Political Quotes

“I offer this amendment to codify the method by which the Secretary of Transportation is to allocate annual formula grants to airports in Puerto Rico for capital development and planning. The amendment is simple and straightforward and serves to clarify current law. It ensures that, at a minimum, the Secretary will allocate formula grants under the Airport Improvement Program to airports in Puerto Rico no differently than the Secretary allocates such grants to other airports throughout the United States. The amendment also ensures that the Secretary will not be precluded for any reason from making project grants to airports in Puerto Rico from the discretionary fund under the Airport Improvement Program. And the amendment makes clear that formula grants and discretionary grants for airports in Puerto Rico should not be deemed mutually exclusive. It is critical to note that the Airport Improvement Program is funded by a variety of user fees and fuel taxes, all of which apply in Puerto Rico. So there is no reasonable basis to treat Puerto Rico less than equally under the program, especially since aviation serves such a critical role on the island. Puerto Rico is a non-contiguous U.S. jurisdiction, located over 1,000 flight miles from the nearest large hub airport in the national air transportation network. Accordingly, Puerto Rico is heavily dependent on safe and reliable air service to carry passengers and transport goods to and from the U.S. mainland.…”