By Eric Avedissian
"So this is the ivory tower," Congressman Frank LoBiondo joked as he entered the Ocean City Sentinel's Asbury Avenue offices for an interview.
Fresh from addressing the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce on a balmy Aug. 18, LoBiondo, 70, outlined a wide variety of issues, which seemed to return to helping southern New Jersey's sagging economy.
He represents New Jersey's Second Congressional District, the largest district in the state by geographical area, including all of Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties and sections of Burlington, Gloucester and Ocean counties.
LoBiondo is running for his 12th term in the House of Representatives.
He was first elected in 1994 and serves on the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
LoBiondo faces Democratic challenger David Cole in the Nov. 8 general election.
Expanding Drones
According to LoBiondo, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is "woefully behind" the integrating unmanned aerial systems, or drones, into domestic airspace.
"They didn't utilize the test sites once we got them approved by law," LoBiondo said. "Safety and privacy are the two primary concerns, and there are enormous quality of life and economic benefit issues if they get this right."
The FAA mandated consumers to register their drones online in December 2015.
The public registered 537,000 drones since the registration period began.
LoBiondo said he was "skeptical" people would register their drones, but noted the numbers were "really good."
He said unmanned aerial systems could be applied to emergency management situations, such as assessing damages from natural disasters, fires, and locating missing persons.
"When you've got a million people buying these things privately, do they understand the rules of the road so to speak what they can do or can't do?" LoBiondo said. "They (FAA) were behind in getting that word out too, which they're getting better at."
In July, the house passed a bipartisan extension of the FAA authorities and program, including a 15-month extension of operations at the FAA Technical Center in Egg Harbor Township. Air traffic control operations, research and laboratory work will continue through the extension, until Sept. 30, 2017.
"The 15 months is good news and it strengthens the footprint of the work that we do here," LoBiondo said.
A three-year authorization of unmanned aerial systems test sites, including the New Jersey-Virginia-Maryland site, will last until Sept. 30, 2019.
According to LoBiondo, the Obama Administration didn't provide input to congress during the FAA reauthorization debate. He added U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx didn't present a broad-based plan on objectives for the FAA Technical Center.
"They were going to react to what we presented. That may be okay for some legislation, but it's not okay for highway reauthorization, FAA reauthorization," LoBiondo said. "Hopefully, with a new president, that he or she will see the critical importance from a safety aspect and from an economic development aspect to be at the table as we begin these discussions in the next session of Congress."
The Sand Wars
One of the ongoing fights LoBiondo struggles with over the years is securing federal money for beach replenishment projects. The district's barrier island communities have agreements with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for periodic beach projects.
He said the district is "very fortunate" in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy to secure beach replenishment funding.
While Ocean City and the Army Corps of Engineers have an agreement for three-year replenishment for north end beaches, the south end doesn't.
"The old timers were quoted as saying it's never gonna happen. Well, it's happened," LoBiondo said.
Ocean City received a 100 percent federally funded beach replenishment project in 2015 for its south end beaches.
The $57 million project, pumped 1.6 million cubic yards of sand from an offshore borrow area onto beaches from 36th to 59th streets. Like the north end, the south end now has a periodic beach replenishment schedule.
LoBiondo said securing such funds is a challenge, particularly with landlocked representatives who don't see the economic benefits of beaches in coastal resort communities.
"Now that the deficits are running $22 trillion, it's even harder because the people who think this is about us letting somebody get a suntan are more adamant than ever that these projects be killed," LoBiondo said, adding a bipartisan coalition of representatives from coastal districts successfully acquired adequate beach replenishment funding.
Flood Insurance
He said preserving federal subsidies for flood insurance is an issue he called "as challenging as beach replenishment."
As a representative of a coastal district, LoBiondo said he would push for the reauthorization of the federal flood insurance program, and reduce the cost for homeowners.
"The private sector is not ready to take it over. We have glimpses of the private sector realizing there's a market here, but what they're doing is cherry picking. They're going after the homes that really aren't at risk They're leaving the more at-risk properties that haven't been elevated or more subject to having a claim to the federal program," LoBiondo said.
Cyber Wars
Balancing privacy and the need for expanding "cyber security" on the Internet comes at a time when America is at "great risk" to online attacks, he said.
Congress is attempting to pass legislation to grant the federal government the ability to alert private sector companies on a voluntary basis of impending cyber attacks in their systems, he said.
"There are naysayers that say the federal government should not look at any of this," LoBiondo said "The state actors, the Iranians, the Russians, the North Koreans, are becoming more prolific in being able to crack into our systems . They're getting into the private sector, research and development."
He said misinformation about the National Security Agency's (NSA) abilities and what information the government gathers is spreading. He scoffed at claims the NSA is checking private emails and listening to phone calls of American citizens.
"So much of that is untrue. They (NSA) are prohibited from listening in on a U.S. citizen unless they have a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court order that there was a foreign terrorist connection that originated overseas or outside of our borders to somebody here," LoBiondo said.
Terror threats
This summer, LoBiondo traveled Bangladesh, Bulgaria and Romania to discuss potential terror threats with officials.
He explained while U.S. military and intelligence actions have "made a dent" in the activities of foreign terrorist groups, five years of safe havens in Syria allowed ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) to develop financial infrastructure and recruiting mechanisms.
"They have recruited, radicalized, trained and sent these people back out again into Belgium and Germany and France and here," LoBiondo said. "While they have lost some ground geographically, they have the ability to inspire or direct attacks they didn't have two or three years ago."
He noted that the United States is at greater risk for a terrorist attack since 9/11.
"The FBI is tracking bad guys in all 50 states. If there's a real threat by an individual, the number of FBI personnel to track one individual is enormous," LoBiondo said.
He said another troubling concern is hundreds of U.S. citizens traveling abroad to Middle East and returning could become inculcated into a terrorist group.
"I think if you're a U.S. citizen and you travel to Syria and you fought with ISIS, you're forfeiting your right to come back," LoBiono said. "All they want is death and destruction."
Trump Supporter
LoBiondo said he supports real estate mogul Donald Trump for president. Trump, the Republican candidate, is facing former Secretary of State Democrat Hillary Clinton.
"While I think both candidates leave a lot to be desired, she's (Clinton) totally unacceptable," LoBiondo said.
LoBiondo said he has concerns with Clinton's accounts of setting up a private email server in her home and bypassing normal communication channels while Secretary of State.
"She lied. Repeatedly," LoBiondo said. "She intentionally had this server set up, circumvented the rules. The emails that were destroyed that we don't even know... I don't think this person should be president."
While LoBiondo said he has come concerns with Trump, he said the billionaire real estate developer and reality TV star would surround himself with qualified advisors.
"There's an awful lot with Donald Trump that I don't agree with. I have big concerns," LoBiondo said. "But if you put the two (Trump and Clinton) together, I don't think she (Clinton) should be president."
Trump commented Aug. 17 that he wouldn't rely on U.S. intelligence gathering before his first national security briefing, which LoBiondo found "concerting."
LoBiondo was impressed with Trump's choice of General Michael Flynn, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, as an advisor. LoBiondo called Flynn "the real deal."
"If this is who Donald Trump is choosing to bring in and if he will listen to him, I feel very comfortable," LoBiondo said.
Cole, LoBiondo's opponent, noted that LoBiondo accepted campaign contributions from Donald Trump in the 1990s and early 2000s, about $8,000 during a time when Trump owned casinos in Atlantic City. LoBiondo brushed off the accusations as irrelevant, noting that Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden also received contributions from Trump.
"I find it curious that something that happened in the 1990s is what Dave Cole is choosing to focus on. I find it curious that he hasn't called for Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden to return their contributions and I'm pretty proud of standing up for casino employees in my district when those properties were in operation," LoBiondo said.
He said the 2016 presidential election has galvanized voters on both sides.
"It's an election like we've never imagined," LoBiondo said. "I don't quite know what to make of it. Each voter has to make up their own mind. Is it the lesser of two evils or who could move the country forward?"