James Oberstar: “I am fully willing to support the forward-looking part of this bill, because I think we ought to do this, but I can't…”

“I am fully willing to support the forward-looking part of this bill, because I think we ought to do this, but I can't have a reachback provision. It is just not good national policy. And this is not partisan, I say to the gentleman. This is a matter of principle. Is it a penalty for an airport authority to ask that authority to live up to an agreement they signed, eyes wide open? Is it likewise fair to other airports who complied with the law, who met the benefit-cost analysis, who complied with all the provisions, some of which are excluded from these reimbursement airports under this language, complied with all the provisions of law, to come back and say to a select group of airports, no, you can be reimbursed without having to comply with the full range of Federal law and without having to meet the cost-benefit analysis? In fact, there are at least five of these airports that under no stretch of the imagination can meet the benefit-cost analysis.”