Air travel is by every measure the safest form of travel, but the aging of our nation's airports continues to put more strain on the system.

H.R. 302 does not lift the $4.50 federal cap on the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC), which would have generated more revenue for critical airfield construction.

I would like to take a moment to provide an update on the important work this committee is undertaking

I introduced a bill with Representative Massie on this, and we had a bipartisan bill.

Thank you for holding this important hearing on airport infrastructure as you develop and advance what we hope will be a comprehensive infrastructure package that includes new investments in the nation's airports.

I look forward to hearing about the status of the nation's airport infrastructure and how Congress can help to ensure robust investment now and into the future.

These decisions we make today matter; they reverberate well into the future.

Today, we are sending a bipartisan letter to the FAA urging the agency to engage an independent, third-party review of Boeing's proposed changes to the 737 MAX.

We are eager to hear from anyone who can help.

I think it is an arbitrary Government price control.

Airports must be empowered to make our own decisions.

On March 19, 2019, Chairman DeFazio and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Rick Larsen asked DOT IG to investigate the certification process for the Boeing 737 MAX.

When we get too close to the wire on passing an authorization--or when the amount or availability of Federal funding becomes uncertain with Continuing Resolutions and government shutdowns--it has real effects on stalling highway and…

the President's budget, which again proposes, you know, cuts pretty much across the board in transportation

The hearing demonstrated once again that there is near unanimous support among stakeholders for finding real revenues.

It is going to be the first 21st-century authorization, and it will be different than the repetitive things we have done, building on the Eisenhower legacy.

I did, after a long battle, get a provision in the bill that says any additional real funds allocated by Congress will immediately flow through the policies in this bill.

Travel generates $1.1 trillion in direct spending, produces $2.5 trillion in total economic output and supports 15.7 million--or one out of every 10--American jobs.

talks about the fairy dust of leveraging $200 billion of Federal money into $1 trillion of investment, something we all know is impossible.

We must find a solution immediately to a very real and very looming funding crisis in order to make reauthorization possible.

Let me be clear--this is the opposite of raising real revenue.

Unfortunately, inadequate federal investment in America's travel infrastructure has increased congestion across all modes of transportation.

On March 13, 2019, Chairman Peter A. DeFazio and Subcommittee on Aviation Chairman Rick Larsen launched an investigation by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure into the certification of the Boeing 737 MAX.

It is important to remember that in the days before enactment of the Clean Water Act, our nation's waters were so polluted that they typically were unsafe for swimming, were unable to support life, or they literally caught fire.

It was a great investment by the Federal Government, and other communities certainly need that partnership.