[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 159 (Wednesday, October 4, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H7756-H7757]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      21ST CENTURY AVIATION REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Woodall) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I have the honor of serving on the House 
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and I rise today in 
support of the 21st Century Aviation Innovation, Reform, and 
Reauthorization Act. We call it the AIRR Act in the committee.
  H.R. 2997 is a unique opportunity in a bipartisan way to do something 
big together for the American people.
  I know we hear that a lot in this Chamber, Mr. Speaker, but so often 
it seems like it is just out of our reach. That is not the case today.
  Under Chairman Shuster's leadership on the Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committee, Mr. Speaker, my colleagues and I have worked 
to craft the kind of bold, forward-thinking reform that America's 21st 
century aviation system needs. It is in reach today to make that the 
law of the land.
  When we sit together to reauthorize the FAA, Mr. Speaker, it isn't 
just about attending to the Nation's business of ensuring safety of air 
travelers across the country. Of course, that is a priority, but it is 
an opportunity to implement the kind of innovative reforms that we have 
seen across the globe and that America needs to reestablish itself as 
the world's aviation leader.

                              {time}  1030

  We have an opportunity together to deal with a bloated bureaucracy, 
to reduce taxpayer costs, to improve efficiency all in an industry that 
is designed to prioritize customer's experience and customer service.
  Mr. Speaker, Americans pioneered air travel, and we remain the safest 
aviation system on the planet. But our own outdated bureaucracy, our 
own outdated rules are standing in the way of American innovators and 
making air travel more time consuming, more costly, and safety 
innovations more difficult.
  Mr. Speaker, with this legislation, we have a chance to empower our 
innovators, to better serve our travelers, and to preserve the world's 
finest commitment to safety, as we always have.
  As is the case, Mr. Speaker, with any heavy lift, with any big task, 
there are always concerns in keeping America's system safe and the 
American people safe a highest among those concerns.
  Mr. Speaker, what you need to know today is that with the support of 
General Mattis, with the support of the Department of Defense, the AIRR 
Act has focused on preserving the primacy of preserving national 
security in our aviation infrastructure.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill has the support of those dedicated public 
servants at the Pentagon because it has been sensitive to these issues. 
It maintains the DOD's access and management of airspace. It doesn't 
allow user fees that are charged to passengers to be passed onto 
taxpayers through the DOD. It leaves intact the President's and the 
DOD's proper authorities to manage this space.

[[Page H7757]]

  In addition, it provides unequivocal definitions about the importance 
of defense to the American people and balances the needs of general 
aviation with the needs of the Department of Defense. The oversight 
will always remain with the FAA, with the DOT, and with the United 
States Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, after we preserve national security, we turn our 
attentions to the general aviation community. And if you have talked 
about this bill at all with any of your constituents back home, Mr. 
Speaker, you heard the concerns of the general aviation community about 
what it will mean to them to completely reform America's air traffic 
control system.
  Mr. Speaker, we have to balance the role of government oversight and 
accountability with private innovation. Our bill is designed to empower 
those innovators but to preserve the protections that GA has today.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to refer you to a graphic. You will find it at 
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's website. It is 
transport.house.gov. You can't see it from where you sit, but I have 
line by line by line the law that we are talking about, the bill that 
we are talking about, the reforms that we are talking about, and how it 
protects our friends at the general aviation community.
  No fees. No new fees for our friends in general aviation, Mr. 
Speaker. If you have a doubt about that, look at section 9313, you will 
see ``charges and fees may not be imposed for air traffic services 
provided.''
  Continuing airspace and airport access, Mr. Speaker, so important to 
American citizens involved in general aviation, again, I refer you to 
chapter 907: ``General rights of access to airspace, airports. . . . 
The Secretary shall take such actions as are necessary to ensure that 
an air traffic services user is not denied access to airspace or air 
traffic services. . . .''
  The stakeholder board, Mr. Speaker, the cooperatizing of air traffic 
services that we have seen done so successfully in Canada where they 
say they are getting twice the safety and modernization input for half 
the cost, getting it done in a third of the time, having done away with 
their bloated bureaucracy, the stakeholder board, Mr. Speaker, is 
defined by general aviation nomination. Transport.house.gov, Mr. 
Speaker.

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