Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to address the Senate's ongoing effort to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. The bill before us today was described in the Washington Post as ``one of the most passenger-friendly FAA reauthorization bills in a generation'' thanks to its robust new consumer protections. But even more importantly, this bill includes strong new security measures that address the threat ISIS and other terrorist groups pose to airline passengers. In the wake of the Brussels attacks, travelers are understandably nervous about the threats they face when flying, especially given terrorists' preference for targeting transportation. Here in the Senate, we are doing everything we can to address that threat. I am proud that this bill includes new protections to prevent an attack like the one in Brussels from happening at a U.S. airport. The FAA Reauthorization Act includes the most comprehensive set of aviation security reforms since President Obama first took office. To prevent airport insiders from helping terrorists, we have included measures to improve scrutiny of individuals applying to work in secure airport areas. This is especially critical as many experts believe the bombing of a Russian passenger jet leaving Egypt had help from an aviation insider. We have also included provisions to better safeguard public areas outside security in airports and to help reduce passenger backups.…”