Transportation, Housing And Urban Development, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010
Floor Speech
TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010 -- (Senate - September 15, 2009)
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Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I thank the Senator from Missouri for explaining very clearly why this amendment should be defeated by this body.
Senator McCain has come out and offered an amendment that would take away funding from every earmark in the bill and put it into the Federal Aviation Administration's NextGen program. That is our effort to modernize the air traffic control system--a very important effort. I will speak to that in a minute.
Let me speak to the earmarks. This is not a new debate. I have stood on this floor many times, as well as other Senators, to defend the right of every Senator here to identify priorities for their home States and to advocate for them. This bill includes earmarks because the Members of the Senate have gone home and identified needs in their communities and brought them to our committee, which we have put into consideration.
It is important to note that there was abuse in the earmark system. We have now reduced earmark spending in this bill to 50 percent of what we had in 2006. In fact, the earmark spending in the bill is less than 1 percent of the total funding. But that funding is as a result of Senators who have gone home, worked with their constituents, identified projects, brought them to the committee, and we scrutinized them. Very few made it into the final bill because of the high caps we have. But they were brought to us by Senators with legitimate needs in their home States.
My concern over this amendment isn't just limited to the investments Senators have asked us to make in their States. I am greatly concerned,
as the Senator from Missouri pointed out, about what this amendment would actually do to the FAA's NextGen program, and I am a strong supporter of that. There is a need to modernize our air traffic control system. For that very reason, this bill now before us provides $865 million for programs that are essential to the NextGen effort. But in order for NextGen to succeed, the FAA has to do more than just put money into it. It needs, as my colleague from Missouri said, strong oversight. If we hand that agency a blank check now for well over a billion dollars, which this amendment asks for, that is not the right way for this body to do oversight or ensure the responsible use of the Federal dollars over which we have oversight.
The FAA has had a long history of budget overruns and schedule increases in its capital programs. Our subcommittee has held numerous hearings on the FAA's need to manage its capital programs more responsibly.
We have heard testimony from the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation on this very issue, and until only recently, the Government Accountability Office has identified this NextGen program as a high-risk management area.
I encourage our colleagues to oppose this amendment. It is not the responsible way to fund the FAA or the Department of Transportation.
Madam President, I yield the floor.
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Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, the bill before us contains 50 percent fewer earmarks than in 2006. Importantly, these are priorities of Senators who have brought them to us. They are less than 1 percent of the bill. Even more important, what the amendment before us does, and I am a strong supporter of NextGen, is it puts money to the FAA that they cannot spend.
This is a program that does need strong oversight. We have been told that in our committee time and time again by the IG and others before us. We want to move forward on the NextGen and we want to do it in a responsible way. This amendment will give them money that they will not be able to spend.
I urge our colleagues to vote against this amendment.
I yield all of our time, move to table the amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.
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