On the recordJune 14, 2012
on the point of the hearing, Senator Rockefeller and I have agreed certainly with Senator Inhofe to hold a hearing, which we notified Senator Inhofe we would, and I expect it to be next month for the hearing schedule. I just hope we can pass a good part of his bill, which I would like to work with him on, but I think the motivation should be safety and assuring safety. I know the personal conflict Senator Inhofe has with what happened to him, and I am sympathetic, but I don't think passing legislation that could hurt the aviation safety community is the right approach to meet the objections of Senator Inhofe. I would love to have a hearing and have all the witnesses he would put forward to get an objective look at what this would do to taking the expertise and the mission from FAA and allow it to be bypassed at the NTSB level and go to Federal courts where there is not the experience and the aviation safety mission that is well protected today. I hope we can work together on this. I understand the Senator's frustration, but I don't think this is the right solution for what happened to him with one incident. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Manchin). The Senator from Oklahoma.
