Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2012

Floor Speech

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Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to do something that I don't particularly like to do, supporting in kicking the can down the road another time. But I'm excited about kicking the can down the road this time. We've had 23 extensions of the FAA bill, but this time, as we kick the can down the road, we actually see the end of the road.

The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has worked in a bipartisan manner to come up with a bill that I think is going to be phenomenal once we get it out of the House and Senate conferees. It's taken some time to get us to the point where we can find the efficiencies and savings that we need and continue to provide the level of service we expect in our air transportation system in this country. My fear is we're going to come up with this bipartisan bill and it's going to get stalled again though.

As we stand here on the eve of the State of the Union address, we have the politics of a do-nothing Congress. I hope that that narrative doesn't stop this bill from moving forward as it comes up and we don't have to extend this again.

This is something we've been able to do in a bipartisan nature. Historically, transportation bills have been bipartisan. Let's not let this get stopped and have to kick the can down the road. Let's get our conferees done. Let's get this passed.

I urge everybody, my colleagues, to support this extension. Let's make it the last and get the long-term bill passed for the betterment of this country and everyone in it.

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