Nothing like a bit of theater to sell your legislation.
Reps. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and Jerry Costello, D-Ill., held a news conference Tuesday to promote their “Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace” (HANG UP) Act, which would ban cell phone use on airplanes.
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Now that the European Union has allowed airborne cell use, the sponsors are concerned that U.S. carriers will soon
follow suit.
No sooner did DeFazio begin his statement than, as if on cue, an array of cell phones began ringing in the pockets of those inthe front row. “See what I mean?” DeFazio asked.
In reality, it was on cue. The entire thing had been staged.
“We had it arranged,” said Molly Simmons, DeFazio’s press secretary, who explained that she had put six staffers from DeFazio’s personal office and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on the case.
“I instructed them to be loud and obnoxious, which they were, successfully,” she said.
