Faa Reauthorization Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, to affirm what the chairman already knows, I have an amendment at the desk.

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Mr. COHEN. 46 printed in part A of House Report 115-650 be modified by the form I have placed at the desk.

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bipartisan, bicameral amendment, offered with my colleague on the Aviation Subcommittee, Mr. Woodall, and spearheaded in the Senate by former military pilot, mother, and great Member, Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, and Senator Perdue.

This amendment is common sense and ensures the safety of the flying public. Our bipartisan amendment streamlines an onerous process that has led to unintended burdens and delays on the State Department of Motor Vehicles across the country and delays in getting prospective pilots eligible for employment.

To be clear, this amendment does nothing to remove protections to pilots and their privacy already enshrined in Federal law.

In 1996, Congress passed the Pilot Records Improvement Act, which mandated the airlines obtain driving records of all prospective pilot employees from the National Driver Registry. An unintended consequence came about requiring only the chief State licensing official could approve such request. This has caused delays at DMVs, and currently, most employees have to request these records from Missouri, since they are the sole State still willing to access the National Driver Registry for requests from all parties. That is not what was intended, and it requires a simple and technical fix that this amendment does bring about.

That 1996 law also clearly and strictly stipulated the written consent that airlines require from pilots before obtaining their records and spells out strict guidelines on the privacy and use of that information. They cannot sell that information.

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, I would just like to take my remaining time to thank Mr. Shuster for his work on this bill, and Mr. DeFazio for his work, too. They did bring about an excellent bill that I am proud to support.

I have been proud to be a member of the committee with Mr. Shuster as the chair. He has done an outstanding job and done his father's memory as a great chairman even greater honor.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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