member airlines but for our 60,000 highly trained professionals are total unwavering commitment to safety. -- our total unwavering commitment to safety. let's make sure this post accident process does not have to be repeated. we will take whatever steps are necessary so that our flight crews and aircraft are safe as humanly possible. the safety of our nation skies is a shared responsibility. at monday's faa summit, five of our regional airline ceos joined with federal agencies, major airlines, and union representatives to candidly explore all of the issues making headlines over these past few months. regional airlines have but one objective, and that is to prevent any future accidents. as we do that, as this committee has noted, it is important keep our perspective and reassure the american public that flying is extremely safe. in fact, until this recent tragedy, commercial airlines had gone the longest time in aviation history without a fatal accident. working collectively, rolling up our sleeves, with all parties, government, labour, and manufacturers, airlines have steadily improved their safety record of the