William M. ``Mac'' Thornberry: “Hoping that all Members support the bill on final passage, I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Chair…”

“Hoping that all Members support the bill on final passage, I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Chair, I have serious concerns with the amendment offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stivers). This amendment authorizes the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to create a new grant program, the Asset Military Partnership Pilot Program, to fund air traffic control towers and airport infrastructure at airports that support DOD missions. Although I recognize that both the FAA and DOD have a shared interest in keeping our national airspace safe and secure, it is unclear how this new program achieves these goals. To my knowledge, neither the FAA nor DOD has requested that Congress authorize this new program. Moreover, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is in the midst of developing a bill to reauthorize the FAA and its programs. Neither the gentleman from Ohio nor anyone else has put forward the need for this program. Instead, it is added on the Floor as an amendment with a possible 10 minutes of debate. In fact, the amendment is likely to be adopted without any debate. That is not how we should be legislating in this body. Why are we doing this? All indications are that this amendment is simply an attempt to fund specific airport projects at Rickenbacker International Airport, a civil-military public airport near Columbus, Ohio.…”