Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011

Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, this is an extension of what would be known as the ``aviation bill.'' I come before the House asking for one extension under the leadership of the new majority in Congress. I also come to the floor to explain the history of how we got here today with 17 extensions.

In 2001, I had the honor and privilege of being named the chair of the Aviation Subcommittee. Not knowing what the future would hold, of course, all of our lives changed on September 11, 2001, and mine did, too.

In 2003, we passed a 4-year authorization: The Federal Government must provide authorization and set the policy for the operation of our Nation's aviation system and for the FAA, which is the primary and lead agency. The bill that we passed in 2003 sets forth the policy and the funding for all the projects and everything eligible for Federal participation. It authorizes all the programs. When we did that again in 2003, we did a 4-year bill.

In 2007, the bill that I helped author and that we brought before the Congress--again after the fateful days of 2001, after the tragedy, and again after the difficulty the aviation industry saw from 2001 to 2003--the bill that expired in 2007, the 4-year bill, was extended some 17 times. That is shameful and irresponsible that we find ourselves in a situation where we haven't passed policy.

Now, why is this important?

Most of the emphasis in this Congress should be on getting people back to work. If we have people working, most of our problems are solved. The States would have revenue, and the Federal Government would have revenue. Yet it's absolutely amazing, when you have the aviation industry, which accounts for 9.2 percent of our gross domestic product and activity in the United States--9.2 percent--that the Federal Government and Congress did not have in place a long-term policy and blueprint, which is set forth in that authorization legislation. So 17 times we've come to the floor, and there have been these short-term extensions of the bill that we passed originally in 2003 and that expired in 2007. That's the situation we find ourselves in.

Now, several weeks ago, we did pass in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee a long-term 4-year bill. The Senate has acted, the other body, and they've passed a bill. If it had been just our committee, we probably could have had the bill up a little bit quicker, but we do rely on several other committees to add input into this process. We have the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, which just before we left last week completed their portion of the bill. We have the Ways and Means Committee, which also has part of the financial responsibility, the Ways and Means' responsibility, in the legislation for the extension, and they finished their work.

We do need a little bit more time to come to conference, and I pledge an open conference. In the past, legislation has been decided behind closed doors. I hope this to be an open process. This extension will run us through May 31, I believe, of this year, the end of May, and it is my hope that the first bill that we can get done will be done with this one extension for, again, authorizing all of our aviation programs for the Nation.

So that's the situation we find ourselves in. We need to pass this legislation because the current 17th extension expires at the end of this week, and we must have this in place to make certain that we can even function in any manner, even though we don't have all the details of new legislation in place, which I pledge to do in the next 60 days.

With that explanation, I would like to thank the chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee, the gentleman and our leader on aviation issues, Mr. Petri.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1079) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authority of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, to amend title 49, United States Code, to extend the airport improvement program, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5

legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 1079.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to include in the Congressional Record the exchange of letters concerning H.R. 1079 between the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Committee on Ways and Means,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC, March 22, 2011.

Hon. John Mica,

Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,

2165 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Mica: I am writing concerning H.R. 1079, the

``Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011,'' which is

expected to be scheduled for floor consideration the week of

March 28, 2011.

As you know, the Committee on Ways and Means has

jurisdiction over the Internal Revenue Code. Sections 2 and 3

of this bill amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by

extending the current Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF)

expenditure authority and the associated Federal excise taxes

to May 31, 2011. In order to expedite H.R. 1079 for Floor

consideration, the Committee will forgo action on the bill.

This is being done with the understanding that it does not in

any way prejudice the Committee with respect to the

appointment of conferees or its jurisdictional prerogatives

on this or similar legislation. In that regard, I would note

that the Committee on Ways and Means recently favorably

reported H.R. 1034, the ``Airport and Airway Trust Fund

Financing Reauthorization Act of 2011,'' which would provide

a similar, but longer-term reauthorization, through September

30, 2014, of the AATF expenditure authority and associated

excise taxes.

I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming

this understanding with respect to H.R. 1079, and would ask

that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be

included in the Congressional Record during Floor

consideration.

Sincerely,

Dave Camp,

Chairman.

I would just like to observe to my colleague, we will have plenty of opportunity to defend and debate the overall reauthorization later this week. The reauthorization bill is broadly supported by the industry affected. We may differ on some portions of it, but one of the major features of the reauthorization is to put in place a strengthened framework and benchmarks for NextGen; and as that new technology is deployed, almost every expert we've had testifying before the committee has said it will markedly increase the efficiency and safety of the aviation industry and reduce fuel use by some 25 percent, helping the environment and our import situation as well.

In any event, I would like to mention that the current reauthorization extension, the short-term extension before us, has bipartisan support. I would urge my colleagues in both parties to support it.

I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1079, the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011.

As you heard, this is the 18th short-term extension for FAA programs. With the enactment of a long-term FAA reauthorization in sight, as the chairman has just mentioned--and we all look forward to that--I want to echo my colleague's hopes that this will be the last short-term extension. I know, if we have to have one, we'll probably do one, but we all hope that it's the last one we do.

Without the enactment of this bill, the FAA's funding, programs, and expenditure authority would lapse on March 31. This clean and straightforward extension will keep the FAA operating at current funding levels for another 2 months, through May 31. It will give Congress time to work out the long-term reauthorization. Yet I want to be clear: While I support this short-term extension bill, I have serious concerns about H.R. 658, the long-term

FAA reauthorization bill, which I expect the House may try to take up this week.

In fiscal year 2010, the FAA's major programs were funded at approximately $16 billion. H.R. 658, the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011, is a 4-year reauthorization that would reduce the FAA's annual funding to approximately 2008 appropriation levels, $14.9 billion, for the remainder of 2011 and then each year through fiscal year 2014. H.R. 658 would effectively cut, roughly, $1 billion annually and almost $4 billion total below current funding levels for FAA's budget over the next 4 years. These proposed cuts will have dire consequences on our Nation's infrastructure, jobs, and the economy.

Mr. Speaker, in February, the House Aviation Subcommittee held a hearing for industry stakeholders to testify about FAA reauthorization. In response to a question that I posed, witnesses representing the aerospace industry, general aviation manufacturers, general aviation pilots, airports, air traffic controllers, and FAA managers all testified that Congress could not cut $1 billion annually from the FAA's budget without harming safety-sensitive programs or hampering the industry. At the same hearing, Ms. Marion Blakey, the FAA administrator under President George W. Bush, stated: ``The prospect is really devastating to jobs and to our future.''

Every $1 billion of Federal investment in infrastructure creates or sustains approximately 35,000 jobs. Yet H.R. 658 would cut the airport improvement grants for runway construction and safety enhancements by almost $2 billion. Cuts to airport improvement grants alone would cost the Nation 70,000 jobs.

So let's be clear about one thing: The FAA reauthorization bill that we will consider later this week will not create jobs; it will destroy them. Although much work is ahead of us, I'm optimistic that Congress will be able to enact a long-term bill and we will not be considering a 19th short-term extension this summer. For the present, however, this particular extension, this bill before us today, I support, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1079, which is at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the measure be printed in the Record.