Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2010, Part IV

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. PETRI. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as was pointed out, in May, the House passed H.R. 915, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009. In March of this year, the Senate passed its own FAA reauthorization bill. The House took that up, amended it, passed it, and sent it back to the Senate. Since then, we have been in formal discussions to reconcile the two bills. While these discussions have led to tentative agreements on nearly all of the provisions, a few controversial issues have prevented the House and Senate from reaching a final agreement.

Therefore, with the FAA's authorities set to expire at the end of the calendar year, we again find it necessary to consider another extension. Like the 16 earlier extensions over the past 3 years, the bill before us would provide a short-term extension of the taxes, programs, and funding of the FAA, this time through the end of March 2011.

It is unfortunate that this Congress has not been able to reach final agreement on a comprehensive FAA reauthorization bill. We recognize the importance of a multiyear authorization, and I look forward to working with Mr. Costello and my other colleagues in the next Congress to that end.

However, in order to ensure the safe operation of the National Airspace System while Congress continues to debate a full reauthorization package, I certainly support passage of today's extension and urge my colleagues to do the same.

I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I just want to take a minute to acknowledge and express my admiration for the service of the chairman of our committee, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar). The Public Works and Transportation Committee has a long and honorable record here in our Congress. I think the gentleman from Minnesota has been a contributing member of that committee both as a leading staff member, working his way up, and then as a member of the committee representing the Iron Range in northern Minnesota and working his way up to the chairmanship, for a significant percentage of the life of the committee. We are a 200-year-old-or-more-plus country and I think you've been on the committee for at least a quarter of that time.

It has really been a joy for me to be able to learn about the background and history and contexts of a lot of the different decisions that the committee has faced over the years from the gentleman from Minnesota, who in some cases read about them, in other cases experienced firsthand the history that we were discussing and the background of the decisions that we were making. Like any other two Members of a body like this, we've never agreed on everything, but I think we've always tried to be agreeable. I certainly have appreciated that. And I think that there is no question that the people of the Iron Range in northern Minnesota are going to lose a great and dedicated champion with deep roots in the history of that mining region of our country.

I would just like to yield for a brief moment to my chairman on the Education and Labor Committee, George Miller.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. PETRI. Before I wrap up, just one last point, and that is that I think one thing I've learned watching Jim Oberstar is the way he has expressed appreciation for and treated the people he works with on the staff of the committee and in the House. I think the fact that he spent many years as a staffer himself, sometimes you get angry about things but he always recognized the contribution and the importance of the work that was being done by people who devoted their lives often not in the public spotlight but even in more important endeavors as they actually worked out the details of legislation that were working with us, such as David Heymsfeld that he just referred to.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source