Political Quotes

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also want to thank particularly the committee leadership, Mr. Carter, Mr. Price, and the staff. They've done an excellent job in trying to put into appropriations language, and amount of money expended, reforms that are long overdue in TSA. I'm pleased to join the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hudson) and my colleague, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), in this bipartisan amendment to restore the $25 million for the Flight Deck Officer program. I can't, for the life of me, understand why the Obama administration would propose to Congress that we zero out one of the most cost- effective mechanisms we have to ensure the safety and security of the flying public. Now, this program costs $25 million, and that's out of a $5 billion expenditure for TSA--$25 million. It is probably the most cost- effective layer of security that we have. Just a few dollars underwriting, again, the expense of training these pilots who have asked for the ability to protect their aircraft themselves and their passengers. We put this in place--everyone was against it. You heard Mr. DeFazio tell the story of this. The Senate was against it. The administration was against it. The airlines were against it. We brought it out here in a demo project, and the House overwhelmingly voted to support this program; and it's done it time and time again because it is cost effective and it's a good layer of security. Now, let me tell you what these pilots do.…”