[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 39 (Monday, October 4, 1999)]
[Page 1857]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Extension of the Airport Improvement Program 
Act

September 29, 1999

    I am pleased to sign S. 1637, the ``Extension of the Airport 
Improvement Program Act,'' releasing the final $290 million of FY99 
funds for the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement 
Program (AIP). These funds will help communities across the country 
finance critical projects to enhance airport safety and capacity and 
reduce noise. Some $71 million of the AIP funds will go to help lessen 
the growing problem of airport-related noise, by insulating nearby 
schools and residential neighborhoods and other noise mitigation 
efforts. These and other efforts by the Federal Government will mean 
that, by next year, only 600,000 Americans will be adversely affected by 
aircraft noise, compared to the 2.3 million Americans who faced that 
problem in 1995. A significant portion of the funds released today will 
go to help smaller airports, which have fewer financial resources and 
are more dependent on Federal assistance to meet their capital 
requirements than are larger airports.

Note: S. 1637, approved September 29, was assigned Public Law No. 106-
59.