Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, in January of this year, tragedy struck just a few miles from here when an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with American Airlines Flight 5342 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Sixty-seven souls were tragically lost in an instant.
After the crash, it quickly became evident that there were commonsense changes that would immediately enhance aviation safety.
The Army helicopter, flying along the Potomac River, had deliberately chosen not to broadcast its location to other aircraft or to air traffic control using the common aviation technology called automatic dependent surveillance broadcast, or ADS-B. Had the Black Hawk been using ADS-B, like every other aircraft is required to do, tragedy could well have been averted.
We have since learned from the National Transportation Safety Board that the military was routinely flying by its own set of rules, particularly around Reagan National, which meant that there had been numerous near misses before this deadly crash. In fact, just last Friday, an Air Force tanker was flying without using ADS-B and nearly collided into a JetBlue plane headed to New York despite the justifiable public outrage over what happened at DCA. Clearly, the Pentagon's behavior needed to change.
In July, I, alongside eight of my Republican colleagues, introduced the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform--or ROTOR-- Act. After several weeks negotiating a bipartisan agreement with the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Maria Cantwell, the committee passed the ROTOR Act unanimously.
Here is what the ROTOR Act does:
No. 1, it tightens the rules for military aircraft so air traffic control and other pilots have a better idea of nearby planes and helicopters.
No. 2, it requires all aircraft, civilian and military, to equip and receive ADS-B signals.
No. 3, it directs the FAA to comprehensively evaluate the safety of airspaces around airports across the country so that no other airspace has the same risk of collisions that DCA did.
No. 4, it improves aviation safety information sharing between the FAA and the military. No longer will there be silos of safety data.
These improvements will save lives.
Earlier this week, the families of the DCA crash victims joined Senator Cantwell and me at a press conference to highlight how the NDAA had a provision moving backwards on safety and to call for the passage of the ROTOR Act.
Two of those family members, Amy Hunter and Laura Augendre, are in the Gallery today. I am happy that they are here to witness the Senate passing the ROTOR Act, along with the language removing the offending NDAA provision. Senator Cantwell, Senator Moran, and I have made significant progress with our Senate colleagues, and we have reached an agreement that will allow the Senate to pass this bill unanimously today.
I am also pleased to report that the ROTOR Act now has the explicit backing of the White House on this revised product. The White House is committed to helping us work with our House colleagues to see that the ROTOR Act passes in that Chamber. We still have a few small outstanding issues, but I am optimistic that we are going to get this done and signed into law as soon as next month.
Before turning it over to my colleagues, I want to note two things.
One, I want to say thank you to Senator Cantwell for her partnership. She and I have worked hand in hand on this. I am grateful for the trust we have with each other and for the work ethic displayed by Senator Cantwell and by her staff, who have worked very hard on this matter.
I also want to say that this bill will be a fitting way to honor the lives of those lost nearly 1 year ago over the Potomac River.
The goal of the victims' families is to ensure that no one else endures a similar, avoidable, completely unnecessary tragedy.
With that, I yield to Ranking Member Cantwell.
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Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I now yield to Senator Moran, who has been a critical leader in fighting to pass the ROTOR Act and to ensure we have accountability and that we do not repeat the tragic mistakes that led to that horrific accident.
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Mr. CRUZ. 269, S. 2503.
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