Faa Reauthorization Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment to the House FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018.

I wish to thank the distinguished chairman of the committee, Mr. Shuster, and the ranking member, Mr. DeFazio, for the opportunity to offer this amendment.

My amendment supports our Nation's more than 5,000 general aviation airports by providing a commonsense solution to reduce the cost and construction time for critical pavement projects, while maintaining the highest level of safety and quality.

Our general aviation airports provide critical access, vital emergency and medical services, economic activity, and many other important services, as vital lifelines, especially in rural areas.

However, the cost of building and maintaining runways at general aviation airports has become unnecessarily burdensome and costly, due to outdated pavement specification requirements that the FAA recognizes can and should be updated. As such, in consultation with key industry groups and agencies, I have introduced this amendment to address this issue.

Among many other things, this reform will better equip our dedicated network of State aviation officials, airports, and other good personnel, working on the front lines in maintaining and improving our Nation's airports. This amendment will allow them to undertake more projects efficiently and safely, with commonsense savings that frees up additional funding for other critical projects.

More specifically, after extensive field testing that has provided concrete evidence that States can and have utilized alternative pavement mixes, procured more conveniently and cost-effectively from local businesses on critical runway projects to safely maintain our Nation's runway systems of general aviation airports.

Mr. Chairman, I respectfully urge adoption of this amendment.

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