[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 7729]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           FAA MODERNIZATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the underlying FAA bill that came out 
of the Commerce Committee had wide bipartisan support. The provisions 
that came out of the Finance Committee that are directly related to 
aviation financing have wide bipartisan support.
  This bill was on a fast track to passage and to improving airline 
safety in our country. Unfortunately, our friends across the aisle 
bogged it down with extraneous provisions that do nothing to improve 
airline safety and that do not belong on this bill.
  And then, to prevent any changes to those provisions, they used a 
procedure that used to be rare to block amendments and improvements to 
the bill. So rather than quickly passing an airline safety bill that 
has broad bipartisan support, our friends on the other side have 
decided it is more important to fight for a few pet projects.
  Rather than quickly finish the bill and move on to gas prices, they 
have decided to dig in and fight for a few extra provisions for a few 
extra Senators. The right choice is clear: We should quickly pass the 
bipartisan aviation-related portions of the FAA bill and move on to 
legislation that addresses the high price Americans are paying at the 
pump.
  Republicans put forward an energy proposal, a plan that gets at the 
root of the problem rather than at increased dependence on OPEC. The 
Republican plan would increase the supply of American energy and 
bolster American jobs while lowering our dependence on foreign oil.
  Meanwhile, Democratic suggestions for addressing high gas prices 
ranged from driving slower to more frequent oil changes. This is a 
debate we are eager to have. One wonders if the reason our friends are 
stalling on the FAA bill is that they are worried about exposing the 
fact that they have no plan for gas prices.
  But Americans who are paying close to $4 a gallon for gasoline do not 
particularly care which party comes up with the idea; they would like 
some action.

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