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Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to engage in a colloquy with the chairman, Mr. Oberstar. First, I want to thank you for recognizing the importance of the St. George Airport to my constituents in Utah.
As you know, on October 17, 2008, the City of St. George, Utah and the Federal Aviation Administration broke ground on the construction of a new replacement airport that will provide air service to the over 300,000 residents of southern Utah. This is one of the few new airports being built in the country. The total project will cost $168 million, and airport operations are scheduled to begin on January 1, 2011.
The project is being funded largely through Federal grants, covered by a letter of intent from the FAA, in the amount of $119 million. Unfortunately, St. George still needs funding for navigation aids, including an instrument landing system. These are critical of the safety of operations at the airport.
I appreciate the committee's recognition of Secretary LaHood's commitment to fully fund the navigation aids component of the airport. I remain committed, as I hope the committee will, to ensuring that the FAA funds these important safety enhancements by 2010.
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