America's Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I rise today to express my appreciation to my colleagues for the passage of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2016. By passing this legislation, which I offered with the Commerce Committee's ranking member, Senator Nelson, and our Aviation Subcommittee leaders, Senator Ayotte and Senator Cantwell, the Senate is seeking to end a string of short extensions with a comprehensive reform proposal now on its way to the House of Representatives. Bipartisan efforts at both the Commerce Committee and on the Senate floor made an already strong bill even better.

Only weeks ago, horrific attacks by ISIS created new concern for air travelers. Recognizing the need to enhance security, Senators from both sides of the aisle offered amendments to strengthen safety and security protections for passengers in this aviation bill. To guard against the threat of airport insiders helping terrorists, we added provisions that I authored along with Senator Nelson to improve the scrutiny of individuals applying to work in secure airport areas.

For the first time, we put requirements in place so applicants needing access to secure areas of airports can be denied security credential if they have been convicted of embezzlement, racketeering, robbery, sabotage, immigration law violations, or assault with a deadly weapon.

While very few criminals are terrorists, it is not at all uncommon for terrorists to get their start as criminals. The Brussels attackers, for example, were known to the police as criminals long before they carried out terrorist attacks. Ensuring that dangerous criminals don't work behind the scenes at airports is one important thing we can do to reduce the threats facing airport passengers. Tightening the vetting process for airport employees is especially critical, as many experts believe the recent bombing of a Russian passenger jet leaving Egypt had help from an aviation insider.

Our bill also includes security provisions to better safeguard public areas outside the security checkpoints at airports and to help reduce passenger backups. These reforms could help prevent a future attack, like the one in the Brussels terminal last month, which targeted a crowd of passengers in an area where the attackers didn't even need tickets.

While many of our security enhancements addressed problems highlighted by recent attacks, none of these proposals were cobbled together in a rush to do something. All of the security proposals added to this bill have existed for months and were developed as a result of congressional oversight, independent evaluations of agencies, and the study of existing problems. What recent attacks by ISIS did create is new urgency to enact these security safeguards as the threat of terrorism remains a menace.

As I have mentioned more than once, this legislation has been praised for the many ways it helps airline passengers. Under this bill, airlines will be required to return fees if they lose or significantly delay delivery of passengers' luggage. We also require airlines to automatically return fees for services purchased but not delivered so travelers don't have to go through the hassle of trying to reclaim their money from an airline.

Because many customers are frustrated by lengthy legal jargon that can make it difficult to understand add-on costs, our bill creates a new and easy-to-read uniform standard for disclosing baggage, ticket change, seat selection, and other fees. We even help families with children find flights where they can sit together without additional costs by requiring airlines to tell purchasers about available seat locations at the time of booking.

A Washington Post consumer columnist called our bill ``one of the most passenger-friendly Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bills in a generation.''

I am proud that the FAA bill before the Senate today is the product of a bipartisan process. Over at the Commerce Committee, we approved 57 amendments before this bill came to the floor, and 60 percent of those amendments came from Members of the minority. Here on the Senate floor, we approved an additional 19 amendments.

In addition to helping passengers and enhancing security, this legislation addresses a number of other priorities, including the cyber security of aircraft, the aircraft design approval process, undue regulatory burdens on noncommercial pilots, airport infrastructure, rural air service, lithium battery safety, mental health screening for pilots, communicable disease preparedness, drone safety, and many other important areas. Without going through them in detail, the bill's provisions for unmanned aerial systems are groundbreaking.

Twenty years from now, when drones play significant roles in our economy and making the public safer, Congress will look back at this bill as landmark legislation. Provisions in this bill will give the FAA authority to address safety issues unique to drones and advance the development of drone technology.

Thanks to this legislation, the FAA will be able to consider and grant permission for new and safe drone usage, stop dangerous practices, and deploy new tools to put sensitive parts of our national airspace under restricted access for drones.

Finally, as I have noted, Ranking Member Nelson, Senator Ayotte, and Senator Cantwell deserve high praise for their collaboration on this legislation. Senator Nelson, in particular, has been a real partner in the effort, and I want to express my sincere thanks to him and to his talented staff.

I also want to acknowledge the important contributions of Finance Committee Chairman Hatch, Ranking Member Wyden, and their staffs. Without the Finance Committee provisions they provided for revenue and expenditure authority, we would not have an FAA bill.

I also want to thank Leader McConnell, his lead liaison to the Commerce Committee, Scott Rabb, and Leader Reid for helping us get this bill passed.

I also appreciate the Senators and their staff members who worked with us so that we could include so many amendments here on the floor.

Finally, it goes without saying that I want to thank my own staff for their great work on this bill, especially Nick Rossi, Adrian Arnakis, Bailey Edwards, Michael Reynolds, Jessica McBride, Missye Brickell, Suzanne Gillen, Jaclyn Keshian, Christopher Loring, Rebecca Seidel, Cheri Pascoe, Peter Feldman, Andrew Timm, Frederick Hill, and Lauren Hammond. Long hours and even a few all-nighters have been put into this bill over the course of many months. I am the first to say that nothing consequential or substantial gets done around this place without the important, hard work of the very talented and skilled staff. I am blessed on the Commerce Committee to be surrounded with people who care passionately about these issues, who work very diligently to get the best possible outcomes and results. I am grateful for the contributions of our staff and those of Senator Nelson's staff and of the many Members who were involved in shaping this bill. It is another accomplishment that we can all be proud of.
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