Roy Blunt: “I think by any standard, as we conclude this Congress, the House and Senate, working together, have put more legislation…”

“I think by any standard, as we conclude this Congress, the House and Senate, working together, have put more legislation on the President's desk that has long-term impact than at any time in a long time, whether it was the opioid legislation or healthcare research funding. I want to talk a little bit today about the Federal Aviation Administration extension that, just last week, the Senate passed and the President signed. I believe the 5-year reauthorization is the longest reauthorization since the 1980s. So the traveling public, the FAA itself, the Department of Transportation, and the airline carriers of both people and freight have an understanding of what the next 5 years should look like. One of the things that will happen during the time that begins right now--the Senate and the House listened and the President listened to the traveling public about their concerns about what happens on airplanes and in airports. This is a bill that I worked on in the Aviation Subcommittee, along with Senator Cantwell, Senator Thune, and Senator Nelson. We worked for almost 2 years to get this bill to where it was when the President signed it, to address the safety, security, and comfort of the traveling public. In the wake of consumer complaints about the shrinking seat size on airplanes, the law directs the FAA to set minimum legroom standards and width and length requirements for airline seat size to ensure passenger comfort and safety.…”