Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the chairman yielding. I would simply add an observation about the situation that this and other amendments we may be considering today point to with respect to the pending FAA authorization. It is expiring at the end of this fiscal year. Our colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are exploring options to reform the FAA. One of them includes separating the FAA from the Department of Transportation and allowing the FAA more independence over the use of its resources. This is an important time to encourage our colleagues to think very carefully about that, about whether a more independent FAA, one that does not have to rely on annual appropriations, would be as attentive to concerns such as our colleague raises today, concerns about noise, concerns about flight paths. We ought to move very cautiously in this area. I have misgivings about the piecemeal approach, but I believe there is an important message that is being delivered to the leadership of the FAA. I strongly urge the Administrator to ensure the FAA is more attentive to the concerns that are raised by communities when developing their new flight procedures.”