Durbin: State, not feds, should handle O'Hare expansion WASHINGTON (AP) =97 Acknowledging its defeat like never before, Sen. Dick=20 Durbin virtually closed the door Thursday on the prospects of Congress=20 adopting legislation to help pave the way for expansion of Chicago's O'Hare= =20 International Airport. Durbin, the Senate's chief sponsor of the O'Hare=20 measure, said the political realities of the opposition led by fellow=20 Illinois Sen. Peter Fitzgerald dictate that airport supporters have to seek= =20 help from the State Capitol in Springfield. With Republican Fitzgerald by=20 his side at a constituent breakfast, Democrat Durbin explained that the=20 issue of airport expansion has moved from Washington to Springfield not out= =20 of preference but out of necessity. "It was stopped by my colleague, here,= =20 in the Senate," Durbin said in answer to a question. Asked later if he was= =20 putting the official nail on the coffin for his O'Hare legislation, Durbin= =20 said, "I don't know how official it is, but it's my opinion, and things can= =20 change, but I think that's the current state." The O'Hare legislation was designed to cement into federal law an agreement= =20 reached in December 2001 by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and then Gov.=20 George Ryan for a $6.6 billion expansion and modernization of O'Hare, the=20 nation's busiest airport. The bill would not have guaranteed federal=20 funding, but it would have barred future Illinois governors from using an=20 unusual Illinois law to block expansion. Illinois law gives the governor=20 the right to veto new runways. Daley has said he needs assurance that the=20 state law would not be used by a governor to block the airport expansion=20 project after billions were already spent. The O'Hare project could take=20 more than a decade to complete. Using the threat of a Senate filibuster,=20 Fitzgerald has opposed the O'Hare bill in Congress and opposed O'Hare=20 expansion on grounds that many suburban residents oppose it and that it=20 would jeopardize prospects for a new regional airport in Chicago's south=20 suburbs, near Peotone. Durbin had in the past argued that he might find a way around Fitzgerald's= =20 opposition to advance the O'Hare measure, contending that he had more than= =20 the 60 votes necessary to end any filibuster. But Durbin concedes it is a=20 lost cause now. Illinois' new governor, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, a strong= =20 supporter of O'Hare expansion, has said he would be willing to have state=20 lawmakers change the state law so that he or a successor could not stall or= =20 undo O'Hare expansion. A Blagojevich spokesman repeated that Thursday.=20 Fitzgerald said through his spokesman that the proper venue for debating=20 repeal of the state law is the Illinois General Assembly. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.tha.gov.tt/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************