Donald M. Payne: “I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4549, the Treating Small Airports with…”

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4549, the Treating Small Airports with Fairness Act of 2016. Under this act, TSA would be required to provide staffing and screening equipment to any airport that lost commercial air service on or after January 1, 2013, if the operator submits a request to TSA together with a written commitment from a commercial air carrier that such carrier intends to resume service at such airport not later than 1 year after the date on which the request is submitted. It is my understanding that, without this legislation or alternative measures, should commercial service return to the affected airports, the passengers who depart the airport would fly unscreened to their destination and be subject to security screening upon arrival if they have to connect to another destination via commercial air flight. The potential universe of airports that are believed to be implicated by this legislation is over 20, but there are at least 6 airports that are expected to pursue Federal screening operations. {time} 1500 As a member of the Subcommittee on Transportation Security, I believe that it is important that passengers undergo a security screening before boarding commercial flights. As we have heard from TSA and various media reports, this travel season is expected to be the busiest in many years. One of the factors contributing to the long wait times at airports across the Nation is the lack of adequate staffing.…”