Hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee - Opening Statement of Sen. Thune, Hearing on FAA Reauthorization: Administration Perspectives

Hearing

Good Morning. I want to welcome Secretary Chao back today. This is her first time before the Committee since being confirmed.

Madame Secretary, I want to thank you for appearing before us today to discuss reauthorization of the FAA. We are working hard, on a bipartisan basis, to produce a bill -- hopefully during this work period -- and we appreciate the Administration's engagement.

Already this year, the Committee has held hearings on a range of topics underpinning this legislative effort, including safety, drone policy, rural issues, aircraft certification, consumer concerns, and infrastructure financing.

One of the key governance issues we have not yet focused on this year, but which has been discussed extensively over the last two years and commonly occurs in other parts of the world, is whether the United States should separate the air traffic service provider function from the FAA and create a non-governmental, not-for-profit corporation to do the job.

The FAA runs a remarkably safe operation, but outside auditors have dinged the government's performance on delivering safety and efficiency upgrades, prompting a debate as to the best path forward to realize those benefits.

This week, the President used his bully pulpit to join the proponents of significant reform. The President has challenged Congress, his administration, and aviation stakeholders to take bold action to improve our air traffic control system.

It is hard to ignore the many independent studies and reviews that document the flaws with the current structure. I am looking forward to a robust discussion today on the merits of the reform proposals, as well as ways the Administration will seek to address concerns of key stakeholders, especially those with a rural perspective.

While ATC reform has garnered much of the attention this week, there are plenty of other important issues that require the consideration of the DOT and this committee.

The Department administers several key programs, including the Essential Air Service Program, and is responsible for consumer protection oversight for the aviation industry. Last month, Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Blunt and Ranking Member Cantwell held a hearing on recent consumer issues, and I am interested to hear directly from the Secretary on what steps the Department has taken to address these matters.

In addition, as we craft our FAA bill, we will continue to focus on certification reform, the integration of drones into the airspace, airport infrastructure development, aviation safety, and rural air service. There is still a lot of work to be done, and I look forward to working with the administration and all of my colleagues throughout the process.

With that, I reiterate my thanks to the Secretary for being here and turn to Ranking Member Nelson for his opening statement.

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