FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his very special efforts for this reauthorization.

Perhaps our entire committee and subcommittee are due some self- congratulations for reaching a bipartisan agreement for a long-term reauthorization for the FAA, but the lion's share of the appreciation belongs to Chairman Shuster. I thank the chairman for his leadership, especially as he is retiring from the House, and I am grateful for the considerable efforts of Ranking Member DeFazio.

Mr. Chair, there was only one major disagreement, and that was, of course, on privatization of air traffic control operations.

This bill includes many areas that demonstrate the importance of bipartisanship. It is almost impossible to help Democrats and not Republicans, and vice versa, when it comes to matters affecting aviation.

I appreciate my own amendments in the bill addressing airplane noise, many of them embedded in the bill. And I am sure, given the complaints throughout the country, that my noise provisions, too, are bipartisan.

Mr. Chair, I ask that the House oppose the Cuellar amendment. This is a special destinations amendment for San Diego and San Antonio mainly to benefit the House Members from those districts so they can fly into Reagan National Airport nonstop rather than Dulles, which is nearby, and Baltimore-Washington, which is also very close to the District of Columbia.

The Congress has spent billions of dollars to expand Dulles, which is still very underutilized because it is a little further from D.C. than Reagan.

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Ms. NORTON. The limit on slots to Reagan helps relieve enormous congestion there and ensures safety of one of the Nation's most crowded and critical airfields.

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