Faa Reauthorization Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 302 the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. This is a good piece of legislation that will improve transportation and move our country's aeronautics and space industries forward.

I am particularly thrilled that the conferees have included a provision in this bill to create the Office of Spaceports inside the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation. Camden County, in my home state of Georgia, is currently working with the FAA to obtain a launch site operator's license to become the first purely commercial spaceport on the East Coast. I have no doubt this new Office of Spaceports will help the Camden County Board of County Commissioners navigate the complex process of obtaining FAA approval.

As this conference report clearly states, making more commercial spaceports available for use by the burgeoning commercial launch industry is an important policy objective. Commercial spaceports, like the future Spaceport Camden in Georgia, play an important role in encouraging space innovation and STEM careers. Commercial spaceports attract significant capital investment in rural areas and provide good, high paying jobs to these communities. And most importantly, commercial spaceports are the cornerstone of National Space Council's mission to ensure American leadership in space.

Mr. Speaker, encourage my colleagues to support this conference report and I encourage the Federal Aviation Administration to act swiftly to increase America's launch capacity and approve new launch sites like Spaceport Camden.

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