Aviation Supply Chain Safety and Security Digitization Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. KNOTT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of my bill, H.R. 6267, the Aviation Supply Chain Safety and Security Digitization Act.

I thank Chairman Graves for the opportunity to speak today, and I also thank my colleague from Michigan (Ms. Scholten) for joining me as a cosponsor of this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, we often take for granted the delicate complexity of airplanes, millions of parts and components working together to ensure passenger safety. The FAA protects the supply chain by requiring certification documents for each part following its manufacturing, assembly, and repair. Known as an Authorized Release Certificate, or an ARC, these documents certify each part meets rigorous FAA airworthiness standards before an FAA certified technician can perform any necessary work.

Unfortunately, today, Mr. Speaker, ARCs and similar certificates represent a weak link in our aviation supply chain security.

Despite many advances since the Wright brothers' first flight in my home State of North Carolina, the FAA's recordkeeping is stuck in 1903. Ink and paper hold up the efficiency and the security of this delicate supply chain. A few forged signatures are all that it takes for a nefarious actor to inject hundreds, if not thousands, of fraudulently and potentially dangerous parts into planes around the world.

Unfortunately, this is not hypothetical. This very scenario has already happened. In the summer of 2023, service employees in Europe discovered that some of the engine's parts that they were working on were noticeably older than their documentation indicated, and they alerted the appropriate authorities.

It was then discovered that questionable parts had infiltrated more than 126 airplane engines, affecting Delta, American, United, and Southwest Airlines, among others.

This bill is a simple, industry-driven step towards defending against similar occurrences. This bill would require the GAO to conduct a study into barriers that prevent the FAA and the aviation industry from modernizing their supply chain security by digitizing ARCs and other safety documents which would prevent bad actors from so easily compromising these important records.

My bill would also require the GAO to make prompt recommendations to Congress on accelerating the FAA's adoption of digital documentation and a path to voluntary adoption within the industry.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank all of the members of the aviation industry who joined the Aviation Supply Chain Integrity Coalition. The coalition's quick and focused efforts in response to the 2023 incident that I just mentioned laid the important groundwork for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I once again thank Chairman Graves and Representative Scholten for their support, and I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 6267.

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