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Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, this week, the Chicago Tribune published an editorial that stated what many of us have known for months: the administration is playing political games by attempting to make the sequestration as painful as possible on Americans, especially traveling Americans.
The FAA furloughs announced this week, they're not just wrong, they're irresponsible. The bottom line is the FAA has the flexibility to find money and minimize the impact to the traveling public. Even more concerning is that the FAA has chosen not to implement the furloughs in a way that could protect the most critical air traffic control operations and facilities. They are indiscriminately furloughing everyone in the FAA.
Air traffic controllers are being furloughed at the same rate as noncontrollers, and furloughs are being applied at the same rate regardless of the airport size. Waterloo in Iowa is not Chicago O'Hare. The FAA needs to manage better, and they need to do it now.
There is still time for the administration and the FAA to reverse course on these decisions and start making the right decision instead of trying to simply score political points by playing the political game of chicken.
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