[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5636]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             THE SEQUESTER

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as a result of the administration's 
poor planning and, I would argue, political motives, thousands of 
people were stuck on tarmacs over the last few days. The FAA's 
mismanagement of this issue is the source of bipartisan frustration. 
Our goal shouldn't be to score political points on the backs of weary 
travelers, it should be to fix the problem.
  Look, the Obama administration knew about the sequester for months--
for months. Yet it gave the traveling public and Congress only 3 days' 
notice before implementing the furloughs now being blamed for these 
delays. The FAA Administrator testified before the Commerce and 
Appropriations Committees last week but made no mention of the 
magnitude and impact on delays of these furloughs that were just right 
around the corner.
  It seems completely implausible to me he didn't know about them when 
he was testifying last week. Was the administration hiding the ball 
from the traveling public? It seems like a fair question.
  Frankly, this episode is a perfect illustration of why Republicans 
sought to give the administration even greater flexibility to ensure 
they could prioritize essential services. One of the primary areas for 
which that flexibility was intended was air traffic control. The fact 
the administration rejected it strongly suggests a political motive is 
at play.
  I would also remind everyone this flexibility was rejected by nearly 
every Democrat in the Senate, and the President threatened to veto 
legislation that granted it, holding it hostage to tax hikes instead.
  So here is what I would suggest at this point. We are where we are. 
The Obama administration needs to direct the FAA to review their 
current spending and use their existing flexibility to keep America 
moving as smoothly as possible. Ensuring the safe, efficient movement 
of the traveling public is a much higher priority than the 
administration's own travel, conferences, and consultants.
  Not all government spending is created equally, and so this morning I 
am calling on the Obama administration and the FAA to be smarter and 
more transparent about the sequester. That means prioritizing funding 
to ensure flights are not needlessly delayed or canceled.
  If for some reason the President or the FAA do not believe they have 
the flexibility to address this issue, they should ask Congress for the 
flexibility they need. Until then, however, they should use the 
flexibility we all know they do have to ease the burden on passengers.
  But let's be clear: We wouldn't even be in this situation if the 
administration hadn't rejected the flexibility we offered them months 
ago or if they had done the planning they needed to do in the first 
place. There is no good reason for these delays.

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