Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1765 to provide the Secretary of Transportation with the flexibility to transfer funds to prevent further disruptions resulting from Federal Aviation Administration furloughs. If enacted, this bill will end the air traffic control furloughs that have congested commercial aviation traffic over the last week.

Currently, the FAA is furloughing almost 10 percent of its air traffic controller workforce on a daily basis. Since the furloughs began on Sunday through Wednesday this week, the number of air travel delays has totaled 8,804 compared to 2,795 for the same time last week. These delays inconvenience passengers and cause serious economic disruptions throughout the entire country.

H.R. 1765 will provide the Secretary of Transportation with the flexibility he needs to fix this problem without adding to the FAA's budget. The additional flexibility in this bill will also give the Secretary the ability to restore the FAA's Contract Tower Program.

It is Congress' intent that the Secretary of Transportation will use the added flexibility to stop the closure of the 149 identified contract towers across the country. As I and those in my District can attest, these contract towers, such as the ones in Albany and in Macon, play an important role in serving as a link between rural communities and the larger aviation network.

This bill should be approved to prevent both the FAA furloughs and the closure of these contract towers. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important aviation bill.

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