[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 45 (Thursday, March 31, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H2117-H2118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1220
                     ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE FUNDING

  (Mr. McKINLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. McKINLEY. Mr. Speaker, this week, the House will consider the 
fate of crucial funding for commercial flights to and from airports in 
Morgantown, Clarksburg, and Parkersburg in my home State of West 
Virginia. West Virginia is a rural State without major population 
centers, and its employers need and deserve an adequate transportation 
infrastructure. Access to air transportation is essential to achieving 
economic growth. The I-79 corridor, for instance, has a large presence 
of Federal, defense, and high-tech workers, in part because of daily 
flights to and from Washington, D.C. North Central West Virginia 
Airport in Bridgeport accounted for 2,372 jobs and $395 million in 
economic impact in 2008.
  Cutting spending is necessary to bring down the deficit and create 
certainty for job creators. But our local airports are part of what 
provides certainty for area businesses. Let's make

[[Page H2118]]

this airport funding program more efficient by throwing out what is 
wasteful but keeping what works.

                          ____________________