[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 9, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CONSERVATIVES SUPPORT UNLOCKING AVIATION TRUST FUND

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BUD SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 9, 1999

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, unlocking the Aviation Trust Fund is a tax 
fairness issue. Republicans should unanimously support this effort, 
because it restores honesty to the budget process. A part of the budget 
surplus comes from aviation user fees that the travelling public pays 
on a promise from Congress to ensure a safe and efficient 
transportation system. In ten years, under current aviation investment 
patterns, it will be neither safe nor efficient.
  Moreover, investment in assets for America is a Republican concept 
and sound transportation infrastructure is the foundation of commerce 
and our economy. We can credit Theodore Roosevelt with the vision to 
build the Panama Canal, and Dwight Eisenhower for the Interstate 
Highway System. Republicans have historically been the party of 
builders and we should continue to advocate sound federal programs that 
enrich our nation and our quality of life.
  I am submitting for the record a letter from Paul Weyrich, National 
Chairman of the Coalition for Americans, supporting our efforts to 
unlock the Aviation Trust Fund and make much-needed investment in our 
airports and air traffic control system.
  Let it not be under our watch that the nation's aviation system falls 
into such disrepair that Americans are imperiled when they take to the 
skies. I urge my conservative colleagues to support protecting the 
Aviation Trust Fund by cosponsoring H.R. 111, the ``Truth in Budgeting 
Act,'' and supporting a Budget Resolution that reflects this critical 
priority.

                                       Coalitions for America,

                                    Washington, DC, March 8, 1999.
     Hon. Bud Shuster,
     Rayburn House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Shuster: I am writing to congratulate you for 
     introducing AIR-21, a bill to ensure adequate funding for the 
     national air transportation system. Your proposal to require 
     that federal aviation user taxes be used for their intended 
     purposes--particularly development of airports and the air 
     traffic system--is commendable. The needs of the aviation 
     system are so massive that all available funds must be spent. 
     The health of our economy depends to a very significant 
     extent on a vibrant air transporation system.
       I also applaud your inclusion in AIR-21 of a provision to 
     lift the federally imposed restriction on the local airport 
     funding option known as the passenger facility charge (PFC). 
     As I stated in my letter of February 8, whenever there is an 
     opportunity for the federal government to provide more 
     autonomy to local governments, it should do so. Your bill 
     does that. While it would be preferable to remove the PFC cap 
     entirely, easing the federal restriction on local government 
     funding prerogatives by doubling the amount of funds that 
     airports can raise through this means is a constructive step. 
     I urge you to continue to pursue the goal of eliminating the 
     federal cap on PFC's, but in the meantime, I support the 
     provision in your bill. I urge your colleagues in the House 
     and Senate to support it as well.
       It is also critical to ensure that airports have the 
     ability to spend the PFC to meet the needs that exist at 
     their particular facilities. For some airports, the needs are 
     greatest on the airside--runways, taxiways, and aprons. At 
     other airports, gates and related facilities throughout the 
     terminal are needed to expand capacity or enhance 
     competition. At still other airports, groundside access is 
     the biggest problem. Given that PFCs are collected from the 
     passenger, any project that makes the passenger's trip to or 
     through the airport more efficient and less susceptible to 
     congestion and delays--whether airside, in the terminal, or 
     groundside--should be allowed.
       I know that you are particularly concerned about protecting 
     the interests of passengers. Ensuring that airports have the 
     flexibility to use PFCs to fund projects that ease the 
     burdens encountered by the traveling public any where at the 
     airport will certainly be in the passengers' interest.
       Again, I applaud your commitment to promote the development 
     of the national air transportation system, for the benefit of 
     our national and regional economies and the passengers and 
     shippers who use the system.
           Sincerely,      

                                              Paul M. Weyrich,

                                                National Chairman.



     

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