Washington, D.C. - The House of Representatives today has begun consideration of H.R. 4, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 – a bipartisan, five-year bill to reauthorize the programs of the Federal Aviation Administration, provide long-term stability for the Nation’s aviation community, invest in U.S. airports, and make necessary reforms to improve American competitiveness and safety in aviation. H.R. 4 reforms will also help communities across the country better prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against disasters of all kinds.
The following are Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo’s (R-NJ) prepared remarks for the beginning of today’s floor debate:
The Subcommittee also held more than 200 stakeholder meetings, in order to gather feedback and hear from various constituencies. I want to thank those who came to the table willing to share their thoughts and work together.
With the passage of H.R. 4, we will be taking an important step toward ensuring that the FAA and our aviation industry does not suffer through another long series of extensions. Unfortunately, it seems like just about every year Congress is voting to keep the government open while the FAA—and nearly 4,000 of my constituents working at its Technical Center in Egg Harbor Township—are forced to make preparations in case they need to shelve their projects.
H.R. 4 provides the long-term authorization of the FAA which will allow us to avoid shutdowns due to lapses in authority. This means that important safety projects will be able to move forward without the inefficient starts and stops that come along with a shutdown, or even a threatened shutdown.
And, most importantly, FAA employees, including the dedicated employees at the FAA’s Technical Center, will no longer be constantly threatened with furloughs.
H.R. 4 includes many important provisions that will improve safety, streamline certification and regulatory processes, protect the traveling public, and help America’s aviation industry to compete globally.
I worked closely with Chairman Shuster to include provisions in the bill to allow the FAA to utilize the resources and extensive institutional expertise of the employees of the Tech Center to improve upon the already sterling safety record that we have all come to expect.
Likewise, I want to thank Ranking Member Rick Larsen for the outstanding partnership over the past six years on the Aviation Subcommittee. I am proud of not only our cooperation and coordination on issues before our subcommittee, but for your friendship and leadership.
And I would like to thank the staff of the Aviation Subcommittee and T&I. Your professionalism and expertise have been invaluable.
I am proud to be a co-sponsor of the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act. The bill enjoys the support of air traffic controllers, pilots, and flight attendants, as well as manufacturers and many other stakeholders.
I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
