[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E743]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN HONOR OF JAMES E. BENNETT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 4, 2010

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I rise on behalf of myself, Representative 
Frank Wolf, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Representative Jim 
Moran, Representative Chris Van Hollen, and Representative Gerald 
Connolly to recognize James E. Bennett, the President and Chief 
Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, 
Airports Authority, who has announced his retirement after 14 years of 
exceptional public service to the agency, the region, and the Nation. 
During his tenure at the Airports Authority, Mr. Bennett expertly 
guided the significant expansion and modernization of Washington Dulles 
International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, 
while simultaneously undertaking the challenge of managing the Dulles 
Toll Road and constructing the long planned Metrorail line to Dulles 
Airport and Loudoun County.
  Whether one is a visitor to either of these world-class airports or 
watching the construction of the Metrorail line, it is not difficult to 
appreciate the bold vision and many accomplishments of Jim Bennett. 
Reagan National and Dulles International Airports combined served a 
total of more than 40 million passengers in 2009. In difficult economic 
times, both airports retained service to all top 50 domestic markets, 
bringing valuable, new air service to the metropolitan Washington 
region. Mr. Bennett's leadership also brought to completion $3 billion 
of capital development projects, providing improved passenger service 
and enhanced ability to accommodate increased air service and passenger 
volume.
  At Dulles International, a new security mezzanine and the state-of-
the-art AeroTrain, were recently put into service. These monumental 
improvements return Dulles International to the form and function that 
Architect Eero Saarinen, envisioned for this beautiful landmark when it 
opened in 1962. At Reagan National, Mr. Bennett guided the addition of 
expanded parking and completion of a new Public Safety Communications 
Center to expand the Airports Authority's emergency operations 
capabilities.
  In everything Jim Bennett has done, the interests of the public have 
been paramount. He has guided reinvestments in Washington Dulles and 
Reagan National Airports ensuring that these valuable facilities are 
equipped to serve travelers throughout the next decades, continuing to 
be important economic catalysts, providing jobs and business 
development opportunities for the region. He took on the Dulles 
Metrorail Project, proposing an innovative financing plan to bring 
transit service to Dulles Airport and the entire Dulles Corridor. The 
project is on budget and on schedule, indicative of Mr. Bennett's 
stellar management skills.
  This region has had the unique benefit of having had one the 
country's finest airport managers, as well as a consummate public 
servant, in Jim Bennett. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for his 
leadership, integrity, humility and inspiration. I ask that my 
colleagues join me and the National Capital region in expressing our 
heartfelt gratitude to Jim Bennett for his vision and legacy of 
transportation improvements that he has left for the region and the 
Nation.

                          ____________________