[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 29, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H4931-H4934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AIRPORT AND AIRWAY EXTENSION ACT OF 2010, PART II
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 5611) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to
extend the funding and expenditure authority of the Airport and Airway
Trust Fund, to amend title 49, United States Code, to extend
authorizations for the airport improvement program, and for other
purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5611
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Airport and Airway Extension
Act of 2010, Part II''.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF TAXES FUNDING AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST
FUND.
(a) Fuel Taxes.--Subparagraph (B) of section 4081(d)(2) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking
``July 3, 2010'' and inserting ``August 1, 2010''.
(b) Ticket Taxes.--
(1) Persons.--Clause (ii) of section 4261(j)(1)(A) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``July
3, 2010'' and inserting ``August 1, 2010''.
(2) Property.--Clause (ii) of section 4271(d)(1)(A) of such
Code is amended by striking ``July 3, 2010'' and inserting
``August 1, 2010''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect on July 4, 2010.
SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND
EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (1) of section 9502(d) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--
(1) by striking ``July 4, 2010'' and inserting ``August 2,
2010''; and
(2) by inserting ``or the Airport and Airway Extension Act
of 2010, Part II'' before the semicolon at the end of
subparagraph (A).
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Paragraph (2) of section 9502(e)
of such Code is amended by striking ``July 4, 2010'' and
inserting ``August 2, 2010''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect on July 4, 2010.
SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--Section 48103(7) of title 49, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(7) $3,515,000,000 for fiscal year 2010.''.
(2) Availability of amounts.--Sums made available pursuant
to the amendment made by paragraph (1) shall remain available
until expended.
(b) Project Grant Authority.--Section 47104(c) of such
title is amended by striking ``July 3, 2010,'' and inserting
``August 1, 2010,''.
SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF EXPIRING AUTHORITIES.
(a) Section 40117(l)(7) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``July 4, 2010.'' and inserting ``August
2, 2010.''.
(b) Section 44302(f)(1) of such title is amended--
(1) by striking ``July 3, 2010,'' and inserting ``August 1,
2010,''; and
(2) by striking ``September 30, 2010,'' and inserting
``October 31, 2010,''.
(c) Section 44303(b) of such title is amended by striking
``September 30, 2010,'' and inserting ``October 31, 2010,''.
(d) Section 47107(s)(3) of such title is amended by
striking ``July 4, 2010.'' and inserting ``August 2, 2010.''.
(e) Section 47115(j) of such title is amended by striking
``July 4, 2010,'' and inserting ``August 2, 2010,''.
[[Page H4932]]
(f) Section 47141(f) of such title is amended by striking
``July 3, 2010.'' and inserting ``August 1, 2010.''.
(g) Section 49108 of such title is amended by striking
``July 3, 2010,'' and inserting ``August 1, 2010,''.
(h) Section 161 of the Vision 100--Century of Aviation
Reauthorization Act (49 U.S.C. 47109 note) is amended by
striking ``July 4, 2010,'' and inserting ``August 2, 2010,''.
(i) Section 186(d) of such Act (117 Stat. 2518) is amended
by striking ``July 4, 2010,'' and inserting ``August 2,
2010,''.
(j) The amendments made by this section shall take effect
on July 4, 2010.
SEC. 6. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION OPERATIONS.
Section 106(k)(1)(F) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``(F) $7,813,037,096 for the period beginning on October 1,
2009, and ending on August 1, 2010.''.
SEC. 7. AIR NAVIGATION FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT.
Section 48101(a)(6) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``(6) $2,453,539,493 for the period beginning on October 1,
2009, and ending on August 1, 2010.''.
SEC. 8. RESEARCH, ENGINEERING, AND DEVELOPMENT.
Section 48102(a)(14) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``(14) $159,184,932 for the period beginning on October 1,
2009, and ending on August 1, 2010.''.
{time} 1350
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Lewis) and the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Davis) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.
General Leave
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to give
Members 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the
bill, H.R. 5611.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Georgia?
There was no objection.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5611, the Airport and
Airway Extension Act, Part II.
As you know, the Trust Fund taxes and spending authority are
scheduled to expire on July 3. This bill simply extends the authority
one more month while we work together on a long-term solution.
Air travel plays a crucial and critical role in our economy and our
lives. The world's busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
International Airport is located in my congressional district. This
airport alone has a direct impact of more than $32.5 billion on the
State of Georgia's economy. At a time when we are considering the
importance of jobs and job creation, I would like to note that the
airport is the second-largest employer in Georgia with 58,000 workers.
If Congress does not pass the bill, the Trust Fund will lose the
revenue that we need for airport construction and the Nation's air
traffic control system.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to come together and support
this bipartisan legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks.)
Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I rise also in support of H.R.
5611. This is a straightforward and noncontroversial bill to extend for
1 month, through August 1, the existing FAA authorization law, the
excise taxes that support the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, and the
Trust Fund's expenditure authority. The current FAA authorization, as
well as the excise taxes and spending authorities, are currently
scheduled to expire on July 3.
This extension will give Congress additional time to consider longer-
term FAA reauthorization legislation and to determine whether
modifications to the financing structure of the Airport and Airway
Trust Fund are appropriate.
I would note, Mr. Speaker, that on March 25, 2010, the House passed
the Senate amendment to H.R. 1586, a 4-year FAA reauthorization with an
additional amendment, and the two Chambers are continuing to work to
resolve their differences.
While the House-passed version of that broader legislation remains
controversial for reasons unrelated to the provision within the Ways
and Means Committee's jurisdiction, I'm pleased to report that the
short-term extension we are considering today is supported by the
bipartisan leadership of both the Ways and Means and the Transportation
and Infrastructure committees.
It's important that we take this step to extend the current FAA
authorization and its related excise taxes and expenditure authorities
on a temporary basis, and I'm pleased to join with my colleagues across
the aisle in support of this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello), chairman of the
Aviation Subcommittee.
Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5611, the
Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2010, Part II.
I want to thank my friend, Mr. Lewis, from the Ways and Means
Committee for yielding time to me to allow me to speak on this
important legislation. And I thank Chairman Oberstar, Ranking Member
Mica, and ranking member Mr. Petri for working with me and all of us
together to bring this bill to the floor today.
For the past 3 months, we have been working in a bipartisan manner
with our friends in the other body to bring a comprehensive Federal
Aviation Administration reauthorization bill to the floor. We have
worked through the majority of both bills, and only a few issues
remain.
The bill before us today, H.R. 5611, will provide a short, 1-month
extension of the FAA reauthorization bill through August 1, 2010, to
allow us to finish our work before we adjourn for the August district
work period.
This is a clean extension. Primarily, H.R. 5611 extends aviation
taxes to support the Airport and Airways Trust Fund, which funds a
large portion of the FAA's budget. The bill also extends the Airport
Improvement Program contract authority to allow airports to continue
critical safety and capacity enhancement projects.
Aviation is too critically important to our Nation's economy,
contributing $1.2 trillion in output and approximately 11.4 million
jobs, to allow the taxes or the funding for critical aviation programs
to expire. Congress must ensure that this extension passes today to
ensure that our aviation system is not disrupted and continues to
function safely.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. And,
again, I thank my friend from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) for yielding me time.
Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the distinguished gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri).
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Representative Davis
from Kentucky, for yielding me this time. And I also would like to
express my appreciation for the way that my subcommittee chairman, Mr.
Costello, and chairman, Mr. Oberstar, and my colleague, Mr. Mica from
Florida, have all been working on this conference and on this
legislation now for longer than we would have liked. It's too bad that
we have to do what will be, I guess, our 14th or 15th extension of the
existing law. But it is, unfortunately, necessary to do that to give us
time to complete work on the conference, which actually is well
underway.
In May of last year, we passed the Reauthorization Act of 2009, H.R.
915. This March the Senate passed its own FAA reauthorization bill,
which the House took up, amended, passed, and sent back to the Senate.
While a conference has not been called, staff from both Chambers have
been in informal discussions for months to reconcile the two versions
of the bill. And while these discussions have led to tentative
agreement on the vast majority of provisions, and there has been good
work on both sides of the aisle on this, a number of controversial
issues have stalled progress on a final agreement.
I am disappointed, myself, that several issues unrelated to important
safety and modernization provisions in the reauthorization package are
holding up final agreement on this legislation. Nevertheless, in order
to allow the
[[Page H4933]]
FAA to continue operating uninterrupted, I support passage of the bill
before us to extend FAA's funding and program authorization.
H.R. 5611, the bill before us, would extend the taxes, programs, and
funding of the FAA to August 1 of this year. This bill provides just
over $3.5 billion in Airport Improvement Program funding, extends the
War Risk Insurance program, and extends other authorities related to
Small Community Air Service, airport, and safety programs.
That will ensure that our National Airspace System continues to
operate, and that the FAA continues to fund important airport projects
while the Congress completes action on a final reauthorization bill.
I want to urge my colleagues to take advantage of these extra 30 days
to reach compromise on the few remaining controversial provisions in
the FAA bill. This bill contains critical safety provisions that must
not be delayed any longer. We owe it to the families of Flight 3407 and
to the traveling public to reach agreement and send a good, bicameral,
bipartisan FAA bill to our President.
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5611.
Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume to close.
Just to reiterate, this is very important to continue this extension.
It's been achieved in a bipartisan manner and among the relevant
committees of jurisdiction. I wholeheartedly support it and encourage
my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my
support for H.R. 5611, which extends the funding and expenditure
authority of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund and to extend
authorizations for the Airport Improvement Program, and for other
purposes. While I support passage of this bill today, I am hopeful that
the House and Senate will soon agree on a full reauthorization of these
important programs.
This bill offers a necessary extension of one month of these two
programs. The Transportation and Infrastructure and Ways and Means
Committees each approved these extensions. First of all, the Airport
and Airway Trust Fund provides funding for the federal commitment to
the nation's aviation system through several aviation-related excise
taxes. These taxes are vital to fund the continued maintenance,
expansion, and improvement of the nation's airports and airway system.
The second program, the Airport Improvement Program, works to maintain
and improve the safety and efficiency of air travel.
I urge my colleagues to take advantage of the additional time that
these extensions offer in order to reach a compromise with the other
body regarding the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act.
It is absolutely essential that the House and Senate resolve their
differences quickly so that our nation's air travel system can function
safely and efficiently.
This year, Congress has passed legislation to create and maintain
jobs in all different sectors in order to improve our economy. If we
allow the authorization of these airport programs to expire, we will
take steps in the wrong direction by eliminating the jobs that employ
people in these two programs. In fact, the reauthorization of the
funding and authority for the Airport and Airway Trust Fund and the
Airport Improvement Program is also important for the economy of my
Congressional district. The 4th district of Georgia has the second
largest airport in Georgia, Dekalb Peachtree Airport, which is
responsible for around 7,300 jobs and it generates $130 million worth
of personal income for these employees. If temporary or the eventual
permanent reauthorization of these programs fails to pass Congress, it
would evidently be devastating for my district, and the Nation.
Again, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5611, the
``Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2010, Part II''.
This bill ensures that aviation programs, taxes, and Trust Fund
expenditure authority will continue without interruption pending
completion of a long-term Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
reauthorization act. We are very close to resolving all differences
with the Senate on the long-term FAA bill. However, because the long-
term bill will not be completed before the current authority for
aviation programs expires at the end of this week, H.R. 5611 is needed
to extend aviation programs, taxes, and expenditure authority for an
additional month.
The most recent long-term FAA reauthorization act, the Vision 100--
Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (P.L. 108-176) expired on
September 30, 2007. Although the House passed an FAA reauthorization
bill during the 110th Congress, and again last year, the Senate failed
to act until March of this year. The FAA has, therefore, been operating
under a series of short-term extension acts, the most recent of which
expires on July 3, 2010.
Since passage of the Senate bill in March, we have been working
diligently to resolve the differences between the House and Senate
bills. We have made extremely good progress and are near completion of
a final bill. However, given that the current authority for aviation
programs expires at the end of this week, a further extension of
current law is necessary to continue the financing of aviation programs
through August 1, 2010. Based on the hard work that has occurred to
date, I am extremely hopeful that Congress will complete action on the
long-term FAA reauthorization act in July.
I thank Chairman Levin of the Committee on Ways and Means for his
assistance in ensuring the continued operation of aviation and highway
programs. I also thank Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Camp and
my Committee colleagues: Ranking Member Mica, Aviation Subcommittee
Chairman Costello, and Ranking Member Petri, for working with me on
this critical legislation.
I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 5611.
Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, it has been almost three years since the last
reauthorization expired in September 2007. As Chairman of the Aviation
Subcommittee in 2003, I guided that bill to completion in just seven
months.
This had been the longest period of time between reauthorizations in
the history of the FAA.
This is the fourteenth in a series of FAA extensions and the
sixteenth time we have come to the Floor to keep the FAA in business.
Both bodies have been actively negotiating to produce a final bill
that sets priorities and improves our airspace system.
We cannot allow needless, controversial provisions to hijack
important initiatives to improve aviation safety and allow the industry
to grow.
The situation has delayed bipartisan safety legislation that passed
the House last fall and now sits idle. This is simply unacceptable.
I support this fourteenth extension and hope that we can quickly
resolve our issues and produce a much-needed FAA Reauthorization bill.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R.
5611, the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2010: Part II. This Act
would extend the funding and expenditure authority of the Airport and
Airway Trust Fund as well as extend authorizations for the airport
improvement program. The Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) provides
much needed funding to assist in our Federal commitment to the Nation's
aviation system. Such funding is necessary for the development of our
nationwide airport and airway system as well as for investments in air
traffic control facilities to meet the current and future projected
growth in aviation.
The Trust Fund provides 100 percent of the funding for Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) airport grants, facilities and equipment,
and research, engineering, and development. Allocations are also
provided to the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), and Facilities and
Equipment, (F&E) and funding from the Trust Fund also helps support
basic FAA operations.
I would like to emphasize that the AAFT trust fund was not created
solely to finance aviation infrastructure. Throughout its history, it
has financed a wide array of operations including administrative
expenses, attributable to the administration of the airport improvement
program and research and development, as well as general FAA
operations. It is very important that this funding be continued.
While the trust fund pays a large share of the bills for the FAA to
operate the national airspace system, a troubling gap has grown between
the revenue that comes in and what it costs to govern the FAA. This has
sharply driven down the Trust Fund's uncommitted balance; its surpluses
from previous years. If this trend continues in our poor economic state
where airlines are cutting benefits and increasing prices, the future
of American aviation is grim.
Mr. Speaker I am concerned for the future of American aviation--
especially for the future of the George Bush Intercontinental Airport
located in my home district of Houston, Texas. Current airport
standards are not only threatened by decreased FAA funding but also by
the proposed merger of Continental and United Airlines, the former of
which is based in Houston. Should this merger be allowed, the future of
American aviation in regards to customer satisfaction, safety
standards, and general flight, would slowly decline. We cannot add to
such destruction by denying the FAA appropriate funds through the AATF.
As the airline industry continues to grow and serve more and more
Americans, it is our duty to the American people to ensure that the
future of
[[Page H4934]]
airport security, infrastructure and improvement, research and
development, continue to develop to better serve our needs.
For these reasons Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 5611, the Airport and
Airway Extension Act of 2010: Part II.
Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I fully support H.R.
5611. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote ``yes''
for this important legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 5611.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________