The September 11th attack
Hirono takes state's airline, tourism concerns to D.C.

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono will travel to Washington, D.C. today to testify before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on tourism and meet with U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta to discuss the troubled airline industry.

Gov. Ben Cayetano is also traveling in Japan on a mission to promote Hawai'i. Hirono said Attorney General Earl Anzai will be the acting chief executive while she and Cayetano are gone.

Cayetano is scheduled to return to Hawai'i on Friday.

Hirono said last night she will testify Friday morning before the Consumer Affairs, Foreign Commerce, & Tourism subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

She said she wants to make clear to the committee how severe the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has been on Hawai'i, and to seek federal help.

She said she also intends to propose that the federal government establish some sort of national tourism entity to further the tourism industries interests at the federal level.

Hirono said she requested and was granted a meeting with Mineta, and plans to urge that the Federal Aviation Administration step in to provide some sort of insurance coverage to airlines.

Insurance companies are increasingly pulling out of that market in the wake of the attacks, and Hirono said that poses a serious problem.

Hirono also said she also wants to discuss the movement to federalize airport security, and will argue that the costs of that effort should not be distributed in a way that "disproportionately" weighs on interisland airlines.