Norton Amendments Directing FAA to Prioritize Aircraft Noise and Blocking SEC from Entering into Lease for Headquarters Pass House

Press Release

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that the House today passed two of her amendments to a fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill. The House subsequently passed the bill.

Norton's first amendment directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to prioritize combating airplane and helicopter noise. While the FAA and the aviation industry face many high-profile challenges, aircraft noise, which causes disruption to human health and local economies, is often overlooked. "As a result of aircraft noise, millions of Americans suffer from sleep disruption, exacerbation of high blood pressure and other chronic diseases, and learning loss in schools," Norton said. "After several years of leadership on this issue as co-chair of the Quiet Skies Caucus, I am very pleased that the House has recognized the need to get the FAA to take aircraft noise seriously."

Norton's second amendment prohibits the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from using its funds to enter directly into leases for a headquarters, effectively returning the SEC's leasing authority to the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal government's real estate arm. Norton's amendment was motivated by the oversight of the SEC's real estate activities in the District of Columbia that she led as a former chair and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. "For three decades, the SEC has consistently stumbled through leasing mistakes at great expense to taxpayers," Norton said. "GSA should manage real estate decisions for the SEC, as it does for other federal agencies." Norton has introduced a standalone bill to revoke the SEC's leasing authority.

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