On the recordMay 9, 2024
Mr. President, I am very pleased that the Senate has tonight passed this vital legislation. The House of Representatives should next week take it up and quickly pass it and send it to the President's desk for signature. This legislation is a strong, bipartisan, bicameral bill that includes hundreds of priorities for Senators and Representatives, both Republican and Democrat. This bill gives the FAA the safety tools it needs at a critical time to help bring new aerospace technologies to market. I want to take a moment to recognize the staff who has spent countless hours hammering out this legislation. This was no easy task. As I stated earlier, this bipartisan product was the result of many, many months of hard work, late nights. There were many times it appeared this bill was not going to make it over the finish line, and the hard work of the staff is a big part of the reason we are where we are tonight. I want to thank my staff for their tireless efforts to get this bill passed into law. Many thanks to Simone Perez, who is next to me and who has not slept in about 6 months. I will note that she broke her foot stepping on a dump truck of her young son, but I personally said she got the foot boot from kicking hindquarters. Since the Presiding Officer is also a pastor, I will make sure to speak in a way that would be appropriate in front of a pastor.…





