FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, I appreciate the chance to speak for just a few minutes.

I particularly wish to thank Senator Hutchison and Senator Rockefeller and tell colleagues that last night, at 10 o'clock, after hours and hours worth of negotiation, I thought the prospect of working this out was absolutely gone. I thought that once again the Senate would walk away from the idea of trying to come up with a way to have a more competitive market-oriented system in the aviation sector.

Obviously, this is not all that needs to be done, but this issue of slots, I would say to colleagues and the folks who are listening, is not about adding more gambling machines; this is about the right to land a plane. In much of our country, we have crowded airports, and folks are very concerned about that because it really relates to the business climate and it relates to quality of life. And it is not just in my part of the country but lots of other parts.

So this morning we still had three or four outstanding issues. A group of Senators, on a bipartisan basis, got together. We were just a little ways up here in the building, and in good faith we worked through a variety of issues--issues to make sure everybody was treated fairly in terms of scheduling, issues to ensure fairness with respect to the new flights and to something called conversion, which essentially involves taking short distance of flights and turning them into long distance flights. We still have some matters, obviously, that we are going to have to review with respect to studying this issue and ensuring all airlines have equal access to the markets. It is a sensitive subject, particularly to folks here in Virginia and Maryland. So these are areas that are going to take some additional work, but I think, with the new provisions that have been added, particularly to make sure we would have the five new round-trip flights from Reagan National, ensuring these new slots would be intended for

long-distance, for out-of-perimeter, we have moved a long way to ensure that the Senate will go into conference on a bipartisan basis in a unified fashion.

Madam President, I would like to take particular note of the extraordinary work done by Senator Cantwell, my colleague from the Pacific Northwest. When you reach an agreement such as this, which had three or four provisions, in effect, that were still being thrashed through this morning, it only comes together when colleagues say they have to find a way to get to some common ground and they can't simply go into a negotiation and have everything their way. Nobody, in my view, in these discussions moved more from the position they were most interested in than Senator Cantwell.

Chairman Rockefeller has been right to note that she will be the chair of the subcommittee. I can assure colleagues that no one will do more to protect the consumer, protect competition, and to protect the marketplace that we would like in the aviation sector than Senator Cantwell. She was instrumental last night and this morning, where we practically could have been fed intravenously and she just stayed put and kept negotiating to get to the point where we had an agreement on these slots.

I referenced, Chairman Rockefeller, when the Senator was off the floor, that we can continue this kind of cooperation as we have this bill pass the Senate and we go to conference. There is a reason we couldn't resolve the slots issue in the past; that is, despite efforts to come together, we just couldn't get Senators to focus on these three or four outstanding issues that were dealt with this morning. I think we have been fair to the big markets under this agreement as well as the smaller markets.

So as the chairman goes into the conference, I think the good will that came about as a result particularly of last night's efforts and this morning's efforts and all the cooperation he and Senator Hutchison have shown--he will be able to take an issue that was seen as absolutely impossible to resolve even as of late last night--because I felt when I walked in this morning that we were just going to hang drapes on this question and possibly the whole bill. I think now this bipartisan effort in good will shown by a lot of Senators on both sides of the aisle, led by the chairman and Senator Hutchison, is going to pay off. It is a very good start to an issue that isn't going to be resolved today, but some of the principles that have been laid out today are going to make a huge difference.

I wish to close by saying that my colleague from the Pacific Northwest, Senator Cantwell, who I believe knows as much about aviation as anybody on the planet at this point, did an awful lot to bring people together.

I look forward to working with the chairman as we go to conference, and I thank him for his cooperation. I also look forward to talking about some additional issues that he knows I care a lot about--the drones that are so important to central Oregon--but I acknowledge that he has made it possible for us to make an enormous amount of headway today, and I look forward to working with him and Senator Hutchison in the days ahead.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I and Senator Merkley and many of the Senators spent a great deal of time working on the question of slots, which, in plain English, is about the right to land a plane. I am very pleased we were able to work out our bipartisan agreement. I outlined why it was so important earlier in the morning.

Given all the attention that discussion received, I want to make sure the Senate did not lose sight of another important aviation issue. Chairman Rockefeller has been very supportive of our efforts to try to expand and improve the unmanned aerial systems--what are known as UAS programs--that are so essential for the future of the aviation sector.

In this part of the aviation sector, we have seen enormous growth in the last few years. A lot of folks know these systems are critical to military operations. They have been of enormous importance in Iraq and Afghanistan. But people may not be as aware that these unmanned aerial systems also have enormous potential in the civilian sector. I am talking now about firefighting, law enforcement, border patrol, search and rescue, environmental monitoring. Law enforcement in rural areas, that is much of my State, but I know other parts of the country are also very concerned about this issue.

As yet, the Federal Aviation Administration has not come up with a good plan for how to integrate these unmanned aerial system vehicles into the airspace.

I am pleased that the bill before us includes requirements for the Federal Aviation Administration to work on a plan for these systems and establish test sites for UAS research.

It is my hope as we go forward--and Chairman Rockefeller has been very supportive of our efforts; we have discussed this many times--that it is going to be possible to expand these sites. Senator Merkley, Senator Tester, Senator Baucus, Senator Schumer and a number of other colleagues are interested in this issue. This is a chance for the Federal Aviation Administration to finally give these unmanned aerial systems the attention and the priority that is warranted.

There is enormous potential in the civilian sector. We talked about it in the military sector.

I yield now to the chairman of the committee who has been exceptionally helpful to me, not just on this question of the unmanned aerial systems but for his patience as we worked through the slots issues where we finally got a breakthrough this morning. I am glad to yield to him for any comments he may have.

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I thank the chairman of the full committee. He has been exceptionally gracious. I think Senators understand we would not be here other than the fact that the chairman and Senator Hutchison have prosecuted this case relentlessly in a bipartisan way. We knew if we stayed at it on the slots issue we would get it resolved.

I thank him, given all the other things he has on his plate, for his help on the unmanned aerial systems. As my colleague knows, Senator Schumer and I have strong views on this issue, and we are fairly passionate characters. The chairman has been very patient. We know we have challenges in terms of working out the exact number of additional sites. We thank him for his thoughtfulness.

This is going to be a good bill. We are going to conference in a good position. It could not have happened without his tenacity and Senator Hutchison's.

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Mr. WYDEN. I want to thank Chairman ROCKEFELLER for the opportunity to have this colloquy with him today on the topic of through the fence agreements. Now, most folks don't know this, but there are a few different developments throughout the country that have houses with plane hangars near airports, and they have what is called a through the fence agreement to use the airway runway. Is the Senator familiar with these agreements?

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I am aware of these agreements.

Mr. WYDEN. As the Senator might know, one place that has had a residential airpark for many decades is in my home State, in a town called Independence, OR. Since 1974, folks at the Independence Airpark have had an agreement with the Independence airport to taxi their planes up to the runway and use it for recreation and travel purposes.

But recently, the FAA decided to change the rules on all through the fence agreements and the folks at Independence Airpark and elsewhere may not be able to continue an arrangement they have had nearly 40 years with no significant safety issues and no significant noise complaints.

That just doesn't seem fair. So I have introduced an amendment I believe will safely provide a path forward for places like the Independence Airpark to continue to exist. Is the Senator aware of the amendment I filed?

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I am aware that the Senator has filed an amendment on this issue, and I understand his concerns about this issue and its effect on his constituents.

Mr. WYDEN. While I understand we may not have an opportunity to vote on my amendment, Mr. Chairman, as we moved forward on this FAA reauthorization bill, can the Senator commit to working with me to find a solution so folks who have never gone afoul of the law or regulations are treated fairly?

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. I would be glad to continue working with the Senator on this issue, and I appreciate his work to ensure that there is fairness in this regard.

Mr. WYDEN. I thank the Senator, both for his important work on this larger FAA bill, and for his willingness to work with me in addressing this issue.

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