James Oberstar: “I thank the gentleman's integrity and his pursuit of a personal and institutional objective. However, this is not an…”

“I thank the gentleman's integrity and his pursuit of a personal and institutional objective. However, this is not an earmark for a project. It is not a designation of a specific venue for an activity. It is an authorization for the Department to make a decision which was done pursuant to the 2004 law, and in this legislation we simply extend what is already in existence as designated by the Secretary. Now, we are very careful in this committee. I will not stand for, in any aviation authorization bill, any specific designations or earmarks. People always want to have an air traffic control tower or center or something else designated in that bill. We keep it out. And we do not have any of those designations in this bill for specific districts for specific Members.”