Jay Rockefeller: “The process of working legislation is extraordinary. This has been a very long process, more or less a 2-year process.…”

“The process of working legislation is extraordinary. This has been a very long process, more or less a 2-year process. Working with Senator Slade Gorton from the State of Washington over the years has been a great privilege for me and continues on this bill, which is the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, which is a long title, but we had to give it a long title in order to be able to give it an acronym, which is FAIR-21. FAIR, that is what the bill is. Wendell Ford, should he be listening, should be very proud. We have had half a dozen temporary extensions on this bill. It has been 2 years in the making. When Senator Gorton talks about the enormous number of hours spent by Sam Whitehorn of the committee staff, Kerry Ates of my own staff, and members of his own committee and personal staff, he is exactly right. It has been an extraordinary and frustrating process but a successful one.”