C.L. Otter: “In my 1 minute, Mr. Chairman, I would like to make a couple of points that were already touched on by Mr. Hastings, but…”

“In my 1 minute, Mr. Chairman, I would like to make a couple of points that were already touched on by Mr. Hastings, but are awfully important to the whole idea of the consolidation of TRACON. First off, the FAA has furnished us with rules on cost savings which are just totally unrealistic. Number two, in the Boise airport to which Mr. Hastings referred we have not only general aviation, commercial aviation and the National Guard control out of the Boise tower, but we also have the National Interagency Fire Center, which attacks the wildfires on BLM and Forest Service ground all over the West. And finally, I would say this is such a bad idea, but it would be a terrorist dream. To consolidate all of our air traffic control into one center would be a tremendous target for those folks. And so, with that, Mr. Chairman, once again I thank Mr. Hastings for his leadership on this and for the time. And I would like to offer letters from the Governor, from the National Guard Bureau and also from other interested parties for the record. Mr. Chairman, in support of the amendment offered by Mr. Hastings, the FAA has embarked on a plan to collocate TRACON--radar--facilities from airports around the United States. My colleagues from Idaho and I have had a number of contacts and meeting with FAA on this issue--and still, there are few answers and lots of concerns about the proposed move of the only TRACON located in Idaho--Boise Airport--to collocate facilities at Salt Lake City.…”