FAA Reauthorization Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the bipartisan Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018.

After six short-term extensions ranging from 1 week to just over a year, the Senate will finally pass comprehensive legislation that will set FAA policy until 2023. These short-term extensions keep the lights on, but they deny us the opportunity to make meaningful changes and better serve the American people.

I am a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and I am proud of our committee's work that made this long-term reauthorization possible, but I am especially thankful to our committee chairman, John Thune, and ranking member, Bill Nelson, for their leadership throughout this process.

This bill makes critical investments in airport infrastructure. It promotes competition and leadership in aviation, increases safety in the National Airspace System, and strengthens customer service practices across the commercial aviation sector.

The legislation delivers very strong support to our rural communities in Michigan and across the Nation by continuing the Essential Air Service, or EAS, Program. This program drives economic development and tourism while also connecting local residents to world-class healthcare. I will never stop fighting to ensure that Michigan's EAS airports--from Muskegon, to Houghton/Hancock, to Alpena--get the funding they need to continue to serve their communities.

In addition to driving sustained investment in rural communities, I support this long-term reauthorization because it gave me an opportunity to address a number of critical challenges that are facing our country. This bill includes provisions I authored that will help prepare our students for the high-tech jobs of today and tomorrow, secure public spaces in our airports, and remove the outdated Federal requirement that airports use firefighting foams containing fluorinated chemicals that contaminate groundwater and are causing disastrous human health effects across the country.

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 will improve the competitiveness of our Nation's workforce by clearing the way for our students and educators to use unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, for research, education, and job training. Whether this technology is used for critical infrastructure or boosting crop yields at our farms, UAS technology will create tens of thousands of new jobs in the coming years, and we need American students and workers ready to take advantage of that. That is why I worked across the aisle with Senator Moran to introduce the Higher Education Unmanned Air Systems Modernization Act and include it in this long-term FAA bill.

This provision has the support of the Association of Public and Land- grant Universities, the Association of American Universities, and dozens of other colleges and universities all across our Nation.

Our brightest minds will have the ability to design, refine, and fly UAS to prepare our country for the safe integration of UAS into our National Airspace System.

In my home State of Michigan, Alpena Community College has created a UAS pilot training program that complements existing certificate programs, like the utility technology certificate, making their graduates even more competitive.

This will support job creation across the income spectrum, as our Nation's workforce will be able to get the training they need to operate these systems both safely and efficiently.

Ultimately, whether we are talking about UAS, passenger planes in the air, or travelers making their way through the airport, this is all about safety. In recent years, we have seen high-profile attacks at airports around the world but also in places like Flint, MI. These attacks have demonstrated the vulnerabilities of heavily trafficked public areas outside of security screening, such as baggage claim and pickup and dropoff areas.

I heard from our international airport in Detroit and others across the country that current airport funding streams often cannot be used for security projects in these public spaces. Their need for greater flexibility for airport infrastructure improvements led me and my colleague Senator Gardner to introduce the bipartisan Secure Airport Public Spaces Act. This legislation would increase safety and security for airport passengers and visitors outside of the TSA screening areas. A critical provision of our bill was incorporated into this reauthorization bill that will now allow airports to use Airport Improvement Program funds on state-of-the-art surveillance cameras in these public areas, which will help monitor, prevent, and respond to potential attacks at airports across our Nation.

Finally, I would like to discuss what could be our Nation's defining public health challenge for generations--a group of harmful chemicals known as PFAS. The PFAS class is a group of over 4,700 manmade chemicals that have been used nationwide and internationally. These chemicals do not break down in the human body or in the environment, and they can accumulate over time and cause a great deal of harm. We already know that there are several health effects associated with exposure to certain PFAS. A few examples include compromised immune system function, cancers, endocrine disruption, and cognitive effects.

I have listened to families exposed to PFAS in Michigan, but PFAS are not just a Michigan issue. We know that there are over 170 sites in 40 States that are contaminated with PFAS. PFAS are so pervasive that it is estimated that up to 110 million Americans could have these chemicals in their water.

PFAS chemicals have been used for decades in a wide range of consumer products, including textiles, paper products, and cookware. In addition to all of these uses, they have also been used in firefighting foams for decades. These foams have been used on military bases and in our commercial airports. They have been used near businesses and neighborhoods, near ground water and surface water, near lakes and streams.

Last week, I worked with Senator Rand Paul to convene a hearing in our Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee that addressed the Federal Government's role in PFAS. We heard firsthand about the impact of this public health crisis on community members, firefighters, and veterans. Not only have these foams containing PFAS been used for decades, we are still requiring their use at American airports even as safe alternatives are now being developed and deployed abroad.

While there is a lot of work to be done related to remediation, human health research, filter technology, and more, we must stop making this problem worse. This is why I worked with Senators Sullivan, Stabenow, Rubio, Shaheen, Gillibrand, and Hassan to lead a commonsense addition to this FAA bill.

Our bipartisan provision gives airports the option to use fluorine- free foams. I also appreciate Congressman Kildee for leading this effort in the House of Representatives.

Using fluorine-free foams is not a novel idea, but it is an idea whose time has come. Over 70 airports around the world are already using fluorine-free foams that have passed the most challenging of tests, and they have seen real success in combating fires. These airports include major international hubs such as Dubai, London Heathrow, Manchester, and Copenhagen. Every major airport in Australia has already made this transition.

It is past time that we catch up, and I am happy too that this important legislation will finally allow American airports to embrace safe, innovative firefighting technologies and stop using fluorinated foams.

I want to thank Chairman Thune and Ranking Member Nelson, as well as Leader McConnell and Leader Schumer, for their work to pass this important bipartisan legislation.

I urge my colleagues to support this critical long-term FAA reauthorization that will help keep PFAS out of our water. It will help drive investment in our Nation's workforce, and it will help ensure that our airports and skies are safe.

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