Supporting the goals and ideals of National Aviation Maintenance Technician Day, honoring the invaluable contributions of Charles Edward Taylor, regarded as the father of aviation maintenance, and recognizing the essential role of aviation maintenance technicians in ensuring the safety and security of civil and military aircraft.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 444) supporting the goals and ideals of National Aviation Maintenance Technician Day, honoring the invaluable contributions of Charles Edward Taylor, regarded as the father of aviation maintenance, and recognizing the essential role of aviation maintenance technicians in ensuring the safety and security of civil and military aircraft.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank the Speaker and I thank our House Speaker for bringing this to the floor today, H. Res. 444, a resolution which supports the goals and ideals of National Aviation Maintenance Technician Day, honoring the invaluable contributions of Charles Edward Taylor, regarded as the father of aviation maintenance, and recognizing the essential role of aviation maintenance technicians in ensuring the safety and security of civil and military aircraft.

With all the concerns, Mr. Speaker, today about safety and airlines, it is the men and women who actually do the maintenance that we depend on so greatly.

It was Charles Edward Taylor who built and maintained the engine that was used to power the Wright brothers' first controlled aircraft, the Flyer, and he was born in 1868. He is widely regarded as the father of aviation maintenance, and was a vital contributor of mechanical skills in the building and maintaining of early Wright brothers engines and airplanes. Taylor also built the wind tunnel used by the Wrights to test their early designs. He became a leading mechanic in the Wright Aircraft Company when it was formed in 1909. In fact, when Calbraith Perry Rodgers made his famous cross-country trip in a Wright brothers aircraft, he paid Charles Edward Taylor $70 a week, a pretty large sum at the time, to be his mechanic. Taylor followed the flight by train, making required repairs and preparing the aircraft for the next day's flight throughout the cross-country trip from Long Island to California.

Although Taylor was largely ignored by history, it is important to note that the Wright brothers were very close friends with him, and remained in close contact with him throughout their lives.

Charles Edward Taylor saved enough money from his ventures to buy several hundred acres of farmland near the Salton Sea, which is located in my district. However, the economic climate of the time eventually brought him to poverty, and he died penniless in 1956 at the age of 87. He was buried at the Portal of Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation in Burbank, California.

Mr. Speaker, the humble beginnings of the aviation maintenance profession belies the fact that all of us in the Congress and our constituents rely on the work that these technicians do every day. They play an invaluable role not only in ensuring the safety of commercial aircraft, but also ensuring that our men and women in uniform have safe, reliable planes and helicopters while in their combat and training. Thanks to these dedicated, well-trained professionals, the United States has by far the safest air transportation system in the world. We owe aircraft mechanics a debt of gratitude for their service to the flying public.

We are hearing a lot today about consolidations in the airline industry, and some airlines have already been outsourcing aviation maintenance abroad to cut their costs. I urge everyone in this Chamber to remember how critical it is for our own safety to have a well- trained U.S.-based workforce to fix and maintain our aircraft. As the airline industry seeks to cut costs and merge, it is very important for all of us to keep a watchful eye on the impact of these consolidations on aviation maintenance technicians. We cannot afford to cut corners when it comes to safety.

Mr. Speaker, 45 U.S. States have already declared May 24 to be Aviation Maintenance Technician Day within their jurisdictions. My resolution is intended to support these efforts and honor aviation maintenance technicians, including the first, Charles Edward Taylor. I urge all my colleagues to vote for H. Res. 444.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Resolution 444, Supporting National Aviation Technician Day, and honoring Charles Edward Taylor. This resolution was introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) in honor of aviation maintenance mechanics and their profession.

Day in and day out, aviation mechanics ensure the safety of the flying public. They are also critical for the safety of our Armed Forces aviation infrastructure. They keep our military aircraft flying and are key elements in ensuring their security.

The aviation mechanics creed embodies their professional philosophy. Words such as ``sacred,'' ``trust,'' ``judgment,'' and ``dignity'' are used to describe their duties and professionalism.

Our public confidence in aviation transportation is a direct result of their commitment to these ideals and the unwavering integrity of their work.

H. Res. 444 also rightly honors Charles Edward Taylor, who played a fundamental role in aviation history. In 1902, Mr. Taylor began work as a machinist in Dayton, Ohio for the Wright Cycle Company. In just 6 weeks, he built a 12 horsepower engine with only a metal lathe, a drill press, and hand tools. On December 17, 1903, his engine was used on the Wright brothers' first flying machine and propelled the world into controlled flight. Mr. Taylor's career lasted 60 years and earned him a place in aviation history. To this day, he is known as the father of aviation maintenance.

The Federal Aviation Administration's Charles Edward Taylor Master Mechanic Award is bestowed upon individuals who have over 50 years of experience in aviation maintenance and is truly an honor to receive.

Mr. Speaker, 45 States currently designate May 24 as Aviation Maintenance Technician Day. I encourage my Members to support this resolution to honor

the men and women of aviation maintenance and the life and memory of Charles Edward Taylor.

Mr. Speaker, I actually got to hear one of the very original Wright brothers engines, which was built by Mr. Taylor, at Oshkosh just a few years ago. There are still a couple of them that are existing today. They were actually built by hand, very crudely built, and I got an opportunity to hear one of them started up running. It was actually the third engine that he ever built, and it was absolutely a neat thing to see.

In my district I have one of the American Airlines overhaul bases which houses a lot of mechanics and aviation technicians who work on those aircraft, and from a base as large as that right down to some of our very small businesses, like Joe Rankin who runs an aviation shop in a little airport in Marionville, Missouri, those aviation mechanics are important to the entire industry.

Being a pilot myself, I know just how important good maintenance and those mechanics can be to your aircraft. It really is an honor to have the opportunity to be able to handle this bill for the minority side today. I thank the gentleman from California for his work on it. I think it truly says a lot about aviation mechanics and the reason we are honoring them.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 444. H. Res. 444 highlights the House of Representatives' support for the May 24 National Aviation Maintenance Technician Day to honor Charles Edward Taylor, the first aviation maintenance technician who created and maintained the engine used to power the Wright brothers' aircraft, and the men and women who followed in his footsteps as aviation maintenance technicians.

This resolution celebrates the life and achievements of one of the fathers of aviation while also recognizing the indispensable role aviation maintenance technicians play by ensuring the safety of civil and military aircraft and infrastructure as well as the American people. In 1901, Charles Edward Taylor left his job making 25 cents an hour at the Dayton Electric Company to make 30 cents an hour in the Wright brothers' bicycle shop. Within a year of starting, Taylor helped them build a wind tunnel to test the Wrights' theories on winds and control surfaces.

When, in 1903, the Wright brothers' tasked Taylor with creating an 8- horsepower engine to power the Flyer, his only prior experience was an attempt to repair a gasoline automobile engine in 1901. He designed and built an aluminum, water-cooled, 12-horsepower engine. He built the engine from scratch in only 6 weeks, and without drawings, using a drill press, metal lathe, and hand tools.

Taylor said, ``[I] always wanted to learn to fly, but I never did. The Wrights refused to teach me and tried to discourage the idea. They said they needed me in the shop and to service their machines, and if I learned to fly, I'd be gadding about the country and maybe become an exhibition pilot, and then they'd never see me again.''

After assisting the Wright brothers, Taylor went on to a pioneering aviation maintenance career spanning more than 60 years including a job as the chief mechanic for the first transcontinental flight in 1911 by Calbraith Perry Rodgers.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 444, honoring the first aviation maintenance technician, Charles Edward Taylor, and every aviation maintenance technician who has or will follow in his footsteps.

Mr. Speaker, today, we are considering H. Res. 444, a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of national aviation maintenance technician day, honoring Charles Edward Taylor, and recognizing the essential role of aviation maintenance technicians in ensuring the safety and security of both civil and military aircraft.

This important legislation was introduced by our colleague, Mr. Filner.

Charles Edward Taylor was born in Illinois in 1868 and worked as the machinist for the Wright brothers in their Dayton, Ohio facility. It was here that he built the 12-horsepower engine to power the Wright brothers' first flying machine.

Taylor had an impressive career spanning over sixty years, where he did all of the preliminary engine design work for the Wright brothers and later taught them to build aircraft engines.

As a testament to his skill and this important craft, the Federal Aviation Administration awards the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award recognizing the lifetime accomplishments of certificated mechanics and repairmen who have worked in aviation for at least 50 years.

Our aviation maintenance professionals ensure the safety of aircraft each and everyday. By honoring Charles Taylor, we demonstrate our respect and admiration for this important profession.

Mr. Speaker, aviation maintenance professionals continue to keep our civil and military aircraft safe and secure. That is why I support H. Res. 444 and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. GRAVES, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a resolution (H. Res. 444) supporting the goals and ideals of National Aviation Maintenance Technician Day.

This resolution is intended to honor the invaluable contributions of Charles Edward Taylor, the father of aviation maintenance, and to recognize the essential role of aviation maintenance technicians in ensuring the safety and security of civil and military aircraft.

As you may know, Charles Edward Taylor, who built and maintained the engine that was used to power the Wright brothers' first controlled flying machine, was born on May 24, 1868.

Forty-five U.S. States have already declared May 24 to be Aviation Maintenance Technician Day within their jurisdictions. My resolution is intended to support these efforts, and honor aviation maintenance technicians, including Charles Edward Taylor.