[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 164 (Wednesday, October 3, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6490-S6491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FAA REAUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today the Senate passed a preconferenced 
Federal Aviation Authority bill without amendment offered or accepted 
by myself or my colleagues. I voted against this bill primarily for 
three reasons.
  First, this FAA reauthorization does not include a critical and 
necessary consumer protection bill, the FAIR Fees Act. The FAIR Fees 
Act would have limited the amount that airlines could gouge consumers 
when they wanted to change flights. Now, without this provision, 
working Oregonians will still have to pay absurd prices, such as $200, 
to change a simple $80 flight.
  Second, Senator Merkley and I had introduced legislation to qualify 
the Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport to receive Essential Air 
Service funding, and despite our attempts to include it to this 5-year 
FAA authorization, the legislation was excluded. The airport near 
Klamath Falls is currently without commercial air service, and 
Essential Air Service funding would help them recruit an airline to 
return commercial air service to the region. I was disappointed this 
important provision was not included by either the House or the Senate 
because it would have increased economic development and tourism for 
the Klamath region. I will continue to pursue any and all avenues to 
help restore commercial air service to the Crater Lake-Klamath Regional 
Airport, a must for quality of life and economic development in the 
Klamath Falls area.
  Third, this bill includes the Preventing Emerging Threats Act, 
legislation aimed at empowering Federal agents to prevent drone-based 
crime.

[[Page S6491]]

This legislation confronts a clear need and represents careful--but 
incomplete--efforts to create a narrow program with appropriate 
congressional oversight. Specifically, this bill allows for broad 
carveouts to the Wiretap Act, and it is not clear this broad authority 
is necessary. Additionally, the privacy protections could be 
interpreted as applying only to information gathered between the drone 
and the drone operator and not applying to additional information 
gathered, collected, stored, or analyzed while initially detecting 
drones. Interpreted this way, the bill represents a massive expansion 
of the government's warrantless wiretapping authority.
  I have received assurances from the Department of Homeland Security, 
the Department of Justice, and my colleagues from the Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs Committee to work together to address my 
concerns. Despite that, I voted against this bill while looking forward 
to remedying this quickly in perfecting legislation. Similarly, I am 
looking forward to published guidance from the Department of Justice 
and the Department of Homeland Security making clear that all 
information gathered, stored, analyzed, or collected under this act are 
subject to the privacy protections.

                          ____________________