Congresswoman Jean Schmidt is getting some real traction from her work on flight delays. This is a good example of how someone sitting in the minority position can use their office. While many Democrats are assuming that defeating her will be a cakewalk, I’m beginning to wonder if she’s getting a hang out of this whole politicing thingy.

She was recently quoted in Time magazine on the subject and yesterday she issued a press release documenting her getting tough with the administration over the issue:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ben LaRocco

Thursday July 5, 2007 Phone (office) 202.225.3164

Schmidt Continues Work on Flight Data Reporting

Schmidt asks Secretary Peters not to wait for Congress to act

Washington, D.C. - With continued public outrage at airline flight delays, Congresswoman Jean Schmidt asked Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters to administratively implement H.R. 2662, her bill to collect data on cancelled and diverted flights.

Currently, flights which experience tarmac delays are not recorded as delayed if the flight is diverted to another airport, or the flight is cancelled before takeoff and returns to the gate. H.R. 2662 would require that all tarmac delays are reported to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. It is estimated that due to this reporting loophole, tarmac delays could be underreported by up to 50%.

“This is a serious problem that needs immediate attention. It seems every day a new story comes out about people who are trapped in a plane for hours on end or travelers who are stranded because of missed, delayed or cancelled flights,” said Schmidt. “Each one of those flights is full of parents trying to get home to their children, loved ones failing to connect, and thousands of dollars of lost commerce due reduced productivity or missed meetings.”

“While I am very pleased Chairman Oberstar included the language from my bill in H.R. 2881, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization bill, but Secretary Peters does not need to wait for this legislation to pass. We need to act now to begin compiling the data to solve this problem, and alleviate these stressful and inconvenient delays,” concluded Schmidt.

One does wonder if this is purely a selfless move on te Congresswoman’s part given how often a sitting member of Congress has to fly.

Nevertheless, Back early on in the special when I was researching then candidate Jean Schmidt, I remember finding occasional glimpses of a competent politician that she seemed to need to hide under a cover of jingoistic parroting of the Republican agenda cum nightmare.

The problem is that while she’s hitting hard on the after taste of the rampant free market she so passionately champions, thousands of American soldiers or fighting and dying in Iraq. If only she could be as hard hitting on that issue, instead of just pinning it to her dress.