Virginia Foxx: “The President's Federal Aviation Administration could use a little help. Faced with the task of trimming its budget only…”

“The President's Federal Aviation Administration could use a little help. Faced with the task of trimming its budget only 5 percent--basically, just returning to 2010 spending levels--it has decided to furlough employees and cause flight delays. How can this be their only option when the FAA's budget has grown almost 110 percent over the past 15 years? Rather than inflicting unnecessary pain on the American people, President Obama and his FAA should be cutting waste. Within the FAA's budget, there are $2.7 billion in nonpersonnel costs that should be scrutinized before the President or his Transportation Secretary cry ``doomsday'' or ``delay.'' Examples include 500 million taxpayer dollars spent by the FAA on consultants, $143 million on operation costs for the FAA's 46 aircraft, and $200 million on supplies and travel. The President's FAA officials have the discretion to reduce such excess and apply savings to the essentials. They should stop punishing the American people with flight delays or threats of shuttered air traffic towers and compromised safety and use the power they have to cut taxpayer-funded waste first. ____________________”