Political Quotes

“Mr. President, on Monday, the Democrat leader came down to the floor to discuss the continuing resolution the House proposed, and he criticized it for, among other things, making ``no attempt to reauthorize the FAA.'' Making ``no attempt to reauthorize the FAA.'' Well, apparently it slipped the Democrat leader's mind that the Senate is currently making no attempt to reauthorize the FAA either. That is right. It has been 97 days since the Democrat chair of the Commerce Committee halted consideration of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization at the beginning of the scheduled markup because the Democrat leader objected to a bipartisan amendment that Senator Sinema and I planned to offer--an amendment to improve aviation safety by implementing a structured, rigorous training program for prospective airline pilots. Current training requirements for airline pilots require 1,500 hours of flight time, primarily in the cockpit, although military pilots and those with a bachelor's or associate's degree in aviation can receive credit for some of those hours. I recognize the value of cockpit experience and see time in real aircraft as an essential part of training airline pilots, but those 1,500 hours alone are not always the ideal preparation for flying commercial jets or training truly well-rounded pilots.…”