On the recordMarch 11, 2010
yesterday we made good progress on the bill that is the underlying bill, which is FAA reauthorization. It is in the interest of the traveling public that we start on the glidepath to passing this bill. We need to make progress on amendments. But I have to ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle if they would be very careful about offering amendments that are not germane to this bill. The FAA reauthorization is not a legislative vehicle that can carry a lot of highly controversial provisions. The previous FAA reauthorization expired in 2007. Since then, we have passed 11 short-term extensions and we will be drafting the 12th in the next 2 weeks because the current extension expires at the end of this month. While another extension is likely inevitable, we have to go to the final bill and see if we have the opportunity to pass a final bill in the next 2 weeks. The repeated use of short-term FAA extensions does not provide the long-term stability and funding predictability we should be giving to our airports, the traveling public, and the airlines that are looking at what we are going to be doing with airports. We have to have a predictable roadmap if we are going to have a sound fiscal investment in our aviation infrastructure and, in turn, aviation safety. Senator Dorgan mentioned earlier today the many safety provisions that are in this bill in response to the Colgan Buffalo, NY, accident that happened last year, and they are very good provisions.
