FAA Conference Report

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last night, the Senate adopted the final version of a long term reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. The process has been long and less than elegant as we worked through differences between the chambers, across parties and regional differences. I voted for the bill and am pleased that there is now more stable funding and policy to support our national aviation system. There are aspects of this bill that I do not agree with and would have done differently.

The FAA authorization expired in October of 2007. For more than 4 years, we have been operating on short-term extensions--23 total short term extensions. The FAA, airlines and flying public all deserve a long-term authorization to provide certainty to our national aviation system.

One reason I voted for this legislation is that it is a jobs bill. The FAA estimates commercial aviation is responsible for 5.2 percent of gross domestic product and generates $1.2 trillion in economic activity. The aviation industry provides $346 billion in earnings and 11 million jobs. And this bill will help grow those numbers.

The funding provided in this bill will support 280,000 jobs. The economist Mark Zandi said, ``Aviation is the glue that keeps the global economy together.'' This bill will boost our economy now and keep the United States competitive in the global marketplace in the future.

As importantly, this bill will improve the safety of our aviation system. Improving runway safety is one of the National Transportation Safety Board's ``Most Wanted'' list. There were 988 runway incursions last year. This year there have already been 66 incidents. This bill will require FAA to review all commercial service airports in the United States and initiate action to improve lighting, signage, and runway and taxiway markings.

Another key component of this bill is NextGen, the term we use to describe our transition from radar-based air traffic control system to a GPS-driven system. NextGen will give pilots and air traffic controllers the ability to accurately pinpoint aircraft in the sky--to avoid problems, to monitor traffic, to move things more smoothly, safely and efficiently. The FAA has called for action on implementing NextGen.

Last year, U.S. airlines carried 704 million passengers. Soon, those numbers will increase significantly. The FAA reports that U.S. airlines will carry more than one billion passengers by 2023 and more than 1.2 billion passengers by 2030. Our outdated air traffic control systems cannot safely and reliably handle this increase in traffic. But with NextGen, we hope to triple the capacity of our national aviation system.

This technology will allow planes to fly the straightest, quickest route from point A to point B. And with more precise information and better communication between the ground and the cockpit, we can fit more planes safely in our airspace. Doing so will save airlines at least 3.3 billion gallons of fuel a year--or more than $10 billion annually by 2025. NextGen should also reduce airport delays significantly.

Chicago's Midway Airport was ranked dead last over the past few months for on-time departures. Chicago's O'Hare airport has won that dubious distinction more than once. The main reason for these delays is the lack of capacity in our aviation system. Fully implementing NextGen could reduce those delays by half.

NextGen will also save more than 1.4 billion gallons of fuel and provide $22 billion in savings to airlines and flyers. This is a great investment. This bill will help airports and air travelers in Illinois and nationwide save time and money.

In Illinois, we are in the middle of the largest airport expansion project in U.S. history at O'Hare airport. This $6.6 billion project will completely reconfigure the runways at O'Hare to make sure we can move more traffic in and out of Chicago more efficiently. Moving this project along means a lot to the people of Chicago and Illinois.

O'Hare already generates 450,000 jobs and $38 billion in economic activity for the Chicago region and the State of Illinois. The O'Hare modernization project will create 195,000 more jobs, and another $18 billion in annual economic activity. This bill will allow O'Hare to keep moving forward by funding the airport improvement program at healthy levels. And it isn't just O'Hare. Airports in Illinois will benefits from more than $3.3 billion per year for AIP projects.

Last year, airports in the Quad Cities, Rockford, Decatur and Springfield all used AIP program funds to make critical improvements to their airfields. Keeping this funding flowing will allow these airports to handle the traffic of today and the future increases of tomorrow.

The bill helps rural areas keep the commercial air service they have now and attract new service in the future. The Senate Conferees defeated an attempt to completely dismantle the essential air service program. This bill fully funds essential air service and puts in place important reforms so the Department of Transportation works with businesses, local communities and the airline industry to start and retain quality air service to rural communities.

Without a robust EAS program, many rural communities would have no commercial air service at all, and residents of smaller cities would have to travel significant distances for flights. This bill will ensure communities in Quincy, Marion and Decatur have scheduled commercial air service--an enormous tool for communities to retain and attract businesses. Scheduled air service as an important requirement for many businesses when they choose a headquarters or office.

While I voted for this bill for all the reasons I have already mentioned, I have very serious concerns about some of the labor provisions included in this bill. Several times, Republicans held up passage of a reauthorization bill on unrelated labor issues. And last year, these disagreements led to a lapse of authorization for several days before we were able to pass the latest short term extension. During that lapse, some 4,000 Federal aviation workers were furloughed, airline construction projects like the O'Hare Modernization Project were threatened, and it cost the Federal Government roughly $25 million in tax revenue each day.

So, Senator Reid made a tough decision--he negotiated with House Republicans for the removal of language overturning the National Mediation Board rule, but in exchange the bill now includes the current labor provision which could make it more difficult for workers to organize and form a union. It is unfortunate that Republicans insisted on bringing Federal labor law into this legislation without hearings or adequate debate. But I could not allow Republicans to continue holding this bill hostage. It is too important to airline safety, the economy, my State, and the country as whole.

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