Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, firstly, I would like to go ahead and extend to all the leadership that produced this bill my thanks: Chairman Sam Graves, Ranking Member Larsen, and Subcommittee Chair Garret Graves, our self-professed passenger.

This is an outstanding, bipartisan bill. It is what the American public wants, what it needs, and we need to pass this.

If the House Committee on Transportation was a microcosm of Congress, we would have the highest ratings Congress has ever seen. We worked together on this bill.

As the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Aviation, I appreciate the opportunity to work with this leadership team and the whole committee and the staff to produce this bipartisan bill, which we hope we can pass by the September deadline.

The legislation is vital in the continuity of the U.S. aviation industry. It helps ensure aviation safety, infrastructure, and workforce development programs remain top priorities at such a critical juncture.

Our Nation is bound together by aviation, business and passenger, as well. This legislation addresses several key priorities of mine: improving airport infrastructure investments; enhancing aviation safety; protecting consumers, especially those with disabilities; addressing environmental resiliency; ensuring the safe operation and integration of unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility aircraft; and improving the development of the U.S. aviation workforce, especially in minority communities.

I am especially pleased to see several of my amendments included herein. There is language to assist airports that faced financial adversity due to reclassification from small to medium hubs, including the Memphis International Airport.

There are provisions from the Safe Aviation Flight Enhancement Act that was introduced with my friend from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett) to address flight data recovery for aircraft used in extended overwater operations and cockpit voice recorders.

There is language developed with Senator Blumenthal directing the FAA to complete its rulemaking on a minimum seat size, as mandated by our SEAT Act from the 2018 FAA reauthorization law.

There is language developed with Senator Lujan regarding aircraft cabin temperature standards.

There are provisions from the Emergency Vacating of Aircraft Cabin Act that was introduced with Senator Duckworth to improve Federal evacuation standards.

The Mobility Aids on Board Improve Lives and Empower All Act that I introduced with Representative Stauber and Senators Duckworth and Thune would improve air travel for passengers with disabilities, notably passengers who use wheelchairs and other mobility aids.

The Prioritizing Accountability and Accessibility for Aviation Consumers Act that I introduced with Representative Fitzpatrick and Senators Duckworth and Fischer is on disabilities, as well.

As you can see, I work with folks from both sides of the aisle and both Houses. That is what we needed to do, and that is why this bill is good and why it is going to pass.

Mr. Chair, the bill also addresses consumer concerns relating to reimbursements when there are significant delays or canceled flights, family seating, and airport infrastructure resiliency as well as airline operational resiliency plans.

All of the above are steps in the right direction to not only protect and accommodate passengers with equity in mind but also to ensure the longevity of the U.S. aviation industry.

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment filed by Mr. Issa.

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment which would require the FAA to make an independent assessment of each notice to air mission, or NOTAM, request from a non-Federal entity.

Many NOTAMs are simply for general awareness, a temporary crane has been erected in controlled airspace, or a runway at an airport with no traffic control tower being repaved.

Some NOTAMs increase airspace awareness for pilots in the area alerting them about drone operations or balloon flights--some of them from China.

Some of them result in actual flight restrictions, like over sports stadiums during NFL and MLB games or when a concert is going on.

Sometimes FAA requires an operator or an airport to file a NOTAM prior operation in order to provide safety information for other airspace users. These are submitted through a special controlled access system.

NOTAMs are issued for all kinds of reasons. As we all know from the NOTAM system outage earlier this year, there are many of them, which can be a blessing, and it can be a curse.

For example, French Valley Airport, which is a small county-owned public use general aviation airport in Riverside County, California, currently has 80 active NOTAMs within a 10-mile radius. There are tens of thousands of big, medium, and small airports and heliports all over the country--consider the magnitude of bureaucracy this amendment creates.

Requiring the FAA to independently verify every single NOTAM would bring an already cumbersome system to a complete standstill.

NOTAMs keep pilots safe. This amendment would create an enormously burdensome process to get NOTAMs issued.

Finally, this amendment will very likely conflict with recommendations from the NOTAM working group created by the NOTAM Improvement Act that this Congress passed 2 months ago.

Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, I would just reiterate the fact that this will add additional burdens to the FAA. They would have to independently verify every single NOTAM. The FAA is already overburdened with work, and they need more and more folks there to make our civil aeronautics system work properly.

The amendment would conflict with recommendations just passed a few months ago by the NOTAM working group for improvement of that act, and that was passed just 2 months ago. So I have to cite those same reasons for opposing the amendment.

Mr. Chair, I continue to oppose the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Issa is a worthy adversary, but it is still 40-love.

Mr. Chair, I ask everybody to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. COHEN. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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