[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 140 (Monday, September 28, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H6272-H6275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AIRPORT AND AIRWAY EXTENSION ACT OF 2015
Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3614) to amend title 49, United States Code, to extend
authorizations for the airport improvement program, to amend the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure
authority of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3614
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Airport
and Airway Extension Act of 2015''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I--AIRPORT AND AIRWAY PROGRAMS
Sec. 101. Extension of airport improvement program.
Sec. 102. Extension of expiring authorities.
Sec. 103. Federal Aviation Administration operations.
Sec. 104. Air navigation facilities and equipment.
Sec. 105. Research, engineering, and development.
Sec. 106. Funding for aviation programs.
Sec. 107. Essential air service.
TITLE II--REVENUE PROVISIONS
Sec. 201. Expenditure authority from Airport and Airway Trust Fund.
Sec. 202. Extension of taxes funding Airport and Airway Trust Fund.
TITLE I--AIRPORT AND AIRWAY PROGRAMS
SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--Section 48103(a) of title 49, United
States Code, is amended by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``and $1,675,000,000 for the period beginning on
October 1, 2015, and ending on March 31, 2016.''.
(2) Obligation of amounts.--Subject to limitations
specified in advance in appropriation Acts, sums made
available pursuant to the amendment made by paragraph (1) may
be obligated at any time through September 30, 2016, and
shall remain available until expended.
(3) Program implementation.--For purposes of calculating
funding apportionments and meeting other requirements under
sections 47114, 47115, 47116, and 47117 of title 49, United
States Code, for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and
ending on March 31, 2016, the Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration shall--
(A) first calculate such funding apportionments on an
annualized basis as if the total amount available under
section 48103 of such title for fiscal year 2016 were
$3,350,000,000; and
(B) then reduce by 50 percent--
(i) all funding apportionments calculated under
subparagraph (A); and
(ii) amounts available pursuant to sections 47117(b) and
47117(f)(2) of such title.
(b) Project Grant Authority.--Section 47104(c) of title 49,
United States Code, is amended in the matter preceding
paragraph (1) by striking ``September 30, 2015,'' and
inserting ``March 31, 2016,''.
SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF EXPIRING AUTHORITIES.
(a) Section 47107(r)(3) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``October 1, 2015'' and inserting ``April
1, 2016''.
(b) Section 47115(j) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by inserting ``and for the period beginning on
October 1, 2015, and ending on March 31, 2016'' after
``fiscal years 2012 through 2015''.
(c) Section 47124(b)(3)(E) of title 49, United States Code,
is amended by inserting ``and not more than $5,175,000 for
the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on March
31, 2016,'' after ``fiscal years 2012 through 2015''.
(d) Section 47141(f) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``September 30, 2015'' and inserting
``March 31, 2016''.
(e) Section 50905(c)(3) of title 51, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``October 1, 2015,'' and inserting
``April 1, 2016,''.
(f) Section 186(d) of the Vision 100--Century of Aviation
Reauthorization Act (117 Stat. 2518) is amended by inserting
``and for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending
on March 31, 2016,'' after ``fiscal years 2012 through
2015''.
(g) Section 409(d) of the Vision 100--Century of Aviation
Reauthorization Act (49 U.S.C. 41731 note) is amended by
striking ``September 30, 2015'' and inserting ``March 31,
2016''.
(h) Section 140(c)(1) of the FAA Modernization and Reform
Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 47113 note) is amended by striking
``fiscal years 2013 through 2015,'' and inserting ``fiscal
years 2013 through 2016,''.
(i) Section 411(h) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act
of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 42301 prec. note) is amended by striking
``September 30, 2015'' and inserting ``March 31, 2016''.
(j) Section 822(k) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act
of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 47141 note) is amended by striking
``September 30, 2015'' and inserting ``March 31, 2016''.
SEC. 103. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION OPERATIONS.
Section 106(k) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) in subparagraph (C) by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in subparagraph (D) by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:
``(E) $4,870,350,000 for the period beginning on October 1,
2015, and ending on March 31, 2016.''; and
(2) in paragraph (3) by inserting ``and for the period
beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on March 31, 2016''
after ``fiscal years 2012 through 2015''.
SEC. 104. AIR NAVIGATION FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT.
Section 48101(a) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(5) $1,300,000,000 for the period beginning on October 1,
2015, and ending on March 31, 2016.''.
[[Page H6273]]
SEC. 105. RESEARCH, ENGINEERING, AND DEVELOPMENT.
Section 48102(a) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (7) by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (8) by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(9) $78,375,000 for the period beginning on October 1,
2015, and ending on March 31, 2016.''.
SEC. 106. FUNDING FOR AVIATION PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--Section 48114 of title 49, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(2) by striking ``2015'' and inserting
``2016''; and
(2) in subsection (c)(2) by striking ``2015'' and inserting
``2016''.
(b) Compliance With Funding Requirements.--The budget
authority authorized in this Act, including the amendments
made by this Act, shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements
of subsections (a)(1)(B) and (a)(2) of section 48114 of title
49, United States Code, for the period beginning on October
1, 2015, and ending on March 31, 2016.
SEC. 107. ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE.
Section 41742(a) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``and $93,000,000 for fiscal year 2015''
and inserting ``$93,000,000 for fiscal year 2015, and
$77,500,000 for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and
ending on March 31, 2016,''.
TITLE II--REVENUE PROVISIONS
SEC. 201. EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY FROM AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST
FUND.
(a) In General.--Section 9502(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended--
(1) by striking ``October 1, 2015'' in the matter preceding
subparagraph (A) and inserting ``April 1, 2016'', and
(2) by striking the semicolon at the end of subparagraph
(A) and inserting ``or the Airport and Airway Extension Act
of 2015;''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 9502(e)(2) of such Code
is amended by striking ``October 1, 2015'' and inserting
``April 1, 2016''.
SEC. 202. EXTENSION OF TAXES FUNDING AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST
FUND.
(a) Fuel Taxes.--Section 4081(d)(2)(B) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``September 30,
2015'' and inserting ``March 31, 2016''.
(b) Ticket Taxes.--
(1) Persons.--Section 4261(k)(1)(A)(ii) of such Code is
amended by striking ``September 30, 2015'' and inserting
``March 31, 2016''.
(2) Property.--Section 4271(d)(1)(A)(ii) of such Code is
amended by striking ``September 30, 2015'' and inserting
``March 31, 2016''.
(c) Fractional Ownership Programs.--
(1) Treatment as non-commercial aviation.--Section 4083(b)
of such Code is amended by striking ``October 1, 2015'' and
inserting ``April 1, 2016''.
(2) Exemption from ticket taxes.--Section 4261(j) of such
Code is amended by striking ``September 30, 2015'' and
inserting ``March 31, 2016''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo) and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
General Leave
Mr. LoBIONDO. 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 H.R. 3614.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, on September 30, 2015, the authorization for the Federal
Aviation Administration programs and taxes that fund those programs
will expire. H.R. 3614 is a clean, 6-month extension of all necessary
authorizations through March 31 of 2016.
As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation, I believe it is
critical for Congress to come together in a bipartisan, long-term FAA
reauthorization bill.
On the Aviation Subcommittee, Chairman Shuster and I have had great
working partnerships with Congressman DeFazio and Congressman Larsen. I
want to thank Congressman DeFazio and Congressman Larsen for their
bipartisan cooperation in this very important area.
Without an extension, the FAA will not be able to spend funds from
the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Therefore, airport construction
projects across the country will be halted, contractors that support
FAA will not be paid, construction jobs will be lost, and thousands of
FAA employees could be furloughed.
In my district in New Jersey, I have the privilege of representing
approximately 4,000 FAA employees and contractors who work at the FAA's
premier technical center in the Nation. They contribute an
extraordinary amount of energy and dedication to making sure that
aviation continues to move forward. Without them, the state of aviation
in our country would suffer, and we cannot afford them to be at home
for failing because we failed to do our work and pass an extension
bill.
A lapse in the authorization will also result in the halt of
certification and registration of new aviation products, greatly
disrupting the aviation manufacturing industry and jeopardizing more
good paying jobs. The FAA's aircraft registry would close, delaying
deliveries of new aircraft. As many as 10,000 aircraft a month could be
grounded if registration cannot be renewed.
H.R. 3614 will allow us to continue developing a bipartisan, long-
term reauthorization bill which will improve, rebuild, and modernize
our Nation's safe, yet highly antiquated, aviation system.
I urge support of H.R. 3614.
I reserve the balance of my time
Mr. DeFAZIO. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I agree with my good friend, the gentleman from New
Jersey, that it is essential that we pass H.R. 3614--the Senate passed
it expeditiously--and it be signed by the President. We cannot afford
even, you know, the thought of a shutdown of the FAA. We have actually
gone down that road in the past.
Chairman Mica, in July of 2011, put some provisions into an FAA
reauthorization that were objectionable to two very powerful Senators,
and we actually went through a shutdown. What we lost was $400 million
of revenue because the excise tax expired.
Now, one airline, to give them credit, did pass the savings through,
the excise tax, Alaska Airlines. All the other airlines kept the money,
and we lost $400 million from the trust fund.
Capital programs ground to a halt. Airport construction ground to a
halt, threatening tens of thousands of jobs. Airport inspectors had to
work. They were essential employees. They weren't paid, and they
couldn't get government vouchers, so they had to use their personal
credit cards to purchase tickets to go to work to do their job, which
they weren't being paid for.
I mean, this was the ultimate of absurdity. I only go into some
detail on that because that is relevant to this extension.
This is a 6-month extension. That should give us more than ample time
to agree upon a long-term FAA authorization. Much work has already been
done on major portions of the bill, but some disagreements remain over
the future of the air traffic organization.
My preference would be to insulate the entire FAA from future
vicissitudes of Congress going off the rails with a shutdown and
furloughs and provisions that are unacceptable to the Senate that cause
a temporary lapse in authorization. You know, we can get there. We are
very close now. This year, all but 7 percent of the FAA's budget will
be paid for by user fees, excise taxes, and others, so we are quite
close.
We would like to reform procurement, to streamline it and make it
work better at the FAA. When I was a very young Member of Congress, I
got to witness the airport air traffic controller's workstation of the
future. That was 1987. Well, it is 2015, and they don't have them yet.
The FAA is the only agency of government worse at procurement than
the Pentagon. Congress has tried to reform it; it didn't stick. We have
got to try something different to get it to be more agile to give us
the 21st century equipment and software that we need.
Then there are issues of the actual sort of shape of the FAA
bureaucracy, a little bit like that in the middle. Congress, also back
in 1986, gave the FAA license to reform personnel practices to deal
with some of that midlevel management bulge and streamline the agency
and decisionmaking process, but that didn't take either.
So the three problems are the predictability of funding and the
agency being able to look into the future without having to worry about
shutdowns, furloughs--I don't know how much time they spent over the
last couple of weeks getting ready for this shutdown that everyone
thought would come this week before Speaker Boehner announced his
retirement; that has got to
[[Page H6274]]
be dealt with--and then also the procurement reform and the personnel.
The chairman's solution is to separate only the air traffic
organization from the FAA and insulate that from Congress and those
sorts of problems and make it, you know, free of the procurement rules
and a lot of the personnel rules. I would prefer to do that with the
entire agency, because there are functions--we do have the best air
traffic control system in the world. We are busier in the U.S. with
more planes under instrument flight rules on a daily basis, about 20
percent more on an IFR average, than Canada, U.K., France, and Germany
combined.
So we know we have a safe system. We move massive amounts of air
traffic. We don't want to mess that up. And I understand, but I also
don't think we can isolate it from other decisionmakers in the agency
and leave them subject to the vicissitudes of Congress.
The people who do the certifications, who do the inspections, who do
the safety, it seems to me it should all be moved; and I propose a 21st
century constitutionally chartered corporation in order to accomplish
those goals and make it self-funding, self-sufficient, and not subject
to appropriations or shutdowns or anything else that a future Congress
might imagine. So that is the hangup. We haven't agreed on that part
yet, but I think we can.
We share common objectives, and 6 months should be more than ample
time. I am hopeful that early this fall the chairman and I can resolve
those issues with other members of the committee, and then we can go
forward with our colleagues in the Senate and hopefully have, you know,
a bill on the President's desk early, early next year, if not by the
end of this year, although December promises to be perhaps a bit
chaotic around here.
{time} 1600
In any case, 6 months should be ample time. I do not anticipate
multiple short-term extensions. I don't want them, nor does the
chairman, nor do, I believe, any other thoughtful members of the
committee.
I see the gentleman from New Jersey shaking his head. We couldn't
agree more. We have been down that road before, down that runway
before. We don't want to go down that runway again.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen).
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the
temporary measure to extend the authorization of the FAA today, but I
do so with great disappointment. We could be on the floor today to
enact a longer term FAA reauthorization bill.
In the last 2 years, the Subcommittee on Aviation, led by my
colleague from New Jersey, Mr. LoBiondo, has held 16 hearings on a
variety of topics. We have heard from stakeholders that there is a long
list of things that we need to do to stay competitive with our economic
rivals and keep our airspace the safest and most efficient in the
world:
We need to reform aircraft certification so that manufacturers can
get the newest, safest equipment to market.
We need to set clear rules for unmanned aerial vehicles and
accelerate efforts for their safe use.
We need to advance NextGen programs to move air traffic faster and
more efficiently.
Chairman Shuster, Chairman LoBiondo, Ranking Member DeFazio, and I
have achieved a bipartisan agreement on most of these major key issues
that we need to address. That bill is ready to go.
We didn't hear during these hearings that we needed to privatize air
traffic control. Now, some people want to privatize air traffic
control. I know that they want to do this in good faith. But we don't
need to do it, and it is preventing the things that we need to do from
getting done.
An entire bipartisan bill is being held up because we can't agree yet
on the details of what would be a very complex proposal. I fail to
understand why at this juncture such a proposal is necessary,
particularly when it prevents significant and much-needed reform from
taking place.
There is no dispute that today we safely operate the most complex and
congested airspace in the world. Last year the Government
Accountability Office asked 76 aviation stakeholders whether the FAA is
capable of operating an efficient air traffic control system. The
overwhelming majority, 64 of those, said the FAA is, in fact, capable
of doing so. Privatizing the current system is clearly not a pressing
need. It is a want.
I wish I could say today I am surprised that we find ourselves here
today, but many people have been saying for a long time that this was
the situation that we would be facing on September 30. In fact, when we
held a hearing on air traffic privatization back in March, I predicted
we were headed down this road of multiple short-term reauthorizations.
The bipartisan portions of the bill that Chairman Shuster, Chairman
LoBiondo, Ranking Member DeFazio, and I have agreed to would have
immediate benefits all over the country.
In my home State of Washington, it would protect and create American
jobs through airport construction and aerospace manufacturing; it would
improve aviation safety; it would improve the way the aircraft and
parts are certified to get newer and safer technology to market; it
would build on the safety improvements that this body has made
following the tragic Colgan flight 3407 in 2009; it would improve the
regulation and the development of unmanned aerial systems, which
continue to proliferate in our airspace.
We need a strong regulatory system in place to safely grow the
unmanned aircraft industry, and until we act, that system cannot be in
place. For every day of this extension, travelers and the aerospace
industry will not receive the improvements and protections that we have
crafted in the bipartisan portions of the bill that we are close to
agreeing on. We will continue to fall behind other countries that are
making similar improvements.
As many lawmakers and aviation stakeholders recall, the last FAA
reauthorization bill came after a period of 5 years and 23 short-term
extensions. I had hoped we would avoid serial extensions this time
around, but today we start down that path.
Yes, it is with disappointment that I am here to support a temporary
extension and strongly urge all my colleagues to make sure this is the
only temporary extension before enactment of a long-term bill.
We have a long list of things that we need to do today to improve our
airspace. We should focus on those things instead of the things only
that we want to do.
Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), the chairman of the
committee.
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, here we are with a short-term extension for
6 months. I believe it is critical that we do this, obviously, as it is
about to expire. There are things that not only do we want to do, but
we need to do, to make sure that we have the safest airspace in the
world.
We also need to make sure it is the most efficient airspace in the
world. We can do that if we deploy the technology and the things we
have been talking about for almost 2 years now to transform the FAA
into something that can move quicker, that can deploy the technology
that is available to us.
When we look around the world, there are over 50 countries that have
taken the air traffic control organization out of government and have
been able to maintain the highest levels of safety, but deploy
technology that makes their airspace more efficient. That is the kind
of thing we are looking at.
I think we are at a critical time. What we have been talking about is
not anything new. It is something that we have been talking about for
20 years. In fact, the Clinton administration had a similar proposal,
the Bush administration had a similar proposal, and here we are today
talking about it. But I think that we have different groups that are
looking positively at this.
We are very close to putting something together that, as I said, will
transform the air traffic control system while keeping back in
government
[[Page H6275]]
the safety and regulatory oversight to this agency to make sure that we
are streamlining the certification process for our aviation industry
that is manufacturing everything from Boeings to Gulfstreams, to the
avionics, to the parts that go into these flying systems.
We have got to maintain our lead in the world. The way we do that is
to streamline the certification process. The gentleman from Washington,
who has Boeing in his district, agrees with me on that issue. There is
a lot more in this that we need to do to move forward.
I think, as we get through September and into October, we are going
to be able to see the bill that we have put forth that is going to
have, I believe, bipartisan support not only from Congress, but around
the country, around Washington, D.C., and, as I said, here in the
House. In talking to the Senate, I am encouraged by what they have said
about what we are looking at proposing.
Again, I would encourage all Members to support this 6-month
extension to give us the time to get our bill on and off the floor and
let the Senate work on it so we can truly do something that is bold, do
something that is transformational, and do something that will be very,
very positive for aviation, not only travel, but for the manufacturing
industry in this country.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I have requests to speak from Members who
aren't here.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to thank Mr. Shuster,
Mr. DeFazio, and Mr. Larsen. I urge all my colleagues to support the
legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, with passage of H.R. 3614 today, the House
will ``kick the can down the road'' on a long-term FAA reauthorization
for another six months. I certainly recognize the dire need to keep our
airports and air travel system functioning in the face of an expiration
of the FAA's authorization in less than 72 hours. However, I'm very
disappointed that this bill does not contain any changes to current
policy regarding aircraft noise impacts on communities surrounding
airports.
Over the last several months, constituents throughout my
Congressional District have experienced an alarming increase in
aircraft noise due to the implementation of new flight paths under the
FAA's Next Gen program. The new flight paths have caused certain
communities to be hit especially hard by airplane noise, and other
rural communities that have never experienced it are now being
bombarded by noise. Many of these communities received little or no
advance notice or opportunity to comment on the flight path changes
before they were implemented, and they were blindsided when the changes
went into effect earlier this year.
In July, I joined the Congressional Quiet Skies Caucus so that
together we could make recommendations for the Transportation Committee
to include in an FAA reauthorization bill. These recommendations
include: ensuring that FAA completes a robust community engagement
process before flight paths are changed; requiring the FAA to use a new
method of measuring noise that captures the true levels of noise on the
ground; removing the categorical exclusion from full environmental
reviews for flight path changes; and mandating independent research on
the health impacts of aviation noise. These important reforms would
substantially improve the FAA's process of addressing and avoiding
noise impacts.
Once again, I wish to express my disappointment that the bill before
us today simply reauthorizes the FAA for another six months with none
of these important changes included. As the debate over a long-term FAA
reauthorization continues, I hope these recommendations will be
carefully considered and ultimately included in the final legislation.
The ability to get a good night's sleep for thousands of my
constituents depends on it.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3614.
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.
____________________