Rick Larsen

My top priority is the health and well-being of all Washingtonians.

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated ridership across all modes of transportation, shaken passenger confidence, delayed critical infrastructure projects and triggered layoffs throughout the industry.

Thank you, Chair DeFazio, for calling today's hearing on 'On the Front Lines: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Transportation Workers.'

Every townhall has its own set of issues... But I will say, every townhall I have had, two sets of questions come up.

Bottom line: air travel is now safer, more affordable, and available to more people than ever before.

We need to ensure that the Government's efforts, led by HHS and CDC, are well coordinated with the airlines and consider operational factors and passenger rights.

Today's hearing is an opportunity for this Subcommittee to examine the U.S. airline passenger experience.

I look forward to hearing today's testimony from Mr. McGee on how recent law will help improve the passenger experience.

We should recognize that. We should all recognize there is much more work ahead.

The Regional Airline Association (RAA) would like to express strong support for the February 11, 2020 Aviation Subcommittee hearing.

Business aircraft provide connectivity to communities in nearly every Congressional district, many of which are not served by commercial airlines.

Thank you for holding this hearing to address the future of America's Aviation Maintenance and Manufacturing Workforce.

We would like to begin our comments by echoing Chairman Larsen's astute questioning of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding how they plan to approach a common effort.

The bipartisan five-year law includes a comprehensive workforce development title to support important aerospace jobs across the U.S.

To ensure the United States remains at the forefront of aviation and aerospace, industry, federal agencies and Congress must continue to explore how to recruit and train the future aviation workforce.

I would like to submit for the record my response to Mr. Russell Brown's testimony to the subcommittee's January 15th hearing.

The Raise the Wage Act... supports American workers by raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by the year 2025.

It is my hope the House will soon vote on the Protect the Right to Organize, or PRO Act...

Even as the airline industry continues to grow... not all ground workers are sharing in the benefits.

It is also my hope the House will soon vote on the Protect the Right to Organize, or PRO Act.

We passed the Raise the Wage Act, which also passed the House in July, and supports American workers by raising the Federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025.

We passed the Butch Lewis Act, which passed the House in July, and it protected hard-earned workers' pensions.

Without ground workers, commercial air travel would come to a halt.

The Butch Lewis Act... protects hard-earned workers' pensions and long-term financial security.

I do feel bad for those two pilots because I think they were absolutely overwhelmed with the task at hand.