[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 63 (Tuesday, May 10, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E839-E840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCING LEGISLATION TO CHANGE THE STRUCTURE OF THE METROPOLITAN 
                  WASHINGTON AIRPORTS AUTHORITY BOARD

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 10, 2011

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I have been one of the strongest supporters of 
Washington Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington 
National Airport as well as the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Extension 
project. I was one of the original sponsors of the 1986 legislation 
that transferred from the federal government the operations of Dulles 
and Reagan. I worked with former Senators John Warner and Paul Trible, 
former Governor Linwood Holton, and former Secretary of Transportation 
Elizabeth Dole to enact that important law that created the 
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, MWAA. For nearly 25 years 
MWAA has operated effectively, governed by board members who were 
pillars of the community and understood the importance of the success 
of both Dulles and Reagan.
  After the airports authority was created, both Reagan and Dulles 
prospered. In the past 25 years, Dulles has become the economic engine 
for not only northern Virginia, but the entire Commonwealth. Without a 
successful international airport drawing global traffic and myriad 
businesses, the region would not be nearly as successful as it is 
today. Metrorail access to the airport and fast-growing Loudoun County 
will attract more businesses, create new jobs and ease congestion on 
area roadways. Dulles Rail being completed on time and at or under 
original cost estimates is key to many more decades of success.
  While I have been extremely pleased observing MWAA's achievements 
over the past two decades, I believe continued success is now 
threatened by a board of directors that has lost sight of its primary 
mission of serving airport passengers and residents of the surrounding 
communities. For many years MWAA was run by competent and dedicated 
professionals such as Jim Wilding and Jim Bennett. As current CEO Lynn 
Hampton prepares to retire, the search process for her replacement 
conducted by the current board of directors has been a study in poor 
management and political horse trading. When the board voted to advance 
the nomination of Nathaniel Ford, the deciding vote was cast by proxy 
by a then board member who was under house arrest in the Ivory Coast.
  This problem arose because under the current law, board members serve 
until their replacement is confirmed. While this may have worked in the 
past, in my opinion the law is being abused to keep political favorites 
in office, even if their service is suspect. The leadership void at 
MWAA also is reflected in the planning for Phase 2 of Dulles Rail. 
Under the current board, costs have greatly exceeded original 
estimates, with more likely to come with the board's April 6 decision 
to build an underground station at Dulles Airport.
  Because of these concerns about the direction of MWAA today, I am 
introducing legislation to make changes to the 1986 law that 
established the regional operating authority for Dulles and Reagan 
National airports. This legislation will amend the original statute to 
give Virginia a majority on the MWAA Board of Directors by increasing 
the number of Commonwealth appointees from five to nine. With both 
airports located in Virginia and with northern Virginia residents and 
local governments providing the lion's share of the revenue for the 
Dulles Rail project, it is only fair that the majority of the board be 
Virginians. The bill will also prevent board members from serving past 
the end of their appointment, and will establish that board members can 
be replaced at any time by the respective executives who appoint the 
board: the governors of Virginia and Maryland, the mayor of the 
District of Columbia or the president of the United States. I believe 
these changes are critical if we are to ensure that MWAA will once 
again function as originally intended and in the best interests of 
northern Virginia. Phase 2 will require nothing less than the most 
qualified board possible to be a success.
  It is imperative that these changes to the original law be enacted 
quickly, and I hope that the committee of jurisdiction will expedite 
review of the legislation. If the current leadership is allowed to stay 
in place, it will very likely continue to make decisions that add to 
the cost of Phase 2 and further jeopardize not only MWAA's bond rating, 
but the success of both airports under their control. The respective 
executives simply must have the ability to appoint new board members as 
soon as possible to prevent the current board from turning Dulles Rail 
into a failed project.
  My primary interest is to see the project completed on time and at or 
under budget and I believe the board's decision to opt for an 
underground station at Dulles Airport could be disastrous. Since the 
announcement, Fairfax and Loudoun counties have indicated that they 
will not assume the extra costs of the underground station. If the 
local governments withdraw Phase 2 funding, the project will be in 
serious jeopardy.
  The underground station also is opposed by nearly every elected 
official representing northern Virginia residents, including the 
Fairfax and Loudoun boards of supervisors, the Herndon Town Council, 
Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton and Governor Bob 
McDonnell. Independent groups such as the Washington Airports Task 
Force, Dulles Corridor Rail Association, the Northern Virginia Regional 
Commission, the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, the Virginia 
Chamber of Commerce and AAA Mid-Atlantic have all spoken out against 
the underground station. For a board member to recently state, ``I 
think the board is committed to the underground station as best for the 
community at large'' shows astonishing hubris and a willful avoidance 
of reality.
  Recent Phase 2 cost estimates are extremely troubling. While original 
projections put the cost of Phase 2 at $2.5 billion, the cost spikes to 
at least $3.5 billion under the plan approved by the MWAA board. With 
such dramatic cost increases before a contract is even awarded, some 
have expressed concerns about the creditworthiness of the bonds that 
will be issued to pay for Phase 2. Airport authorities nationwide have 
been placed on notice that bond ratings could be lowered in the future. 
An additional $300 million or more for Dulles Rail could be a 
troublesome sign for the bond markets. I fear an increase in borrowing 
costs could effectively kill the project in the design phase.
  Considering all this information, I do not believe that the current 
board of directors is acting in the best interests of the northern 
Virginia residents who will be forced to underwrite costs for Phase 2 
through increased tolls on the DTR and increased revenue from county 
coffers. The underground station will add at least $300 million to the 
overall cost of Phase 2. When long-term financing costs are included, 
the underground station could end up

[[Page E840]]

adding closer to $500 million to the project. It is my understanding 
that tolls on the Dulles Toll Road could reach $10.25 in 2020, eight-
and-a-half years from now. The initial toll projection issued by MWAA 
had tolls reaching $11.25 by 2047. As the cost of Phase 2 goes up, so 
will the tolls.
  A recent Washington Post editorial indicated that commuters could be 
forced to pay as much as $4,000 a year to use the toll road by 2020. 
Add in the tolls on the Dulles Greenway and my constituents' 
transportation costs could be higher than their monthly car payments. 
It will be the parents taking their children to school and soccer 
practice, the business owner that uses the DTR on a daily basis to make 
deliveries, the realtor who will see home sales decrease due to the 
higher transportation costs and the commuters to Tysons Corner who will 
shoulder the heavy burden of the MWAA board's recent decisions.
  I want both MWAA and Dulles Rail to be successful. Because of that, 
Representative Tom Latham, chairman of the House Transportation 
Appropriations Subcommittee, and I have asked the U.S. Department of 
Transportation Inspector General, IG, to conduct an audit of the 
operations of the MWAA board. I am pleased that the IG's office will 
begin this audit in the near future. Outside of the actual composition 
of the board, it is my hope that the audit will examine the governance 
structure of MWAA and determine if it operates with the transparency 
necessary for an organization tasked with such important 
responsibilities.
  In the meantime, I urge support for my legislation to update the 
board's composition and appointment structure to reflect today's 
realities.

                          ____________________