FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007

Floor Speech

FAA REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - September 20, 2007)

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Mr. HALL of New York. Will the gentlewoman from New York yield?

Mrs. LOWEY. It is a pleasure for me to yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hall).

Mr. HALL of New York. I thank the gentlelady and associate myself with my colleague's remarks and thank her for her leadership.

Indian Point's location in the most populated, most targeted area of the country, makes it absolutely critical that we take every step to secure the plant. I would reiterate my colleague's question, and ask the chairman if he would please work with us on this issue.

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Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Chairman, research and development is absolutely fundamental to the mission of the Federal Aviation Administration, and the bill before us today includes a number of provisions that will ensure the agency's R&D enterprise continues to be robust and productive. Title I of H.R. 2881 reauthorizes the FAA's Research, Engineering and Development program for 4 years at levels that, for the most part, are consistent with the Administration's request. The bill also contains a number of provisions specific to R&D projects and activities, many of which are consolidated in Title IX, but are also incorporated in other parts of the bill.

The Federal Aviation Administration is a unique federal enterprise that is fully reliant on maintaining a highly sophisticated network of communications, navigation, and surveillance facilities located at many sites throughout this country. The FAA also regulates the design and operation of the aircraft that fly within our airspace. Our national airspace system, and the economic benefits that flow from it, would not be possible without a well-funded research and development program and a dedicated staff of scientists and engineers. Research results have led to the development of a huge number of products that continue to improve the safety, efficiency and capacity of our national airways system and the planes that fly in it.

The Science and Technology Committee held oversight hearings early this year in preparation for writing and reporting H.R. 2698, The Federal Aviation Research and Development Reauthorization Act of 2007, and just 3 months ago, on June 22, our committee reported the bill on a voice vote. H.R. 2881 incorporates virtually all of the bill's provisions, and for that, I want to extend my thanks to the leadership and staff of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for their willingness to work together on these important issues.

While there are a number of R&D provisions in this bill, in the time remaining I want to highlight three programs. First and foremost, the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) is working to develop the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) that is--and I say this without any exaggeration--absolutely essential if we are to ensure a vibrant and growing air transportation network. The current system is at capacity and will not be able to accommodate future growth.

The JPDO is a unique federal collaboration originally authorized in the R&D title of the Vision 100 legislation signed by the President during the 108th Congress. It is led by the FAA and includes a number of other federal agencies, and its role is to coordinate and manage the research, development and implementation of technologies needed to meet future capacity, safety, efficiency, and security requirements for our national airspace system. H.R. 2881 strengthens management oversight and accountability, and directs participating federal agencies to assign a senior agency official to be specifically responsible for that agency's role in the development and implementation of NextGen. It also creates a more

transparent budgeting process to help Congress determine if the Administration is providing amounts needed and requested by JPDO participating agencies. With regard to JPDO's budget, the bill before us is silent on authorization amounts, leaving this and future Congresses with the ability to fund the JPDO as needed. The fact is, at this early stage of development, too little is known about NextGen's cost and budget profile over the decade ahead to develop credible cost estimates.

At the Administration's request, H.R. 2881 includes a new start called the `CLEEN (Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions, and Noise engine and airframe technology) research, development and implementation partnership.' The goals of this program are to research and develop technologies capable of significantly reducing emissions and noise produced by turbine-powered aircraft, as well as increasing their fuel efficiency. This legislation directs the FAA to coordinate its efforts with NASA.

Finally, this legislation takes important first steps to allow for the safe and routine operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in our national airspace system. All of us know the important capabilities provided by UAS systems in the Middle East. Here at home, these aircraft will vastly improve our ability to monitor our borders, to help communities recover from natural disasters, and take environmental and land-use measurements. But first we need to develop `sense and avoid' technologies, along with flight control and navigation technologies, so that unmanned aircraft can safely fly in the same airspace used by general aviation and commercial aircraft without threat of collision. H.R. 2881 gives the FAA the authority to begin the necessary research, plus to develop schedules to meet mandated deadlines.

Mr. Chairman, FAA's research and development activities are essential to its mission, and the features I've described, plus many others in the legislation before us, will strengthen the agency's capabilities to accommodate and manage our Nation's national airspace system.

Having said that, I do want to express reservations about portions of H.R. 2881 unrelated to research and development, and caution Members to carefully weigh the bill in its totality before casting their votes. I clearly understand this bill has some very contentious issues that may, on balance, leave Members no choice but to vote against final passage.

I am particularly concerned about provisions in this bill that will impose a variety of new costs on an industry that is still recovering from several years of billion-dollar losses and, to make matters worse, could delay FAA's ability to replace its aging air traffic control system. To give two examples, H.R. 2881 would permit up to a 55 percent increase in passenger facilities charges assessed by airports, the costs of which appear as an additional fee on airline tickets. The bill also voids the current labor-management contract for air traffic controllers, forcing the agency to reinstitute its older--and more expensive--labor contract, and it requires reopening negotiations on a new contract under a new negotiating regime. This labor provision seriously jeopardizes FAA's ability to finance its new air traffic control system, which, by some estimates, could result in an additional payout to air traffic controllers of up to a half-billion dollars over the next 4 years, plus whatever additional costs are imposed by a new contract. These are just two of a number of provisions that will most certainly push up the price of air travel. The net effect of these changes will be to push the cost of air travel so high as to make it unaffordable for many working Americans to fly, seriously affecting their quality of life.

For these and other reasons, I cannot, and will not, support H.R. 2881 in its present form.

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