FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. I appreciate my friend yielding me 2 minutes. I did not get an opportunity to speak on the last amendment. Although I'm from the region, I did want to reinforce why the compromise fashioned by the chairman and the ranking member is so important. Whenever this bill comes up, there is some individual, usually from the other body, who wants to expand the perimeter.

Dulles and Reagan are essentially airports under congressional control, and Congress has mandated a balance between Reagan and Dulles, and has allocated finances accordingly. Reagan is a short-distance airport. Dulles is the long-distance airport. Reagan has one primary runway. There were stories in the paper just recently about how hard it is, therefore, for planes to land there. Dulles has four times as many. The underuse of Dulles would, in fact, waste substantial investment that the Congress has put into this balance.

The compromise language does at least import competition; whereas, the original amendment would have been a windfall to one or two airlines.

So I very much appreciate this compromise. Remember, those of us in the region would prefer nothing outside of the perimeter, but we're always willing to work with the chairman and with others on the committee, and I am grateful for the compromise that has been accepted, and I'm very grateful that the gentleman from Arizona has been kind enough to withdraw his amendment.

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