[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5687]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION DELAYS

  (Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, the President's Federal Aviation 
Administration could use a little help. Faced with the task of trimming 
its budget only 5 percent--basically, just returning to 2010 spending 
levels--it has decided to furlough employees and cause flight delays.
  How can this be their only option when the FAA's budget has grown 
almost 110 percent over the past 15 years?
  Rather than inflicting unnecessary pain on the American people, 
President Obama and his FAA should be cutting waste. Within the FAA's 
budget, there are $2.7 billion in nonpersonnel costs that should be 
scrutinized before the President or his Transportation Secretary cry 
``doomsday'' or ``delay.'' Examples include 500 million taxpayer 
dollars spent by the FAA on consultants, $143 million on operation 
costs for the FAA's 46 aircraft, and $200 million on supplies and 
travel.
  The President's FAA officials have the discretion to reduce such 
excess and apply savings to the essentials. They should stop punishing 
the American people with flight delays or threats of shuttered air 
traffic towers and compromised safety and use the power they have to 
cut taxpayer-funded waste first.

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