[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 23, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1542-E1543]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                AVIATION SAFETY ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 22, 2008

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6493, the Aviation 
Safety Enhancement Act.
  Over the last few years we have heard a number of disturbing reports 
that the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, is failing in its 
mandate to ensure the safety of airline passengers. Last year we 
discovered that the FAA had allowed Southwest Airlines to fly 117 
planes that had not received their mandatory inspections. We learned of 
two near midair collisions at Newark Airport in my home state of New 
Jersey. In meetings with Air Traffic Controllers I have been told that 
these near misses were caused by pilot confusion over last minute and 
unpublished route changes by the FAA. Rather than address serious 
concerns about the safety of our nation's air travelers, the FAA has 
attempted to hide these complaints and issues. In some of these cases, 
the FAA has retaliated against whistleblowers who disclosed these 
issues and the number of whistleblower protection claims filed by FAA 
employees has tripled over the last year.
  It is difficult to overstate how important whistleblowers are in the 
policy process. They are often the human face that confirms the 
existence of a tangible, even life-threatening problem in a federal 
agency. Bush Administration officials threatened Jack Spadaro, the 
former head of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy, MSHA, with 
the loss of his job when he tried to investigate a mining accident that 
occurred in 2000. In 2005, the Forest Service fired Douglas Parker, a 
40 year employee of the service, after he filed a whistleblower 
complaint about the improper use of pesticides across several forests 
in New Mexico and Arizona. Fredrick Whitehurst, a long-time FBI bomb 
residue expert, filed whistleblower complaints after he pointed out 
major problems in the FBI's crime lab. I could go on at length about 
these kinds of cases, but I think you get my point. Outside of the 
national security community, protecting whistleblowers is perhaps more 
important in the transportation sector than anywhere else. If the FAA 
is

[[Page E1543]]

being too cozy with industry and pressuring maintenance personnel to 
reduce the number of violations they cite among the carriers, we need 
to know that so we can stop it. If the FAA is trying to implement a 
dangerous and inadequately tested national air traffic pattern change 
and air traffic controllers believe people will die as a result, we 
need to know that so we can stop it. This legislation would help us to 
do that.
  Among its provisions, H.R. 6493 would create an independent office of 
Aviation Safety Whistleblower Protection within the FAA. This office 
would be responsible for receiving complaints and information from FAA 
and airline employees about possible violations of safety regulations, 
federal laws, and standards. This office would allow FAA and airline 
employees to disclose anonymously their safety concerns without fear of 
retaliation.

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