Congressional Record, Volume 159 Issue 59 (Friday, April 26, 2013)

[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 59 (Friday, April 26, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H2364-H2374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

REDUCING FLIGHT DELAYS ACT OF 2013

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1765) to provide the Secretary of Transportation with the
flexibility to transfer certain funds to prevent reduced operations and
staffing of the Federal Aviation Administration, and for other
purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 1765

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 ``Reducing Flight Delays Act
of 2013''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION TO TRANSFER CERTAIN FUNDS TO PREVENT
REDUCED OPERATIONS AND STAFFING OF THE FEDERAL
AVIATION ADMINISTRATION.

(a) In General.--Notwithstanding division G of the
Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013
(Public Law 113-6), any other provision of law, or a
sequestration order issued or to be issued by the President
pursuant to section 251A(7)(A) of the Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901a(7)(A)),
the Secretary of Transportation may transfer during fiscal
year 2013 an amount equal to the amount specified in
subsection (c) to the appropriations account providing for
the operations of the Federal Aviation Administration, for
any activity or activities funded by that account, from--
(1) the amount made available for obligation in that fiscal
year as discretionary grants-in-aid for airports pursuant to
section 47117(f) of title 49, United States Code; or

[[Page H2365]]

(2) any other program or account of the Federal Aviation
Administration.
(b) Availability and Obligation of Transferred Amounts.--An
amount transferred under subsection (a)(1) shall--
(1) be available immediately for obligation and expenditure
as directly appropriated budget authority; and
(2) be deemed as obligated for grants-in-aid for airports
under part B of subtitle VII of title 49, United States Code,
for purposes of complying with the limitation on incurring
obligations during that fiscal year under the heading
``Grants-in-Aid for Airports'' under title I of the
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012 (division C of Public Law
112-55; 125 Stat. 647), and made applicable to fiscal year
2013 by division F of the Consolidated and Further Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2013 (Public Law 113-6).
(c) Amount Specified.--The amount specified in this
subsection is the amount, not to exceed $253,000,000, that
the Secretary of Transportation determines to be necessary to
prevent reduced operations and staffing of the Federal
Aviation Administration during fiscal year 2013 to ensure a
safe and efficient air transportation system; and provided
that none of the funds transferred under this subsection may
be obligated unless the Secretary notifies the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
at least 5 days in advance of such transfer.

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hultgren). Pursuant to the rule, the
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr.
Pastor) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Iowa.

General Leave

Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on the consideration of H.R. 1765.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Iowa?
There was no objection.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I come today with H.R. 1765, a bill to provide up to
$253 million from the Airport Improvement Program--or any other account
in the FAA--to the Operations Account. The purpose of this transfer
authority is to restore reliable and safe service in the commercial air
traffic system by reducing or eliminating employee furlough days.
I think we all agree the FAA and the administration has handled the
sequester poorly. The FAA has negotiated in bad faith with the FAA
employees, the airlines, the flying public, and the Congress. And the
administration has played shameful politics with sequestration at the
cost to hardworking American families. As I have often said, this is
simply no way to run a government.
But the Congress is stepping in to correct the problems created by
the administration's inaction. We're taking this step because of the
gross mismanagement of this important function for the safety of all
Americans who fly and on behalf of the commerce that depends on a
reliable air system. We are taking this action to end the
administration's political games that threaten our passenger rights and
safety.
The fact that we're here today trying to solve this problem is as a
result of the sequester. I remind you that the President brought the
sequester to the table. And in an effort to avoid the arbitrary $1.2
trillion of cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act, twice the majority
in this House has passed commonsense legislation that would have
replaced the sequestration with targeted spending cuts of an equal
dollar amount.

{time} 1100

Unfortunately, the Senate never considered either of these bills, and
thus the sequestration was triggered.
Further, this situation goes to show that we need to return to
regular order and consider appropriation bills in their entirety and
not rely on continuing resolutions to fund the government.
Under a CR, there is no way for us to prioritize cuts or protect
programs related to the safety of the American public. It also goes to
show that we must have a long-term, comprehensive solution to our
budget challenges, one that solves the sequester and provides
sustainability and stability in the Federal budget.
Mr. Speaker, I put the administration, the Secretary, and the agency
on alert that we are watching. We have questions, and we want answers
about how you're using these funds and how you're going to be managing
the rest of our Department. Like I said at the FAA hearing this last
Wednesday, the safety of our air space cannot be subject to political
posturing.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. PASTOR asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I will tell my dear friend, Chairman Latham,
that we agree on one thing, and this is the notion that this is not a
good way to run a government. But I have to remind him and remind all
my colleagues that about 1\1/2\ years ago we were in this House, in
this Chamber, talking about the budget--the Budget Control Act, as I
remember. So about 1\1/2\ years ago we had a vote.
I did not support the legislation because I felt that sequestration
was a bad idea; but the House passed the bill, the Senate passed the
bill, and the President signed it. So, for me, it's very difficult to
lay blame on any one party because this was done in a bipartisan
manner. It is very difficult for me to lay blame on one Chamber because
both Chambers passed the bill. And it's very difficult for me to blame
the administration for signing it because this was an action taken in
the House, the Senate, and signed by the President. I thought it was a
bad idea, but the majority felt it was a better idea, and they went
forward.
Now, I have to tell you that Administrator Huerta was before our
subcommittee this week. He detailed the cuts that he had to make based
on the rules and regulations of the various laws that deal with
sequestration. That is why 149 contract towers were recommended to be
shut--but they remained open because of a lawsuit--and that is why we
had to furlough the FAA air traffic controllers.
In his testimony, Administrator Huerta reminded us that in February
of this year a letter was sent by Secretary LaHood to the leadership,
including me and Chairman Latham, that the sequestration was going to
cause problems in the efficiency of the air traffic control system
because there would be a furlough of air traffic controllers in order
to meet the cuts that were required by sequestration. That was done in
February.
In March, when sequestration was invoked, the FAA had to then
implement a plan to see what it had to do to meet the number of cuts it
had to make, but not to take away the safety of our air traffic control
system, knowing that its efficiency would be diminished. And so today,
we are here bringing a fix to this situation. Furloughs have been
taken; 10 percent of the employees are furloughed. And that has
resulted, to the passengers' inconvenience, in delays or canceled
flights.
The problem is--and I agree with my chairman--that this solution is
not a good solution because there are other agencies that have to make
their cuts and are in a crisis themselves. So, hopefully, when we come
back from our district work period, there won't be another agency,
another crisis that we have to start shifting money from one account to
save another account.
Mr. Speaker, the solution is a comprehensive removal of the
sequestration. That will only come about, in my belief and in my
opinion, if the House, with its budget, and the Senate, with its
budget, will conference and work out the details that it needs to work
out to have a comprehensive solution, not just to our budget, but also
to sequestration. That needs to be done in order that we're not dealing
with issue by issue, crisis by crisis.
So I agree with my chairman that this is not a good way to run a
government, but this morning I ask my colleagues to support this
legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Last Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration began to impose the
furloughs that were required as a result of sequestration.
The FAA has had to cut a total of $637 million from its annual
budget; $485 million of that amount had to be cut from its operations
account.
However, the deep cuts required by sequestration still forced the FAA
to shut down nearly

[[Page H2366]]

150 contract towers and furlough each of the agency's employees for one
day a pay period for the remainder of the fiscal year. That meant that
every affected employee would lose as much as 11 days of pay.
The FAA operates seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. It
should have surprised no one that removing 10 percent of the workforce
on any given day was going to have serious impacts on our air traffic
control system.
Without a complete workforce on hand, the FAA had to take measures to
slow down the efficiency of the air traffic control system in order to
ensure that safety of the system was not ever compromised.
Since last Sunday when the furloughs began, there have been nearly
3,500 delayed flights due to staffing reductions. As a result,
thousands of passengers have been inconvenienced by long delays or
cancelled flights. As my colleagues will recall, Secretary La Hood
warned us of these impacts back in February.
The bill before us provides additional flexibility to the Federal
Aviation Administration to help avoid the furloughs required by
sequestration. Specifically, it takes carryover discretionary funds
from the airport grant program and allows those funds to be used for
FAA operations.
This bill is drafted as a one-time fix for one year. It does not
eliminate a penny of the $637 million in cuts that the FAA has to make
because of sequestration. It simply shifts where the cuts will be
taken.
At a time when we need to maintain our infrastructure, we should not
make a practice of reducing capital programs to address operational
shortfalls.
The bill before us does nothing to address the sequestration cuts
that the FAA will have to make in Fiscal Year 2014 and beyond.
We need to find a comprehensive solution to sequestration. The
American people deserve better.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is
remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Iowa has 17 minutes
remaining. The gentleman from Arizona has 14 minutes remaining.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I would now yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from North Carolina (Mr. Hudson).
Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately for this administration, the
term ``sequestration'' has become synonymous with ``fear.''
I've been extremely disappointed that the FAA chose to close the
contract control towers at 149 airports across this country, including
my home town of Concord, North Carolina. This airport is the third
busiest airport in North Carolina. It was named by the Government
Accounting Office as an Airport of National Significance because it is
a reliever airport for Charlotte-Douglas, which is the sixth busiest
airport in the world.
The decision to close these towers at a savings of $50 million is
hard to understand when you consider the fact that the FAA requested
$15.1 billion for fiscal year 2013 and through sequester it's actually
receiving $15.9 billion--an actual increase over the amount of money
the FAA said they needed to operate. So I can only conclude that their
goal here is to try to make sequester cuts as painful as possible for
the American people.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. LATHAM. I yield the gentleman 30 seconds.
Mr. HUDSON. I thank the gentleman for the time.
I will just conclude by saying I support this bill because it ends
the political games by giving the Secretary the flexibility that he
needs to keep these contract towers open. So I would encourage the
Secretary to do that for the safety and for the economy of our local
communities.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in
opposition to this piece of legislation.
The Editorial Board of USA Today was scathing yesterday in its
assessment of where the blame for this sequester should lie, and I
quote:

No Members of Congress should be surprised at the havoc
wrought by the sequester. After all, they caused it, and
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood repeatedly warned them
about its sentences.

But flight delays are just the tip of the iceberg visible above the
water line for most Americans. As time goes on without a big, balanced
deficit solution to replace the sequester, more of that iceberg will
surface. More Americans will be negatively affected.
While I want to end these delays for passengers in Maryland and
across the country, I will oppose this bill because it fails to address
the whole impact of the sequester.
Let me share just a handful of examples of how the sequester will
affect Americans:
Education: Head Start--70,000 children will be kicked out of Head
Start. Nothing in this bill deals with them.

{time} 1110

Furloughs to cause delays in processing retirement disability claims.
Nothing in this bill deals with them.
Nutrition for Vulnerable Populations--4 million fewer Meals on Wheels
for seniors; 600,000 people dropped off WIC. Nothing in here for them.
Housing--125,000 fewer HUD rental assistance vouchers. Nothing in
here for them.
Unemployment Insurance--emergency unemployment insurance cut 11
percent for 2 million out-of-work Americans. Nothing in here for them.
FDA--2,100 fewer food safety inspections, an 18 percent cut; longer
waits to approve new drugs. Nothing in here for them. Nothing in here
for them.
Defense and Homeland Security--furloughs equivalent to 1,000 fewer
Federal agents, FBI, Border, et cetera, on the job; one-third of combat
air units are grounded. Nothing in here for them.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I yield the gentleman an additional 30
seconds.
Mr. HOYER. IRS--89,000 agency-wide furloughs up to 7 days, including
taxpayer-assistance centers. Nothing in here for them. They serve
89,000 taxpayers trying to find help.
We ought not to be mitigating the sequester's effect on just one
segment when children, the sick, our military, and many other groups
who will be impacted by this irresponsible policy are left unhelped.
Instead of dressing this serious wound with a small Band-Aid, let's get
to work on a real solution. Let's go to conference, let's get a big
deal, let's deal with all the adverse consequences of sequester, not
just those that affect the powerful air travelers of America. We ought
to help them, but we ought to help everybody else as well.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.
It's fascinating that the administration that insisted on the
sequestration----
Mr. HOYER. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. LATHAM. The gentleman just spoke.
Supported the sequestration. And so now to come and make a statement
is quite fascinating.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Reed).
Mr. REED. I would like to thank the gentleman from Iowa for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the underlying bill.
Before I make my comments, I would just ask my colleague, a good
friend of mine from Maryland, we have an opportunity today to send a
signal to America that we have a bicameral, a Senate-passed bill, and
here in the House we are considering a bill that will address an issue
that needs to be addressed on behalf of American citizens. Let us start
here on a bipartisan fashion to solve the problems for hardworking
taxpayers and worry about D.C. over those concerns of the people back
home.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the underlying bill because I have
heard from my constituents, in particular, the city of Ithaca in
upstate New York, where a contract tower is going to be closed. And
what this bill does is it restores that funding on a commonsense basis
where that contract tower--my sincere hope and belief--will be
preserved and go forward. That will preserve the safety of my air-
traveling public out of that airport and also the local economic
opportunity that it represents for the city of Ithaca.
I'm proud to stand here today and say, because of bipartisan efforts,
we worked together to solve this issue. Let's pass this bill and move
forward.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

[[Page H2367]]

Let me inform my friend from Iowa that he absolutely misstates my
position. I have been against the sequester every year I was on the
Appropriations Committee for 23 years, these across-the-board cuts. I
opposed your Cut, Cap, and Balance bill, which you supported, which had
sequester as the alternative.
The President is against sequester, the Senate budget is against
sequester, and you would not allow us to offer an amendment four times,
which would have precluded sequester, not only for air travel, but for
those Head Start children, for those senior citizens, for basic
biomedical research.
So I tell my friend, if you are going to state the facts, state them
correctly.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their
remarks to the Chair.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North
Carolina (Mr. Price).
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, hypocrisy is reaching new
heights today in this body. Many of the same Members who said ``bring
it on'' as sequestration loomed, who relished forcing the President to
make across-the-board cuts, are now in a rush to apply another Band-Aid
to this artificially created crisis.
Speaker Boehner said the sequestration bill included 98 percent of
what Republicans wanted. But Republicans spurned a budget agreement,
valuing their antitax ideology more than defense or any other cuts. As
a result, sequestration fell. Now they claim: Oh, it doesn't need to
hurt very much. And when the cuts bite, then they say the President
must be doing this just to make a political point!
So sequestration apparently wasn't supposed to be about air traffic
control? The Read the Bill Caucus needs to read the bill. It was about
air traffic control, and today we are going to apply a much needed
Band-Aid.
Maybe tomorrow we can have a bill applying to cancer research. Then
the next day let's have a bill about cancer treatments. Then the next
day let's apply a Band-Aid to Head Start. Then let's have one about
tuition assistance to our military personnel. Then let's have one about
the Border Patrol. And, by the way, if and when we apply these Band-
Aids, we need to realize we're often shifting cuts to equally important
areas that aren't in the news at the moment or that don't have powerful
lobbies working on their behalf.
My colleagues, I want to address these crises as much as any Member.
I want to contain the damage, but damage control is not a budget
policy. Sequestration is a self-inflicted wound, unworthy of those who
profess to govern. It's hypocritical and misleading, having imposed
indiscriminate cuts on the administration, to pretend that the
President could fix this problem with a flick of the wrist.
Sequestration is a disaster. It needs to be reversed. It needs to be
replaced by a comprehensive budget plan that includes tax expenditures
and entitlements, which after all are the real drivers of the deficit.
Mr. LATHAM. I would now like to yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton).
Mr. COTTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues to
pass this measure to stop President Obama's needless furlough of air
traffic controllers. Further, this legislation empowers the FAA to
restore funding to 150 towers operated by private contractors around
the country.
The FAA furloughs have received most of the media attention this
week, but we shouldn't overlook the role these contractor-operated
towers play in our Nation's aviation infrastructure in communities like
Texarkana, Arkansas. These airports handle almost 30 percent of all
aviation traffic, providing vital relief to some of our most congested
airports.
The importance of these towers can't be overstated, which is why
earlier this year I introduced legislation with 59 bipartisan
cosponsors to restore the funding for these towers. I am confident the
FAA will use the authority of this bill not only to end the needless
furloughs, but also to restore funding for these essential contractor-
operated air traffic control towers.
Again, I want to thank my colleagues for their support for this
measure.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, before I yield time, I would like
to remind my colleague that this bill passed the House, the Senate, and
was signed by the President. That was what brought us sequestration.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to our Democratic leader from
California (Ms. Pelosi).
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
This is really a very unusual morning. We are here because of the
refusal of the Republicans to come to the table for a conference. What
is a conference? A conference is a public open meeting where
differences between the House budget bill and the Senate budget bill
can be reconciled. It is done with transparency and in full public
view. Each side proud of our priorities, we have the American people be
the judge of what is their statement of values.
Afraid of that public scrutiny, the Republicans have refused to
appoint conferees for a conference--conferees for a conference. We call
upon the Speaker to appoint conferees so that we can have that public
airing, that transparent view, of something very important.
The Republican leadership has said in the House and the Senate they
want the regular order. What is the regular order?

{time} 1120

The regular order is the House passes a bill; the Senate passes a
bill; you go to conference. Now, afraid that their views may be
rejected by the American people, they don't want to go to conference.
That's why we are here this morning for sequestration.
What is sequestration?
Sequestration is a mindless, across-the-board cutting of what we are
now recognizing--and the Republicans are recognizing--as something that
should not be cut. It affects the efficiency and the safety of our
airports. That's very important. Yet, as our distinguished Democratic
whip, Mr. Hoyer, has pointed out, there is much more that needs to be
addressed instead of using this as a vehicle.
One of the distinguished chairmen said earlier that the safety of our
airports should not be subject to political debate. Neither should the
education of our children, the nutrition for our seniors--4 million
Meals on Wheels, tens of thousands of children thrown off Head Start.
Our defense--mindless across-the-board cuts in our defense, and what
that means for our national security and for the workers in our
national security sector--the list goes on and on. Investments in our
future--biomedical research, cut by this.
So I suppose, if this is an example of governance, that the
Republicans will next come up with something else and will say we
should exempt that. Why don't we just get rid of the problem? Why don't
we just get rid of the problem and go to conference?
Some of the press said to me, Does this hurt your leverage in going
to conference?
I said, No. This is an opportunity because it demonstrates to the
American people how unwise this course of action is and how much better
it would be to find solutions, to get results in the regular order--
respectful of everyone's point of view but recognizing that decisions
made here will have an impact, not only in the lives of the children
and in the lives of their teachers and in the lives of all consumers,
but on our economy as well.
This should be a clarion call. It's almost ludicrous to hear my
Republican colleagues get up there and talk about their individual
airports. Most of us have airports. We understand what this issue is
about.
Why don't you understand that there is a great deal at stake,
including the efficiency and the safety of our airports as well as the
education of our children?
How can we sit there and say 4 million Meals on Wheels for seniors,
gone? But that's not important. Over 70,000 children off Head Start.
But that's not important.
What is important is for the Republicans to hold a hard line about
the public debate about the budget that a conference would provide. The
Members will vote the way they're going to vote on this, but recognize
that this is not the way Congress should be meeting the needs of the
American people. Let's go to conference.
Mr. Speaker, appoint conferees so we can end this mindless
sequestration.

[[Page H2368]]

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will remind all persons in the
gallery that they are here as guests of the House and that any
manifestation of approval or disapproval of proceedings or other
audible conversation is in violation of the rules of the House.
Mr. LATHAM. I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Dent).
Mr. DENT. I do support this legislation.
In our T-HUD subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, FAA Administrator
Huerta admitted that he saw no administrative flexibility to help the
flying public, so we're giving him that flexibility now with this bill.
The FAA blind-sided the airlines, the airports, the unions, and the
flying public by failing to properly notify them specifically about the
implementation of the sequester. They only notified them about 1 week
ago about the specifics. That's outrageous. That's mismanagement.
This bill fixes the problem at the FAA by keeping air traffic
controllers working and the towers operating. This legislation provides
the flexibility the FAA needs, and it should have been asked for by the
administration. Again, it's a classic case of mismanagement, and I am
pleased to support the legislation.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the ranking
member of the authorizing committee, the gentleman from West Virginia
(Mr. Rahall).
Mr. RAHALL. I thank the gentleman from Arizona.
I rise in support of H.R. 1765.
As the flight delays mounted this week due to the furlough and as
many Republicans claim that the FAA had the flexibility to avoid this
disruption and that politics were at play, gee, that's kind of like
calling the kettle black.
Just last month, in March, many of these same Members recognized the
across-the-board nature of the sequester when a provision was included
in the transportation bill to avoid the furlough of meat inspectors who
would otherwise have been furloughed. Nothing has changed in the
sequester law since last month. My good friend, Secretary of
Transportation Ray LaHood, is an honorable man, and I take issue with
those who have alleged that he is playing politics with the sequester.
Now, to those who have expressed concern over the piecemeal approach
in addressing the chilling effects of the sequester, I share your
concerns. I share the concerns of others who are being burdened by the
sequester, such as a child thrown out of the Head Start or seniors
depending on Meals on Wheels.
But let me be clear: the rash of delays that we witnessed this week
as the sequester began to take effect is not just an inconvenience to
business or vacation travelers; we are talking about emergency medical
services that transport patients with time-sensitive medical
emergencies.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1765, which I view as an
emergency measure to address the effect of the sequester on the
integrity of our aviation transportation system.
As the flight delays mounted this week due to the furlough of about
1,500 air traffic controllers a day--40% of the workforce--many
Republicans claimed that the FAA had the flexibility to avoid this
disruption and that politics were at play.
That is like calling the kettle black.
Just last month, in March, many of these same Members recognized the
across-the-board nature of the sequester when a provision was included
in the appropriations bill to avoid the furlough of meat inspectors who
would otherwise have been furloughed.
Nothing has changed in the sequester law since last month. My good
friend, the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, is an honorable
man. I take issue with those who have alleged that he is playing
politics with the sequester.
Neither he nor the Administrator of the FAA are guilty of nothing
more, and nothing less, the hand that Congress forced on them.
Now, to those on my side of the aisle, who have expressed concerns
over a piecemeal approach to addressing the chilling effects of the
sequester, I share your concerns.
I share your concerns for others who are being burdened by the
sequester, such as the child thrown out of Head Start or seniors
depending on Wheels on Meals.
But let me be clear. The rash of flight delays we have witnessed this
week as the sequester began to take effect is not just an inconvenience
to business or vacation travelers.
There is an even more serious concern here, and while it is one that
has not manifested yet, if the present situation continues unabated it
could potentially have lethal results.
Aircraft provide emergency medical services that transport patients
with time-sensitive medical emergencies, organs, blood products and
pediatric patients.
Time-sensitive drugs and emergency aid cannot afford to be delayed
because of the air traffic control system. These medical air services
need to be able to operate without delay 24 hours a day and 385 days a
year.
I urge support of the pending measure.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster).
Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentleman.
I rise in support of H.R. 1765 so that we can stop this needless pain
on the American traveling public and our economy.
The administration and the FAA have refused for months to provide us
with a plan to work with the airline industry in order to figure out
how this could be implemented without all of this pain to the traveling
public and to our economy.
I'd like to remind my colleagues that this industry provides $1
trillion to our economy, so it's extremely important to the hardworking
men and women of America that our airlines and our folks are getting
where they need to be on time and without delay. This is very, very
damaging to the economy.
Again, I believe this has been mismanaged, and I believe that this
bill will force the administration to stop these needless furloughs so
that we can continue making sure that the airline industry is
functioning in order to keep our economy growing stronger and to allay
the safety concerns of the traveling public.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Washington (Mr. Larsen).
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Before we start patting each other on the
back for this bill, I think it's important that we recognize that we
are not fixing the bigger problems that the sequester has created.
Earlier this month, The Bellingham Herald reported that Head Start
students in my district will have to begin finding their own way to
school as bus service is being cut because of the sequester. Perhaps
now we can ask these 4-year-olds to ride their tricycles to class or,
because of this bill, maybe book a flight.
Children in military families at NAS Whidbey Island are going to go
to schools where budgets are being cut because of reductions in Impact
Aid mandated by sequestration, but we're not doing anything to help
those kids today. We are not helping seniors in Arlington, Washington,
who are getting Meals on Wheels no longer delivered to them.
This is not just my district. Every Member of this House represents a
district whose kids and seniors are being hurt thanks to our failure to
clean up the mess we caused. This lands somewhere short of a profile in
courage. This is a Band-Aid, and sequestration needs triple bypass
surgery. Sequestration is a little bit like the person who kicks a
boulder and then blames the boulder for his broken toe. Congress
created this problem. We need to fix it.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Davis).
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Thank you to the gentleman from Iowa.
I'd like to first thank the Senate for sending this piece of
legislation over to us to provide a fix, a fix that isn't necessary to
provide, but the administration through a lack of leadership is proving
that we have to do this now.
We are here today because this administration has decided to put
politics over passengers. From the very beginning of sequestration,
this administration and its departments have claimed that they did not
have the flexibility to avoid cuts that would affect Americans the
most. The proposed tower closings and the FAA furloughs that were
announced this week, they're not just wrong--they are irresponsible and
indefensible.

[[Page H2369]]

The bottom line is the FAA already has the flexibility that we are
granting them today, yet they are unwilling to take advantage of that.
So, today, we are here because it is time to put an end to the
excuses and political gimmicks, and we owe it to the American people to
govern like statesmen by passing this bill in order to get the FAA to
implement spending cuts responsibly in order to protect the traveling
public.
Mr. President, I urge you: tell your administration to grow up.

{time} 1130

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews).
(Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Speaker, we're here this morning because Americans
are understandably upset at sitting and waiting at airport gates. But
there are other Americans who are sitting and waiting.
There are moms sitting and waiting at home to enroll their children
in Head Start; after this bill, they'll still be waiting.
There are pilots in our Air Force and Navy sitting and waiting to fly
their training missions. One-third of our planes are grounded. After
this bill, they'll still be sitting and they'll still be waiting.
There are senior citizens who need to go to chemotherapy at
outpatient clinics around this country, but because of the cutbacks of
sequestration, their doctors aren't seeing them. After this bill,
they'll still be sitting; they'll still be waiting.
This Congress has done too much sitting and too much waiting when it
comes to sequestration. The Senate has passed a budget that ends
sequestration. There's an opportunity to sit at a conference, negotiate
and pass that budget.
Instead of sitting and waiting, let's start working and negotiating
and pass the Senate budget.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I would now like to yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica), the former chairman of the
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Mr. MICA. I thank the gentleman.
Why are we here? We're here because of a colossal failure of
leadership in the ability to manage resources.
First of all, I can tell you that there are plenty of air traffic
controllers. Just go online and get this report, ``Plan for the
Future.'' Some of our airports have far more air traffic controllers
than we need. In fact, air traffic control for the last 10 years is
down 27 percent, and we still have close to 15,000 air traffic
controllers.
This legislation does provide a fig leaf for the administration who
said they don't have the authority. I can tell you, they had the
authority and the ability to move people and resources around, so that
gives us the opportunity to get the flying public flying again.
Again, we have the resources, they had the money, and here we're
giving them the final fig leaf that they have asked for and they say
they need to get this done.
I can tell you that if Ronald Reagan were President, we would not be
in this mess.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen).
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, after the vote on this today, Members of
this House are going to run for the airports. They're all going to be
flying home on airplanes. And, yes, they will make it easier for
Members of Congress to get through those lines, and they'll pat
themselves on the back and say, ``Job well done.''
Well, obviously we should address the issue at the airports, but we
need to address the other issues right now and not make it easier for
Members of Congress to fly home for a week away when it should be a
week right here making sure we do not see the negative impact of the
sequester grind on for those kids in Head Start, for the seniors on
Meals on Wheels, for folks who are doing important lifesaving research.
Look, Mr. Speaker, four times this year we have offered a proposal to
replace the entire sequester, to achieve the same deficit reduction
without the kind of damage that's been done, and four times we haven't
even had a chance to vote on the floor of this House. Now we're simply
asking to go to conference. Our Republican colleagues complain that the
Senate didn't pass the budget, but they've got one.
Let's go to conference rather than go home.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I would now like to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to
the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Bachmann).
Mrs. BACHMANN. I thank Mr. Latham for offering this bill. It's high
time that the FAA, Mr. Speaker, have the flexibility that they need to
have on closures of any air traffic control towers.
It is my hope that St. Cloud, Minnesota, and Anoka-Blaine airports do
remain open. They're vital and they're much needed. We're looking at
approximately 189 airports.
But I want to speak to something else. We were listening to
Representative Hoyer and Representative Pelosi be extremely passionate
about the loss that we'll see for children through Head Start, for
senior citizens on Meals on Wheels, for children who will be dealing
with various other food nutrition programs. That breaks everyone's
hearts.
But I want to remind the people of this country that it was former-
Speaker Pelosi, Representative Hoyer, Senator Reid, and President Obama
who signed the sequestration bill, and it was Press Secretary Jay
Carney who admitted that the sequestration was President Obama's idea.
There are numerous Republicans that voted against the sequestration
because we knew all of these calamities were in the future. So it
reminds me of the Shakespeare line: Thou doth protest too much.
Didn't you know this was going to happen? We knew it. That's why we
voted against this bill. And it seems like the higher the level of
passion, it equals the conscience that we are seeing of those who voted
the wrong way on this bill for the first time.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, before I yield time to my friend,
I have to remind my colleague that I voted against that bill, and the
bill passed because there was a majority of Republicans who supported
it. So we just can't blame one House or one Senate or the President,
because all of us share the blame in one way or the other.
Mr. HOYER. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from
Maryland.
Mr. HOYER. The Republicans offered their bill. It was called ``Cut,
Cap, and Balance.'' They voted on that bill before we ever got to
sequester. In Cut, Cap, and Balance, your alternative, if you didn't
reach your numbers, was sequester. Sequester was your policy.
And in the CR that you had Mr. Rogers bring to the floor, which I
voted against when it went from here to there, as did every Democrat,
it said it was going to be subject to the sequester or nothing.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the
gentlelady from California (Ms. Waters).
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 1765, the Reducing
Flight Delays Act of 2013.
I don't want anybody to be mistaken about why I support this bill. I
want Mrs. Bachmann to understand that we know that she has led the Tea
Party and the right wing on all of these issues and that she led on the
discussion on sequestration. It was a bad policy and it should not have
been adopted by either side of the aisle; however, that is the order of
the day, and we need to bring the budget to the floor and have a
conference committee so we can adopt some of what was adopted on the
Senate side to get rid of the sequestration.
Meanwhile, the FAA plans to furlough the vast majority of the FAA's
nearly 47,000 employees, including nearly 15,000 air traffic
controllers, for approximately 1 day during each 2-week period in order
to comply with sequestration.
The furloughs have already begun. They started on April 21, 2013. So
we're going to be backed up in these airports, and it is time for us to
understand that this is an emergency. Let's get it over with by passing
this bill today.

[[Page H2370]]

{time} 1140

Mr. LATHAM. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have
remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Arizona has 2\1/2\
minutes. The gentleman from Iowa has 7\1/2\ minutes.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I will ask my chairman, do you want to even
out the time? I will reserve my time if you like.
Mr. LATHAM. Does the gentleman have two more speakers? I just have
one more. I was going to suggest that you go ahead with your speaker.
Now I'll have one, you'll have one, and then we can close.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I thank the gentleman.
I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. This is a hostage-taking, and I know that the
American people are watching the blame game. But the blame game falls
clearly on this side of the aisle. My Republican friends held this
place hostage: we won't pay the debt ceiling; we won't pay our debts.
Now we're losing 2 million jobs, 4,800 Head Start programs. And I
believe in air traffic controllers, but we're holding them hostage.
What about the person who cannot afford an airline ticket? And so I'm
saying today that it is important that we stand for the millions of
dollars that we are losing for homeland security. Is it time to take
millions from military families?
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 900, a one-
sentence bill, that would repeal the section of the Budget Control Act
of 2011 to get rid of the sequester, go to budget conference, have
conferees, have a budget, get rid of the sequester. Bring it up now.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 900.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman from Iowa yield for that
purpose?
Mr. LATHAM. Yes.
What was the question if I may?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman from Iowa yield for that
purpose?
Mr. LATHAM. No.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me just say this. We have to save
the traveling public, but I ask the question about 5,000 children in
Texas that will lose Head Start, or the millions of seniors, or our
military families that will lose support because we've got the
sequester, all on the shoulders of those that believe that the way we
run the Federal Government is by slash and burn. Where are our hearts?
Help the American people.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Farenthold).
Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, we have heard a lot of rhetoric today
that sequestration is the problem. I would like to remind you that
sequestration, that President Obama proposed, was the only solution we
could agree on to the real problem: the fact that this government is
spending close to $1.50 for every $1 that it brings in. That being
said, sequestration came into effect, and we're now having to deal with
it.
It was our intent all along to find cuts. We couldn't get agreement
from the other side to find the cuts. And now, even though
sequestration is painful, it is working. We see in this bill that we're
able to take the FAA, get the cuts that need to be made to their budget
made without affecting flight delays and without furloughing people. It
is my contention that this can happen all through the government and
throughout all agencies.
If these agencies and the President had come back to this Congress
saying, ``We can do these cuts this way; let us do it,'' I imagine
almost every one of those would have passed on unanimous consent. They
certainly probably would have passed on suspension like this one.
I urge my colleagues to take this first step to solve the problem
with the FAA, and I look forward to working with other government
agencies in the Obama administration to find the cuts we need and to
spare the American people the pain that's intentionally being inflicted
because some people don't want to cut a dime out of the American
budget.
You know, the American people know instinctively there's waste,
fraud, and abuse in this government and that there are savings to be
had. And we're going to find it, and we're going to try to do it in the
best possible way.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the
District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
Ms. NORTON. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, Congress did not foresee the controllers' crisis. They
will not foresee the next one. We have not solved the controllers'
crisis with money. It was not about money. It was not about cuts. It
was solved the old-fashioned way. They simply moved money around. This
is exactly what was done with appropriations that are not having this
crisis.
We can solve this if we have a meeting of both sides of the aisle on
the budget. What would happen at that meeting would probably be not to
cut a thing, but simply to allow agencies the flexibility to move money
around, precisely as has been done with the controllers' crisis. Not 1
cent was changed, just the flexibility, the common sense that we now
need to put to every single appropriation.
Mr. LATHAM. Might I inquire of the gentleman from Arizona, you have
30 seconds left. If you would like to go ahead and close, I will
reserve at this time.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
I rise to ask my colleagues to support this bill. It is a one-time
fix in a crisis we are having today with our air traffic system. But I
join my colleagues, as well as probably my chairman, in asking the
House leadership, both the Republican leadership and the Democratic
leadership, to please work on a comprehensive solution to the sequester
in order that we can bring regular order and get the type of government
that the American people deserve.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I want to associate myself with what my good friend and ranking
member on the subcommittee, Mr. Pastor, just said. We've got to find a
solution, come to an agreement. This is a horrible way to run a
government, with sequester. When you take a meat-ax approach to
departments, there's no common sense. And that's why we need to get
back to regular order around here and actually do appropriations bills.
We would avoid these types of potentially catastrophic situations that
we find ourselves in.
Mr. Speaker, I would just ask everyone to understand that the Senate
sent this over last night. It is now an H.R. bill, our bill. The Senate
will approve it as soon as we pass it in the House here. It is very
important that we do this for the American people, the traveling
public, for safety of the system, to make sure that our commerce
continues. So I would ask everyone to support this bill.
And let's fix the big problem, and that's come to a budget agreement.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, Is there no one in this chamber who is
embarrassed? Or perhaps the question should be: Is no one in this
chamber not embarrassed?
The Senate panics and passes a bill to correct the failures of a
small part of the abominable consequences of the ``sequester'' or
sequestration.
We are now funding the failures of what we did earlier. With red
faces and guilty looks, we vote on a quick correction of one important,
but small, consequence--furloughs at the FAA amongst controllers--and
now we sneak out of town, believing that we have made the travelling
public safe.
Have we? Baloney! A really huge problem still remains unaddressed.
The budget is a giant mess. Many other perils to our society, to our
safety, and to the wellbeing of our people are quietly ignored as we
sneak out of Washington to go home for speeches, campaigning and
schmoozing with our people.
How many of us will describe our real failures we leave unaddressed?
Dangers at the borders, cuts and furloughs to Custom & Border
Protection, the Department of Homeland Security, and other security
agencies--all unaddressed.
Food and Drug Administration--cut, sequestered, and unable to protect
our people's health and safety.
Roads, highways, and bridges--all in danger.

[[Page H2371]]

Law enforcement at risk and with cuts, sequesters, and all that goes
with those events to fester in our absence.
Education--our schools, colleges, universities, and research
facilities are all affected with uncertainty.
Business, investments, and job creation all delayed because we
can't--or won't--address our budget problems.
Almost nothing in government, or the economy, is able to prosper or
carry out its responsibilities because we cannot, or will not, address
the budget problems of this Nation, using the sequester as a substitute
for courage, responsibility, and just good, honest work with compromise
and cooperation.
This Republic has prospered for over 200 years because this
Congress--the House and Senate--and our political parties worked
together in the public's interest.
Apparently--No more!
We now go home, one small matter dealt with.
How many more are not dealt with? And what will be the consequences?
As we sneak home shame-facedly it may be that we ourselves will be
safe from these failures.
Perhaps we will even be safe politically for a while, but we do not
deserve to be; and we won't be when people figure out how poorly we do
the Nation's business.
We have much to do. This country believes that we should do so, and
it will demand that we do so.
Let us buckle down.
Let us do the job we are paid to do. We have a vital responsibility.
Let us carry it out.
Let us get busy and do the Nation's business--now.
Our responsibility is more important than our ideology.
I am ashamed. Is the rest of this body ashamed?
And what will we do about it?
Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I am unable to be in
Washington, DC today to cast a vote on H.R. 1765, The Reducing Flight
Delays Act.
When House Republicans refused to compromise on tax and spending
issues and raising the statutory debt limit, the Budget Control Act of
2011 was enacted in order to avert a fiscal crisis. The BCA provided
for automatic reductions to most federal discretionary spending,
referred to as ``sequestration,'' if no agreement on deficit reduction
could be reached. Policy analysts, economic experts and the American
people agreed that the automatic spending cuts would be so damaging,
and were such bad policy, that Congress would be compelled to act to
avoid them. I did not believe that these cuts were the right course of
action, and so I voted against the BCA.
Unfortunately (but predictably), Congress was unable to reach
agreement on a deficit reduction plan, and sequestration went into
effect on March 1, 2013. As we are now experiencing, sequestration
requires agencies to reduce non-defense discretionary spending by 5.3
percent in Fiscal Year 2013. It does not provide any guidance on how
each agency should go about implementing these cuts, it simply reduces
spending across the board, impacting all federal programs.
On March 22, 2013, after carefully weighing competing national
security interests, public safety concerns, impacts on interstate
transportation, communication, banking and financial networks, and the
status of the most critical diversionary airports, the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) announced it would close 149 Federal Contract
Tower program towers by June 15, 2013. The FAA has also begun to
implement a series of furloughs of all of its employees, including its
15,000 air traffic controllers, which has resulted in flight delays
nationwide.
As someone who flies across the Continental United States twice each
week, I share the frustrations and concerns that many Americans have
about the flight delays due to furloughs and the closure of these
towers. The nation's air traffic control system is essential for public
safety, business, and the regulation of national air traffic, and I
support this legislative effort to ensure that it is able to function
normally.
But the measure the House is voting on today is just applying an
inadequate Band-Aid to the gaping wound that sequestration has
inflicted on our nation. The flight delays due to furloughs and closure
of contract towers are some of the first highly visible impacts of
sequestration, but they highlight the fact that the federal government
performs many essential services that Americans depend on, and enacting
indiscriminate cuts to federal funding undoubtedly has a negative
impact on the government's ability to provide those services.
I remain committed to working with my colleagues in Congress and
across the government to protect Americans from the worst impacts of
sequestration and to undo it altogether.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1765 is a poor substitute for real
Congressional leadership and pragmatic solutions for the millions of
Americans impacted by the sequester. Using sequestration, Republicans
in the House are holding the American public hostage, extracting carve-
outs that serve their own interests while shamefully ignoring the
people who will be impacted by the billions in remaining cuts.
While I support putting all of our air traffic controllers back on
the job so that air transit is as safe and reliable as possible, this
bill leaves everyone else to suffer the devastating consequences of the
sequester cuts. Sequestration unduly constrains the ability of Congress
to deal effectively with America's economic, fiscal, and job creation
troubles. I support restoring funding for our air traffic control
officers, but this bill does nothing to relieve the anguish of those
Americans who cannot afford to buy an airline ticket.
As a Senior Member of the House Homeland Security Committee I find it
outrageous that in Texas, approximately 52,000 civilian Department of
Defense employees would be furloughed. The sequester, which the
Republicans did nothing to prevent, would undermine the significant
progress the Department of Homeland Security has made over the past ten
years and would negatively affect our ability to carry out their vital
mission.
Sequestration will eventually roll back border security, increase
wait times at our Nation's land ports of entry and airports, affect
aviation and maritime safety and security, leave critical
infrastructure vulnerable to attacks, hamper disaster response time and
significantly scale back cyber security infrastructure protections that
have been developed in recent years.
Republicans forced Congress to adopt sequestration as a backstop by
playing a political game of chicken when it came to raising the debt
ceiling to pay our debts. While we understand and share the concern of
our Republican colleagues with respect to deficit spending, now is not
the time to put ideology over pragmatism, and the arbitrary cuts
imposed by the sequester are not the answer.
Instead of forcing the average American to pay the price for a
dysfunctional Washington, give the leaders of both parties the time
needed to reach some consensus on budget issues.
Republicans, particularly Members of the Tea Party, need to
understand that allowing the sequester to continue is worst way to go
about achieving a long-term debt reduction. Cutting two million jobs
nationwide and slowing the growth of our gross domestic product by half
a percent will barely make a dent in our debt, but it will result in
widespread misery.
Moreover, it jeopardizes the economic progress that we have worked
hard to achieve, and even threatens to throw us back into a recession.
My state of Texas is greatly affected by sequestration. These cuts will
have a devastating and widespread impact on local communities.
Texas will lose approximately $67.8 million for primary and secondary
education, putting around 930 teacher and aide jobs at risk. In
addition, about 172,000 fewer students would be served and
approximately 280 fewer schools would receive funding.
Texas will lose approximately $51 million for about 620 teachers,
aides, and staff who help children with disabilities.
Head Start and Early Head Start services would be eliminated for
approximately 4,800 children in Texas, reducing access to critical
early education.
In Texas, approximately 52,000 civilian Department of Defense
employees would be furloughed, reducing gross pay by around $274.8
million in total.
Texas will lose about $1,103,000 in Justice Assistance Grants that
support law enforcement, prosecution and courts, crime prevention and
education, corrections and community corrections, drug treatment and
enforcement, and crime victim and witness initiatives.
Around 83,750 fewer Texans will get the help and skills they need to
find employment as Texas will lose about $2,263,000 for job search
assistance, referral, and placement, meaning.
Up to 2,300 disadvantaged and vulnerable children could lose access
to child care, which is also essential for working parents to hold down
a job.
In Texas around 9,730 fewer children will receive vaccines for
diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, whooping cough,
influenza, and Hepatitis B due to reduced funding for vaccinations.
Violence Against Women Grants: Texas could lose up to $543,000 to
provide services to victims of domestic violence, resulting in up to
2,100 fewer victims being served.
Texas will lose approximately $2,402,000 to help upgrade its ability
to respond to public health threats including infectious diseases,
natural disasters, and biological, chemical, nuclear, and radiological
events.
In addition, Texas will lose about $6,750,000 in grants to help
prevent and treat

[[Page H2372]]

substance abuse, resulting in around 2,800 fewer admissions to
substance abuse programs. And the Texas State Department of Public
Health will lose about $1,146,000 resulting un around 28,600 fewer HIV
tests.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that H.R. 900, the ``Cancel the
Sequester Act of 2013'' be brought to the floor for a vote.
This one-sentence bill would end this national nightmare by repealing
the section of the Budget Control Act of 2011 that imposed
sequestration and its senseless, job-destroying cuts. If Congress
cannot or will not come together in bipartisan agreement on a budget, I
believe we have a duty to avert these catastrophic cuts by repealing
them.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of legislation to
give the FAA and DOT flexibility to use unobligated funds to ensure the
safety of our nation's air transportation system. Specifically I rise
to affirm the intent of this legislation that grants the Secretary of
Transportation the ability to use unobligated balances of the Airport
Improvement Program account to prevent the closure of 149 contract air
traffic control towers and halt the furloughs of air traffic
controllers.
Our nation's air transportation system is a comprehensive network of
intertwined departments, one of which is the air traffic control towers
who guide our pilots safely between airports. I want to be very clear,
maintaining service at all contract air traffic control towers is
intrinsic to the authority given in this legislation to ensure a safe
and efficient air transportation system.
Many Members of Congress have expressed grave concerns over the
closure of contract towers and furloughs of air traffic controllers,
both of which contribute to the overall safety of our nation's air
transportation system. I should also clearly state that the inaction of
the Department of Transportation to request sequester reprogramming
authority and maintain some level of service at all contract towers has
led to this legislation. The safety and efficiency of our skies have
been put at risk and it has become incumbent upon the Congress to
direct this authority to the Secretary of Transportation.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of
legislation we will consider today that will provide the Secretary of
Transportation with the flexibility to transfer funds to prevent
reduced operations and staffing of the Federal Aviation Administration.
It has now been almost two months since the sequestration cuts were
enacted, and we are in new and unprecedented territory. This week
alone, approximately 2,800 flights were delayed daily because of the
Republican majority's refusal to address the effects of the sequester
sensibly.
This bill would allow the Department of Transportation to shift $253
million in funds to the FAA's operations account to prevent the worst
of these drastic cuts. This is simply a safety issue for the millions
of passengers who travel our skies. Over the past five days, we have
seen our national airspace system seriously compromised by the
furloughs of air traffic controllers and other aviation safety
professionals. In addition to the very serious safety concerns, the
inconvenience of passengers, and the loss of wages to these federal
workers, these delays have slowed commerce at a time when we should be
doing everything we can to nurture our domestic economy.
Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that now that the actual effects of
sequestration are painfully clear, Republican Members of Congress will
come back to the table, and we can work on a bipartisan, common sense
approach to ending sequestration.
Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of legislation to give
the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, and Department of
Transportation, DOT, flexibility to use unobligated funds to ensure the
safety of our nation's air transportation system and American
travelers. Specifically I rise to affirm the intent of this legislation
that grants the Secretary of Transportation the ability to use
unobligated balances of the Airport Improvement Program account to
prevent the closure of 149 contract air traffic control towers and halt
the furloughs of air traffic controllers.
Maintaining service at all contract air traffic control towers is
inherent to the authority given in this legislation to ensure a safe
and efficient air transportation system. Over the past seven weeks,
Congress has seen a swell of reaction to the FAA's decision to furlough
and lay off hundreds of air traffic controllers across the country. In
my district in New York, it was announced that the Ithaca Tompkins
Regional Airport control tower would be closed. Since this
announcement, residents, local businesses, and employees at the airport
have flooded my office with feedback that this closure will have
serious safety and long-term economic impacts in the region.
Many Members of Congress as well as industry representatives who
utilize our nation's general aviation system have expressed grave
concerns over the closure of contract towers and furloughs of air
traffic controllers, both of which contribute to the overall safety of
our nation's air transportation system. The inaction of the Department
of Transportation to request sequester reprogramming authority and
maintain some level of service at all contract towers is unacceptable
and has led to the need for this legislation. The safety and efficiency
of our skies have been put at risk and it has become incumbent upon the
Congress to direct this authority to the Secretary of Transportation.
I look forward to working with the FAA and DOT to ensure that the
Ithaca Tompkins control tower, as well as the other 148 towers across
the country, remain up and running to ensure our skies are safe.
Mr. RADEL. Mr. Speaker, the President warned Americans would feel the
pain of sequestration. What he failed to mention was his White House
would play politics to guarantee pain was felt. House Republicans told
the President to prioritize and find places to cut American families
would not feel. He refused. This is why I am proud to support the
Reducing Flight Delays Act, correcting the gross incompetence happening
at the White House to ensure Southwest Floridians see shorter wait
times at airports.
Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, while today's action to stop FAA
furloughs will reduce delays, 149 of the nation's contract control
towers are still at risk of closure on June 15th. These towers are not
only essential for passengers: they're essential for flight training,
public safety, and small business.
South Florida's North Perry Airport, which I represent in Congress,
is one of the key pilot training facilities in the Southeast and an
important backstop for the region's international airports. Without
further action, this airport may be forced to close this summer.
I rise today to affirm that the intent of the Reducing Flight Delays
Act of 2013 grants Secretary LaHood the authority to use unobligated
balances of the Airport Improvement Program account to prevent the
closure of the 149 contract air traffic control towers, including North
Perry Airport. I call on Secretary LaHood to exercise this option to
save these essential facilities.
Now, it's up to Congress to pass a comprehensive bill to stop the
sequester.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, today's vote may be the first of many to
undo the painful and unfair impact of sequestration on our food safety
system, housing services, public schools, Head Start programs, our
transportation programs, and a host of other vital government services.
However, I fear that a piecemeal approach would represent a
continuation of the incredibly broken process in Washington, DC. Even
though I will vote for today's measure, it will be an embarrassment if
this is the only action we take to reduce these cuts.
I voted against the Budget Control Act for a reason; sequestration
was intended to be painful. Picking and choosing programs to restore,
instead of reforming our budget overall and raising revenue, shirks our
fundamental responsibility as members of Congress. We must address the
big picture: we need to cut programs that are irrelevant or even
harmful, such as the nuclear arsenal and agricultural subside. We need
new revenues that address the inequities in the tax code. It will
require a comprehensive approach but will result in a sustainable
budget future.
By all means protect the vital operation of the FAA. More
importantly, restore the hundreds of vital programs crippled by
sequestration by replacing them with strategic cuts and new revenues
that will strengthen our economy and county. This should be our number
one priority.
Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of legislation to
provide the U.S. Secretary of Transportation with the flexibility to
transfer certain funds to prevent reduced operations and staffing of
the Federal Aviation Administration. While it is imperative that the
U.S. Congress consider and pass legislation to replace the entirety of
the sequester, this legislation will help ensure the safety and
efficiency of our nation's air transportation system.
Specifically, I rise to affirm the intent of this legislation that
grants the Secretary of Transportation the ability to use unobligated
balances of the Airport Improvement Program account to halt the
furloughs of air traffic controllers, to maintain the midnight air
traffic control tower shift at airports across the country including
Fresno-Yosemite International Airport, and to prevent the closure of
149 contract air traffic control towers including Castle Airport's
contract air traffic control tower. Maintaining service at all contract
and non-contract air traffic control towers is central to the authority
provided in this bill to ensure the safety of our air transportation
system.
Many Members of Congress have expressed concerns over the closure of
contract towers, reduced service at non-contract towers, and furloughs
of air traffic controllers, all of which contribute to the overall
safety of our nation's air transportation system. The safety

[[Page H2373]]

and efficiency of our skies have been put at risk and it has become
incumbent upon the Congress to direct this authority to the Secretary
of Transportation.
Mr. PETERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I am
frustrated at the House of Representatives' failure to pass a realistic
budget to stop the irresponsible across-the-board cuts that have caused
more than 4,000 flight delays impacting hundreds of thousands of
passengers over the past week. I voted against the sequester because it
was a bad policy then and it is a bad policy now.
Families in Michigan and across the country should not be penalized
for dysfunction in Congress. Today, I am proud to have voted to end the
crippling delays in our nation's airspace and support the jobs of
15,000 air traffic controllers who work hard to keep us safe all across
this country.
This bill gives the Secretary of Transportation the authority and
flexibility to move funds within the FAA to minimize the disruption to
our air transportation system. Although I am happy that our air traffic
controllers can finally get back to work protecting our skies, this
bill does nothing to solve the continuing negative impacts to women,
senior citizens, small businesses and our children's education.
It is time for us to take the responsible course of action to end
this sequestration, find common-ground, and reach a final agreement on
a bi-partisan budget that allows us to put teachers back to work in our
schools, to give kids a jumpstart on education through Head Start, to
help get people back to work, and to continue NIH research on critical
diseases such as Alzheimers and heart disease.
I call upon my colleagues to come back to the table and pass a bi-
partisan, comprehensive budget agreement to replace the sequester.
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1765 to
provide the Secretary of Transportation with the flexibility to
transfer funds to prevent further disruptions resulting from Federal
Aviation Administration furloughs. If enacted, this bill will end the
air traffic control furloughs that have congested commercial aviation
traffic over the last week.
Currently, the FAA is furloughing almost 10 percent of its air
traffic controller workforce on a daily basis. Since the furloughs
began on Sunday through Wednesday this week, the number of air travel
delays has totaled 8,804 compared to 2,795 for the same time last week.
These delays inconvenience passengers and cause serious economic
disruptions throughout the entire country.
H.R. 1765 will provide the Secretary of Transportation with the
flexibility he needs to fix this problem without adding to the FAA's
budget. The additional flexibility in this bill will also give the
Secretary the ability to restore the FAA's Contract Tower Program.
It is Congress' intent that the Secretary of Transportation will use
the added flexibility to stop the closure of the 149 identified
contract towers across the country. As I and those in my District can
attest, these contract towers, such as the ones in Albany and in Macon,
play an important role in serving as a link between rural communities
and the larger aviation network.
This bill should be approved to prevent both the FAA furloughs and
the closure of these contract towers. I urge my colleagues to join me
in supporting this important aviation bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 1765.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. PASTOR of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 361,
nays 41, not voting 30, as follows:

[Roll No. 125]

YEAS--361

Aderholt
Alexander
Amodei
Andrews
Bachmann
Bachus
Barber
Barletta
Barr
Barrow (GA)
Bass
Becerra
Benishek
Bentivolio
Bera (CA)
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Bonner
Boustany
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Broun (GA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Bustos
Butterfield
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Cantor
Capito
Capps
Capuano
Cardenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Cassidy
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Chu
Cicilline
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Coffman
Cohen
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Connolly
Cook
Cooper
Costa
Cotton
Courtney
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Cuellar
Culberson
Cummings
Daines
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
Davis, Rodney
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
Deutch
Diaz-Balart
Doggett
Doyle
Duckworth
Duffy
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Engel
Eshoo
Esty
Farenthold
Farr
Fattah
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Fortenberry
Foster
Foxx
Frankel (FL)
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grijalva
Grimm
Guthrie
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hall
Hanabusa
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (FL)
Hastings (WA)
Heck (NV)
Heck (WA)
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Higgins
Himes
Hinojosa
Holding
Holt
Horsford
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Israel
Issa
Jackson Lee
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, E. B.
Johnson, Sam
Joyce
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (PA)
Kennedy
Kilmer
Kind
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kirkpatrick
Kline
Kuster
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Langevin
Lankford
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latham
Latta
Lewis
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lummis
Maffei
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Marino
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCarthy (NY)
McCaul
McClintock
McCollum
McHenry
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McNerney
Meadows
Meehan
Meeks
Meng
Messer
Mica
Michaud
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Moore
Moran
Mullin
Murphy (FL)
Murphy (PA)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Negrete McLeod
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
O'Rourke
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Paulsen
Payne
Pearce
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Perry
Peters (CA)
Peters (MI)
Peterson
Petri
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Richmond
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Roybal-Allard
Royce
Runyan
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Scalise
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schock
Schrader
Schwartz
Schweikert
Scott (VA)
Scott, Austin
Scott, David
Sensenbrenner
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Speier
Stewart
Stivers
Stockman
Stutzman
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Terry
Thompson (MS)
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tierney
Tipton
Titus
Tonko
Tsongas
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (FL)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yarmuth
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (FL)

NAYS--41

Amash
Clarke
Conyers
Crowley
DesJarlais
Dingell
Duncan (SC)
Edwards
Ellison
Fincher
Fudge
Hoyer
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Jordan
Kelly (IL)
Kildee
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lofgren
Long
Massie
Matsui
McDermott
McGovern
Mulvaney
Nolan
Olson
Palazzo
Pingree (ME)
Pocan
Sarbanes
Serrano
Thompson (CA)
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Welch
Wenstrup
Wilson (SC)

NOT VOTING--30

Barton
Beatty
Brady (TX)
Burgess
Carney
Carter
Coble
Conaway
Enyart
Flores
Forbes
Granger
Honda
Huffman
Jones
LoBiondo
Lynch
Marchant
Markey
Miller, George
Polis
Radel
Rangel
Ruiz
Sessions
Smith (WA)
Walorski
Waxman
Williams
Young (IN)

{time} 1213

Ms. KELLY of Illinois and Mr. FINCHER changed their vote from ``yea''
to ``nay.''
Messrs. CASSIDY, FARR, FLEMING, Ms. HAHN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ and
Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California changed their vote from ``nay'' to
``yea.''
So (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and
the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Stated for:
Mr. CARNEY. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 125, had I been present, I
would have voted ``yea.''

[[Page H2374]]

Mr. RADEL. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 125, had I been present, I
would have voted ``yea.''
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 125, on motion to suspend
the rules and pass H.R. 1765, I was unable to vote. Had I been present,
I would have voted ``yea.''
Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, on April 26 I was unavoidably detained and
missed rollcall No. 125, on H.R. 1765. Had I been present, I would have
voted ``yea.''
Mr. CARNEY. Mr. Speaker, I wish to clarify my position for the Record
on a vote cast on April 26, 2013. The vote was on passage of H.R. 1765,
the Reducing Flight Delays Act.
On rollcall vote No. 125, I did not vote. It was my intention to vote
``yea.''

____________________