Richard Shelby: “the bill also provides $1.7 billion for airport improvement grants, which is $700 million more than the administration…”

“the bill also provides $1.7 billion for airport improvement grants, which is $700 million more than the administration requested. In total, this bill contains $30.1 billion for investment in infrastructure that the public uses, that is, highways, transit, airports, and railroads. That represents an 8-percent increase over the administration's request. This legislation will improve safety: It provides an 11-percent increase in funds to improve highway safety and will permit FAA to hire an additional 235 aviation safety inspectors and 500 air traffic controllers. Major changes in the bill as a result of conference deliberations include the addition of $150 million in transit operating assistance and reductions of less than 1 percent in the multi-billion dollar FAA and Coast Guard operating accounts. The Senate accommodated requests we received from Senators as fully as we could. In conference, of course, we had to accommodate requests from Members of both the Senate and House with no increase in funds over the Senate bill to cover these requests. That was a very difficult process. We tried to be fair and balanced in our treatment of Members' requests.”