[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 18, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H3534-H3535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN SUPPORT OF THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION EXTENSION ACT OF 2009

  (Mr. OBERSTAR asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, the Ways and Means Committee under 
Chairman Rangel was so efficient, they completed action on the 
extension bill for the FAA authorization before I could reach the House 
floor from a hearing the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
is holding on the next-generation aviation technology for FAA, and I 
wanted to be here to thank the chairman, Chairman Rangel, and the 
ranking Republican for moving the bill quickly and without dispute or 
without a recorded vote.
  But I want to supplement those comments by observing that the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has done its work. In 
the last Congress, we reported the 4-year authorization for FAA, but 
the other body didn't act on it. So we quickly moved our bill with 
bipartisan support through committee March 5, just earlier this month, 
to extend, with a great

[[Page H3535]]

many improvements and upgrades in the operations of FAA, and provide 
authority for the next-generation technology. Again, the other body is 
not prepared to act.
  Now, the reason we need an extension through the end of this fiscal 
year is to avoid disruption in the Airport Improvement Program. If we 
have a stop-and-go, 3-month extension and another 3-month extension, 
then the funding for the airport grants for increasing capacity on the 
air side of airports would stop and go as well. That's not good public 
investment strategy.
  But I regret that we have to do this. The other body simply is not 
ready to move ahead with full consideration of the bill. We should be 
able to do that in a matter of days. Unfortunately, they are not ready 
to do that. And I just want to make it clear that the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, in partnership with the Committee on 
Ways and Means, is ready to do the job of the House in moving the 
agenda forward and continuing the modernization of the Air Traffic 
Control System, rebuilding the air traffic control workforce, and 
investing in the hard side of airports, and we will continue to do 
that. We stand ready. Although our patience is running out, we await 
the administration's proposals for the future revenue stream for the 
FAA and the Air Traffic Control System.

                          ____________________