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HELICOPTER AIR SERVICE PROGRAM
THURSDAY, MARCH 11,1965

U.S SENATE,
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION,
Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met at 10 o'clock a.m., in Room 5110, New Senate Office Building, the Honorable A.S. Mike Monroney (chair-man of the subcommittee) presiding.

Senator HART (presiding). The subcommittee will be in order. Our Chairman has been delayed by one of these unavoidable office appointments. A person can't walk out on them. He has asked that the hearing be opened, particularly in view of the fact that our first witness is the senior Senator from Wisconsin, Senator Proxmire, who also has a schedule that defies any management consultant to give counsel on.
 
Senator, we are delighted you came. I know that senator Moroney will himself tell you how sorry he was that he was unable to be here. 

Senator PROXMIRE. Thank very much, Senator. I do appreciate your accommodating me. It is most helpful.

STATMENT OF THE HONORABLE WILLIAM PROXMIRE, U.S.
SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF WISCONSIN

Senator PROXMIRE, Mr. Chairman, I am appearing today in support of President Johnson's decision to eliminate helicopter subsidies from the fiscal 1966 budget. 

I think the helicopter subsidy is the most conspicuous example of a frill that we have in all of our Federal spending programs. What does it do? It supports and subsidizes helicopter flights to save 20 minutes to half an hour, in some cases 45 minutes, for a tiny percentage of the relatively small percentage of the American people who regularly fly. Only about one person out of seven in our society flies regularly on commercial routes, and only about one person in 1000 ever takes a helicopter flight. 

Who are those people who take these helicopter flights? They are persons with good income, in most cases certainly in the top 1 percent of the nation.  If any Americans should pay their own way they should. On the other hand, if the argument is that no one would use the service if the full cost is charged, then why in the world should anyone use it? 

If the 20 minutes to half hour or 1 hour saved isn't worth it $20-$25 of full cost of the helicopter flight to the user, then this is the essence of waste, the misallocation of resources, as Budget Director Gordon has so well put it.

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