Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2016--Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President I rise today to discuss the security, safety, and other air travel benefits included in the bipartisan aviation reform agreement that was negotiated with the House of Representatives.

Last week, Senator Bill Nelson, the ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, and I reached accord on a way forward with House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster and Ranking Member Peter DeFazio. Our agreement presents an opportunity for the Senate to break the pattern of short-term extensions for the Federal Aviation Administration that have not included any meaningful reform.

The aviation bill the Senate passed by a vote of 95 to 3 in April was a larger and, granted, more comprehensive bill than the agreement that came out of our negotiations with the House. It contained provisions added by Members in the Commerce Committee and on the Senate floor that we remain committed to enacting.

Nevertheless, we knew that certain safety and security reforms just couldn't wait until next year for the process to restart. When we looked at the ISIS attacks in airports in Brussels and Istanbul, as well as the downing of a Russian jetliner leaving Egypt, we knew there were meaningful reforms that could help efforts to prevent these kinds of attacks here in America, and so we acted.

To address the threat of an ``insider'' working at an airport helping terrorists, the aviation reform agreement now before the Senate enhances requirements and vetting for airport workers with access to secure areas. It expands the use of random and physical inspection of airport workers in secured areas and requires a review of perimeter security.

Responding to ISIS's demonstrated interest in targeting unsecured areas of airports, this aviation reform bill includes provisions to enhance the security presence of units that can include canines and other personnel in prescreening airport areas and increases preparedness for active shooter incidents.

Because some international airports abroad operating nonstop flights to U.S. airports lack the security equipment and expertise of U.S. and other state-of-the-art airports, the bill authorizes TSA to donate unneeded security equipment to foreign airports with direct flights to the United States, permits increased cooperation between U.S. officials and partner nations, and requires a new assessment of foreign cargo security programs.

This bill, which the House passed earlier this week, recognizes that long TSA lines aren't only an inconvenient delay for passengers trying to catch flights, but they can lead to large crowds in unsecured airport areas that create a target for terrorists. To address these lines, the bill includes the TSA PreCheck Enhancement Act, which will help enroll more Americans in expedited security screening and reduce waits by vetting more passengers before they arrive to get them through checkpoints quickly.

Beyond question, safety and security needs drove the effort to finish this 14-month aviation reauthorization. The result, I can confidently say, ended up being the most significant airport security reform bill in over a decade. Our bipartisan, bicameral bill is good legislation that guards against the threat of terrorism, provides stability for the U.S. aviation system, and boosts safety and consumer protections for airline passengers.

As we prepare for a vote on this important bill, I urge my colleagues to support this bill that we carefully crafted over the past several months with our House counterparts that keeps the American people protected from terrorists, makes air travel safer and more secure, and addresses an issue of importance to all Americans.

Again, I thank the ranking member on our committee, Senator Nelson. Senators Ayotte and Cantwell, the chair and ranking member on the Aviation Subcommittee, were very involved in crafting this legislation. And, of course, there is the great work of our staffs, who put in countless hours to get us to where we are today, not only moving the original bill across the Senate floor back in April but also in negotiations with the House of Representatives to produce a result which I think we can all be proud of and which puts us on a path toward a safer travel opportunity for people in this country who use our airlines to get to their destinations.

Mr. President, I hope we will have a big vote, a bipartisan vote, in support of this bipartisan legislation.

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