Political Quotes

“I would like to first off rise in support of the Oberstar amendment, which I think is a very wise legislative proposal to protect these dollars against being used retroactively; and after an agreement has been reached and a deal struck, a deal should be a deal. I also, though, want to express my concerns about the airport improvement program, the way it is run by the FAA and how it impacts on local communities. There is a community airport in my district in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, called Wings Field. It has been there for many, many years; and it is a community asset. As a county commissioner, when the private owners wanted to sell it, I cooperated with my colleagues to try to create a county authority to buy it so that we could keep it as a community asset and as a valuable transportation program, an asset in our suburban county outside of Philadelphia. The community was concerned about that, did not want it to go into public hands, and that authority was disbanded. The pilots that were using Wings Field then bought the field themselves and have undertaken some improvement programs which I think were meritorious. Specifically, they applied for an airport improvement program grant and received it for about $3 million to extend the runway, which I believe made the airport safer.”