"The United States has continued to experience the safest 13 years in the history of airline transportation in America in large part because of the '1,500-hour' minimum requirement for pilot training as passed by Congress in 2010."
"I applaud the FAA, Congress, and the aviation stakeholders for their efforts thus far in helping move the needle in the right direction to develop the U.S. aerospace workforce."
"A deviation from current regulatory practices that have served to produce the safest period of airline travel in the United States since they were implemented represents a major risk to the flying pub..."
"A decade earlier, this Committee also came together, again in bipartisan fashion, to address another crisis in U.S. aviation: the unacceptably high number of airline passenger fatalities."
"It's the first 2-year program of its kind in Tennessee and is poised to help diversify the aviation workforce."
"The reality is that without a robust workforce, planes cannot fly and people cannot travel safely."
"They have continued working with HBCUs to break down barriers for Black students."
"I particularly want to say I am aware of the Colgan family that is here, and that you continue to represent your loved ones who were lost in that terrible, horrific crash."
"We still have the safest, the busiest, and the most successful aviation system in the world."
"I want to thank the full committee Chairman Sam Graves for working with us and helping to identify the hearing topics."
"Without that, we can't have the airlines as they should be."