Jack Kingston: “Mr. Chairman, I wanted to enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica). First of all, I wanted to…”

“Mr. Chairman, I wanted to enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica). First of all, I wanted to thank the gentleman and the ranking member and all the committee members for what they have done and for the gentleman's leadership on this important legislation. I am proud to be a cosponsor of the bill so I certainly support the gentleman's efforts. Our airline pilots are already entrusted with every passenger on their aircraft, so it stands to reason that they be entrusted to serve as responsible Federal flight deck officers. All we have to do is ensure they receive the proper training, and with that in mind, I would like to request that we clarify the training aspect of the bill. As the chairman knows, the bill states 'the Under Secretary shall base requirements for training on the standards applicable to Federal air marshals.' The Federal air marshals conduct their training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, FLETC. However, this bill simply states that the pilots' training should be conducted at 'a facility approved by the Under Secretary.' Since FLETC is already the approved Federal training facility for the Federal air marshals, I am sure the gentleman would agree that this is appropriate to designate FLETC as an approved training facility for the Federal flight deck officer program.”