Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act--

Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I return from a weekend at home. And last week, on the floor, I spoke about the same topic, and I rise today to again discuss the legislation that is now pending before the U.S. Senate, a long-term, 5-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration.

I appreciated the opportunity to work with you and others on the Commerce Committee as we worked our way through this process. I think we have been at this about 14 months, and the time is for us to bring this to a conclusion.

A long-term reauthorization must be a priority. It should be a priority as it was in our subcommittee, and, certainly, it should be a priority of this Senate.

I am disappointed to learn, just a few moments ago, that it appears that the House of Representatives is set to vote on a 1-week extension. I hope that we do not utilize that development in the Senate to delay our consideration and passage of the legislation. Perhaps, that is the way for the House next week to finish the work, but as we often do here when there is extra time, we take every moment and much more than what is really available. After 14 months of negotiations, the most recent extension expires Friday of this week, May 10. It is time to come together and pass a long-term FAA reauthorization.

I am the ranking member of the Aviation Subcommittee, where I worked closely with Chairs Cantwell and Duckworth and Ranking Member Cruz to balance the priorities of the FAA, the aviation community, its academia partners, and the flying public in a bill that demonstrates Congress's commitment to aviation safety and excellence.

This legislation strengthens the standards for air safety, bolsters the aviation workforce, modernizes American airports in urban and rural settings, promotes innovation in American aviation, and enhances consumers' air travel experience.

My home State of Kansas is steeped in aviation history and will continue to contribute to the greater industry as a result of the passage of this legislation.

The FAA reauthorization safeguards the Essential Air Service Program, ensuring that rural communities and small airports are connected to the national airspace system, increasing business and tourism and access to educational opportunities and employment throughout the country-- invaluable to States like mine, States like Kansas.

This allows small airports in rural communities to continue to have regional air service. Previous FAA reauthorization bills created the Aviation Workforce Development Grant Program, aimed at strengthening the pool of pilots and aviation maintenance workers. The text of agreement expands this highly competitive grant program to grow the aviation workforce and is broadened to open eligibility for aircraft manufacturing workers. Whether you are an airline looking for a pilot or an airplane manufacturer looking for a worker, there is great demand in our country for those who have those technical capabilities, that engineering experience, and those who love the joy of flying.

Bolstering this grant program means increased competitiveness, which only drives innovation and will create more opportunities and economic development for our State and my colleagues' States. Every place you go, people are looking for workers. In America, we are known as the place in which aviation is king. Aerospace is a driving force in our country. A workforce is critical to its future.

Similarly, this bill encourages research on how best to introduce emerging aviation technologies in the airspace, including electric propulsion and hypersonic aircraft. As the ``Air Capital of the World,'' Kansas is the leader in new aviation research, development, and technologies. These are significant components of our educational system in our community colleges, technical colleges, and our universities. This legislation also provides a unique opportunity, not only to address current demands of the industry, current technical needs, but also to address the future ones.

The FAA oversees the world's busiest and most complex airspace system in the world, managing approximately 50,000 flights and 3 million passengers every day. In order to address shortcomings in air safety and modernization, Congress must do its job and pass a reauthorization bill that is tailored to the needs of the aviation community and the flying public. Recent incidents and near misses have made clear the urgency of this responsibility. No matter what else we do, we need to make certain that flying is as safe as it possibly can be.

This bill also makes considerable investment in modernization of the National Airspace System and FAA's systems for oversight.

As air traffic increases and new manned and unmanned aviation technologies are deployed, this bill provides essential updates to the FAA and to the NTSB's regulatory mandate. This bill addresses the need for additional numbers of air traffic controllers.

With an eye toward the future of aviation, this bill invests extensively in research and development around advanced materials, including at Wichita State University, innovative fuel research, and emergent aviation technologies.

The bill equips the FAA to meet its mission, to provide a safe and efficient operating environment for civil and commercial aviation in the United States.

Beyond innovative safety and workforce solutions, the bill provides the aviation industry, academia, and regulatory Agencies with the resources needed to maintain and extend America's leadership in aviation.

The path to a long-term FAA reauthorization has not been easy; nor has it been a short one. But this critical legislation can no longer take a backseat. Delaying this important legislation any further only exacerbates the challenges that the American civil and commercial aviation industries face and essentially condones bad behavior and lack of incentive by Congress.

Madam President, I hope that we do not use--if the House does pass a short-term extension, I hope we do not use it as an excuse to not proceed further today, tomorrow, and Friday to complete our work.

It is time we come together. It is time we get this bill done. It is past time for us to come together and get this bill done. The flying public and our aviation industry partners want it and our country and our citizens deserve it and need it.

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