my question to you, mr. cullen -- cohen, i believe 50% is being outsourced. how much of that is going to faa certified repair stations? >> is good to clarify some things in the report that i think the hearing in the other body did not quite get straight. 100% of all the maintenance is being done in faa certified maintenance operations. otherwise, it would not be allowed to fly. i think that there is -- if i can't clarify what the study is, the regional airlines outsource less of it overseas than even the mainline carriers do. virtually all the maintenance by the regional airline members is done here in this country, either by himself -- by themselves, on their own, by a certified maintenance operation here in the united states, including our manufacturers which applications in the united states. in miami, tennessee, west virginia. i hope that -- it may be a long way of answering your question. >> i am sure you are aware that it is perfectly acceptable to the faa for the repair work to be done in on certified stations. you are aware of that, right? your mainta

mr. sanford voted in favor of three of the four articles of and be against it in -- mr. cullen. he was in the house of representatives before being elected. geraldine is joining us on independent line from mount pleasant, south carolina. caller: good morning. i object to of the fact that all of the news media and newspapers are focusing more on the fact that what he did to his family, what he did to his sons, that is all well and good. as far as i'm concerned, his private life is his private life. but when it affects the people of south carolina, then it is morally and very objectionable. he left them for five days without a leader, no one knew where he was. he probably would have been gone long. if somebody had not said to him, he was the national object of scorn. but he left us unprotected. no one knew how to get ahold of him. and this is not the first time. when the fires were up and myrtle beach he was not anywhere around. so, to me, that is where the public officials, when they let their private lives interfere with protecting and taking care of the people under their care.

let me thank all of the witnesses and let me cullen senator lautenberg. >> thanks mr. chairman. as we listen to the testimony read you the matters that got us to this point, and investigation we see that the captain of the colgan plight had several test failures. i asked mr. babbitt, how many strikes put you out? should there be a measure there that says look, if we have to squeeze you lafree that's what are you going to do when the pressure is on? i think there ought to be something that says if you can get there it in a couple of turns, you are not fit for this kind of a post. what do you think? >> senator that is an excellent question. let me address that if you would indulge me for a second. there are a couple of things to look at. number one, the regulations require in the carrier standards require training to a level of proficiency. people are human. they have a bad day and you can have a situation where a pilot, a good pilot takes an excellent check ride. i that situations of my own career of taking a check right in parallel with someone and what someone that i knew was a