Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2016

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4721) to amend title 49, United States Code, to extend authorizations for the airport improvement program, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authority of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, and for other purposes.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4721

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2016''.

(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I--AIRPORT AND AIRWAY PROGRAMS Sec. 101. Extension of airport improvement program. Sec. 102. Extension of expiring authorities. Sec. 103. Federal Aviation Administration operations. Sec. 104. Air navigation facilities and equipment. Sec. 105. Research, engineering, and development. Sec. 106. Funding for aviation programs. Sec. 107. Essential air service. TITLE II--REVENUE PROVISIONS Sec. 201. Expenditure authority from Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Sec. 202. Extension of taxes funding Airport and Airway Trust Fund. TITLE I--AIRPORT AND AIRWAY PROGRAMS SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--

(1) In general.--Section 48103(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ``and $1,675,000,000 for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on March 31, 2016'' and inserting ``and $2,645,218,579 for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on July 15, 2016''.

(2) Obligation of amounts.--Subject to limitations specified in advance in appropriation Acts, sums made available pursuant to the amendment made by paragraph (1) may be obligated at any time through September 30, 2016, and shall remain available until expended.

(3) Program implementation.--For purposes of calculating funding apportionments and meeting other requirements under sections 47114, 47115, 47116, and 47117 of title 49, United States Code, for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on July 15, 2016, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall--

(A) first calculate such funding apportionments on an annualized basis as if the total amount available under section 48103 of such title for fiscal year 2016 were $3,350,000,000; and

(B) then reduce by 21 percent--

(i) all funding apportionments calculated under subparagraph (A); and

(ii) amounts available pursuant to sections 47117(b) and 47117(f)(2) of such title.

(b) Project Grant Authority.--Section 47104(c) of title 49, United States Code, is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking ``March 31, 2016,'' and inserting ``July 15, 2016,''. SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF EXPIRING AUTHORITIES.

(a) Section 41743(e)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended in the first sentence by inserting ``and $3,948,087 for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on July 15, 2016,'' before ``to carry out this section''.

(b) Section 47107(r)(3) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ``April 1, 2016'' and inserting ``July 16, 2016''.

(c) Section 47115(j) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ``March 31, 2016'' and inserting ``July 15, 2016''.

(d) Section 47124(b)(3)(E) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ``and not more than $5,175,000 for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on March 31, 2016,'' and inserting ``and not more than $8,172,541 for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on July 15, 2016,''.

(e) Section 47141(f) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ``March 31, 2016'' and inserting ``July 15, 2016''.

(f) Section 186(d) of the Vision 100--Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (117 Stat. 2518) is amended by striking ``March 31, 2016,'' and inserting ``July 15, 2016,''.

(g) Section 409(d) of the Vision 100--Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (49 U.S.C. 41731 note) is amended by striking ``March 31, 2016'' and inserting ``July 15, 2016''.

(h) Section 411(h) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 42301 prec. note) is amended by striking ``March 31, 2016'' and inserting ``July 15, 2016''.

(i) Section 822(k) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 47141 note) is amended by striking ``March 31, 2016'' and inserting ``July 15, 2016''.

(j) The amendments made by this section shall take effect on March 31, 2016. SEC. 103. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION OPERATIONS.

Section 106(k) of title 49, United States Code, is amended--

(1) by striking paragraph (1)(E) and inserting the following:

``(E) $7,824,891,355 for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on July 15, 2016.''; and

(2) in paragraph (3) by striking ``March 31, 2016,'' and inserting ``July 15, 2016,''. SEC. 104. AIR NAVIGATION FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT.

Section 48101(a)(5) of title 49, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

``(5) $2,254,357,923 for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on July 15, 2016.''. SEC. 105. RESEARCH, ENGINEERING, AND DEVELOPMENT.

Section 48102(a)(9) of title 49, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

``(9) $131,076,503 for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on July 15, 2016.''. SEC. 106. FUNDING FOR AVIATION PROGRAMS.

The budget authority authorized in this Act, including the amendments made by this Act, shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of subsections (a)(1)(B) and (a)(2) of section 48114 of title 49, United States Code, for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on July 15, 2016. SEC. 107. ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE.

Section 41742(a)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ``and $77,500,000 for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on March 31, 2016,'' and inserting ``and $138,183,060 for the period beginning on October 1, 2015, and ending on July 15, 2016,''. TITLE II--REVENUE PROVISIONS SEC. 201. EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY FROM AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND.

(a) In General.--Section 9502(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1)--

(A) by striking ``April 1, 2016'' in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and inserting ``April 1, 2017'', and

(B) by striking the semicolon at the end of subparagraph (A) and inserting ``or the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2016 or any specified extension;'', and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

``(7) Specified extension.--For purposes of paragraph (1), the term `specified extension' means any provision of law enacted after the date of the enactment of this paragraph and before April 1, 2017, but only to the extent that such provision of law provides for the extension (including authorization of additional amounts) of an existing authority (determined as of the date of the enactment of this paragraph) for a period ending not later than March 31, 2017, under one or more of the following:

``(A) Section 106, 41742, 41743, 47104, 47107, 47114, 47115, 47116, 47117, 47124, 47141, 48101, 48102, 48103, or 48114 of title 49, United States Code.

``(B) Section 186(d) or 409(d) of the Vision 100--Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act.

``(C) Section 140(c)(1), 411(h), or 822(k) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012.''.

(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 9502(e)(2) of such Code is amended by striking ``April 1, 2016'' and inserting ``April 1, 2017''. SEC. 202. EXTENSION OF TAXES FUNDING AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND.

(a) Fuel Taxes.--Section 4081(d)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``March 31, 2016'' and inserting ``March 31, 2017''.

(b) Ticket Taxes.--

(1) Persons.--Section 4261(k)(1)(A)(ii) of such Code is amended by striking ``March 31, 2016'' and inserting ``March 31, 2017''.

(2) Property.--Section 4271(d)(1)(A)(ii) of such Code is amended by striking ``March 31, 2016'' and inserting ``March 31, 2017''.

(c) Fractional Ownership Programs.--

(1) Treatment as non-commercial aviation.--Section 4083(b) of such Code is amended by striking ``April 1, 2016'' and inserting ``April 1, 2017''.

(2) Exemption from ticket taxes.--Section 4261(j) of such Code is amended by striking ``March 31, 2016'' and inserting ``March 31, 2017''.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SHUSTER. 4721.

I rise in support of H.R. 4721, the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2016.

This bill extends the authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration programs through July 15, 2016. The bill also extends the revenue collection authorities for the Airport and Airway Trust Fund through March 31, 2017. The current FAA authorization expires at the end of this month.

Without this bill, the authority to collect aviation taxes will lapse, depriving the trust fund of more than $30 million per day. That is $30 million a day for air traffic control, airport development, and other aviation programs that can never be recovered.

Additionally, airports will be unable to receive grant money that has already been awarded to them, putting dozens of construction projects across the country at risk of delay, cost overrun, or cancelation.

H.R. 4721 will avoid these unnecessary consequences while Congress works to finish a long-term aviation bill.

On February 11, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved H.R. 4441, the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act, or the AIRR Act.

The AIRR Act provides the transformational reform we need to modernize our antiquated air traffic control systems; to ensure the system is safe and efficient; and to ensure the U.S. leads the world in aviation.

The AIRR Act takes ATC out of the Federal bureaucracy and establishes an independent, not-for-profit corporation to provide and modernize ATC service. This corporation will be governed by an independent board and representatives of the public interest. This independent entity will provide a service. It will not be given the public airspace.

And the FAA will continue to be our Nation's aviation safety regulator. Let me stress that the FAA will continue to be the Nation's aviation safety regulator and that Congress will have full oversight over that entity.

The bill includes protections for general aviation and for service to rural communities. This structure gets ATC away from political infighting and from an FAA management structure that has wasted billions of dollars in trying to modernize the system.

I believe this reform will benefit passengers first, our communities, all system users, and will ultimately save taxpayers and the traveling public billions of dollars.

The AIRR Act also streamlines the FAA certification process so as to improve America's competitiveness and to protect jobs. It includes a robust safety title, protects investment in airport infrastructure, and promotes passenger service reforms.

We have worked every step of the way under an open process in order to address concerns and find common ground to move forward. In the markup, the committee approved 44 amendments, mostly on a bipartisan basis, to make the AIRR Act a better bill; but our work isn't done yet. With so much at stake, it is critical that we get this reform right.

We are working with Members in the House to get the ball over the goal line. Last week, Members of the Senate Commerce Committee introduced its FAA reauthorization bill, and I look forward to working with Chairman Thune. We have worked well with the Senate Commerce Committee on the highway bill, on passenger rail reform, and on a Surface Transportation Board reauthorization. I believe we can be successful on an aviation bill as well.

I am confident that we can produce a transformational FAA bill that will restore our global leadership position in aviation and ensure that the United States has the safest, most efficient aviation system in the world. In the meantime, we need to pass this short-term extension, and I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SHUSTER. I yielf myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, just a couple of points to point out. Again, we talk about privatization, but this is a not-for-profit corporation that is going to be governed by the stakeholders.

The government will have representatives, and the others that use the system will be on there to make sure that this entity operates in the most efficient, safe manner possible. Just to point out, over 50 countries around the world have done this and they have done it successfully.

As the gentleman points out, in the bill that we passed, there is much agreement, but there are significant differences on this point.

The gentleman also points out, which I agree with, Congress is part of the problem. It is not just the bureaucrats at FAA. It is the way Congress funds things.

His solution to mandatory spending, though, I would oppose significantly because that takes the Congress out of the equation. It gives the FAA money.

They will get it automatically without Congress going through appropriations or any kind of real oversight by Congress. If it comes down to it, it will be very difficult to change. The track record is very, very clear.

As the gentleman points out, over time we have reformed over and over and over, given the FAA the ability to do things that other agencies don't have.

But to paraphrase my good friend and colleague from Oregon who has said this a number of times, the only agency worse than the Department of Defense for procurement is the FAA. They just can't get it right. And Congress is an accomplice in that failure.

So, again, that reform I think will go great distances to make this a modern FAA system, to be able to get it to operate with the GPS-based systems, give us much more capacity, improve the airspace, decrease the time it takes to fly places for the traveling public, and decrease the amount of energy burned up, which will be good for the environment.

Again, I will continue to work with my colleagues and with the Senate to try to do something, which, really, its time has come, to significantly reform the FAA and do something that, again, over 50 countries have done. Britain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, our allies around the world have done it successfully and with very, very safe results.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for pointing out the potential for a prolonged period to get to NextGen.

We forget it has been a prolonged period. For over 20 years, we have been trying to get NextGen in the current system, and we haven't been able to get it.

It is the GAO, it is the Inspector General of the Transportation Department, and it is numerous reports that have said there is no end in sight as to when we can get NextGen, a GPS-based system.

Let me just point out--the gentleman mentioned Canada, which is a model we are looking at very closely. We certainly have made it to be an American model. But what has Canada done?

Canada, in this type of system, a not-for-profit corporation--which this corporation will not be able to raise taxes, will not be able to put taxes. It will go to a user fee-based system.

What has Canada done? They have decreased the cost of those user fees by 30 percent over the last 20 years, a 30 percent decrease.

What they are doing this year is that the Canadian Nav Can will launch its first batch of satellites, and over the next 13, 14 months, until the next year of 2017, they will launch 70-plus satellites. They will have visibility of 100 percent of the world's global airspace.

Today all of us together see about 30 percent. The Canadians will do this based on a system that we are trying to move toward to implement. So it has been a great success for Canada. It has lower costs. They are going to have a system that is deployed. It is safe.

The only good news about Canada doing it is that they are one of our best allies. It is not the Russians and the Chinese doing it. If they were doing it, we would be hell-bent on trying to get this done.

Let me just point back to, this is a system that the stakeholders will be in charge of at the board level. The FAA will still be the regulatory agency.

So, again, this is something that is a long time coming. The Clinton administration tried to do it. The Bush administration tried to do it.

The time has come. We should do this. We should not let the Canadians have the ability that we don't have, even though they are our allies.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

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

Mr. Speaker, I will say, point out for the Record, correct the Record, first, the gentleman is correct: Canada is not launching satellites. They are launching modules to go on satellites by the corporation that they own about half of to deploy this GPS-based system. So, the gentleman is correct. Technically they are not satellites, but they are components to go on satellites which will, in fact, see 100 percent of the global airspace, which America should be doing.

The next thing I would like to correct is we have had numerous hearings on this. We have had over half a dozen hearings. In fact, we had one just before we marked the bill up. We have had over 12--I think maybe even 14 or 15--roundtable discussions with both sides of the aisle and stakeholders from all over the industries who sat there and talked to us about what they thought is good and what is bad.

The concern about safety--as I said, safety stays in government, and today the FAA safety certification portion of it is paid by the general fund. That is appropriate. The other fees, the taxes, we plan to eliminate most of those taxes, eliminate those taxes and go to a user fee-based system.

There is plenty of money there. That will go to run the ATC system. This way it will be in a user fee-based system, which history has shown us what Canada has done. History has shown us, I think, in many, many cases, when you take something outside the government that can go outside the government, it is run more efficiently. We will get out of the starts and the stops of the appropriations process, of the government shutdowns, of the 23 extensions last time.

This will be a better program. And the Secretary and the FAA will still maintain that regulatory oversight, which, in fact, means that Congress will maintain regulatory oversight. And I don't know when Congress has not had oversight and, in many cases, screwed up many of the private industries in this country by our overreach and our oversight by putting rules and regulations in place that don't work. In the case of the FAA, we rolled those back in many cases, let them go outside the Federal Government human resources rules and regulations. What did they do? They just kept on doing the same old thing.

So this is an opportunity for us, again, with extensive hearings, with extensive experience around the world, looking at people who have done it successfully. Again, I believe the time has come for us to do this, to make this a modern aviation system that I believe will improve safety, although we have an incredibly safe system today.

It will reduce the cost for the traveling public. It will make their flight times faster, more efficient, and it will be good for the environment. I don't see, really, anything in this that many, many Members of this House can't embrace.

I will continue to talk about it and continue to push it because I really believe the time is now to have a modern air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world, just as our aviation system, our airlines, the development of our airlines, and our manufacturers have been for years. If we don't do it, I think we stand to diminish ourselves in the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, we invented aviation. We ought to make sure that we continue to be the leaders in the world when it comes to aviation, whether it is flying planes, building planes, or controlling the airspace in the most efficient and safe way.

Again, I urge all my colleagues to support this short-term extension that is on the floor today.

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