Political Quotes

“I am happy this amendment is coming up because I hope the gentleman from Michigan will vote against a further amendment that may come up later tonight that will get rid of this program altogether, this vertiport infrastructure grant program. Mr. Chair, I am glad he likes it enough to add to it, and I hope others feel that way, too, so we can protect the basis of this program. I know all about it because I wrote the bill to actually create this program in the first place. It was done with a very specific purpose in mind, and the gentleman noted the criteria involved--to help State, local, and Tribal governments be part of the advanced air mobility future. We were very clear about that. Another thing we were very clear about when we wrote that bill and got it into law was to ensure that it was as neutral as possible when it came to any number of the advanced air mobility companies that were seeking to develop and get certified by the FAA and operate within the United States. Prioritizing the grants awarded under the AAM infrastructure program to entities that collaborate with the Department of Defense or the National Guard would actually put a thumb on the scale for the three companies that are actually involved with this effort with the DOD. There are many other AAM companies that are not involved with the DOD, and this would put these companies sort of at a head start over these others. Since its inception in 2019, as a for instance, the U.S.…”