Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act

Madam Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Graves for yielding to Mr. Graves.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation, and I want to thank our sponsor on this legislation, Congresswoman Sharice Davids, for working with us on this.

Congress is often the body that comes in and proposes legislation and then proposes solutions after something has happened, after something bad has happened. This is a different approach. This is Congress actually stepping in and being proactive.

This is bipartisan legislation that recognizes the United States leads the world in innovation related to aviation. The only way we are going to be able to do that, that we are going to be able to continue leading the world with these advanced technologies related to advanced air mobility, is by being proactive in this case.

We are talking about incorporating innovative technology that is going to effect virtually every aspect of our lives, but integrating it into one of the most complex and one of the most congested airspace areas in the world. This isn't something we can just do overnight once the technology is ready.

This legislation puts together a working group for us to look at how this is going to be integrated, what regulations we need in place, what infrastructure changes we need to have in place in order to facilitate this.

Madam Speaker, we can't cede this technology, this innovation, to other countries. The United States has the safest, most advanced aviation system in the world, but we are not going to be able to maintain that without being proactive, without thinking through all of the integration that is going to result; again, whether it be infrastructure or people who want to use urban air mobility to fly from one city to the other. In my home State of Louisiana, flying from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, as opposed to sitting in the parking lot that is Interstate 10 or those people that want to fly from Lake Charles to Houston for the day, because they don't want to live in Houston, and fly back and spend the night in Lake Charles. I am kidding, Texas friends.

Madam Speaker, the people that work in the offshore industry, the ability to fly through advanced air mobility to these facilities and come back, doing it safer; doing it with less fuel, less emissions; doing it more efficiently, less expensive; that is what this solution, this technology, potentially provides for us.

There have been studies that show that by 2035, this industry could employ 280,000 people, and the value of this industry sector could be $115 billion.

Once again, Madam Speaker, we are not going to realize those benefits without us being proactive and facilitating the integration of this technology into our communities.

Madam Speaker, even our military, the Department of Defense, recognizes the potential of eVTOL technology in its own operations, and that is why it is investing in the Agility Prime program to help foster the AAM industry.

The issues that we are looking at include aircraft certification, ground infrastructure, air traffic control, battery storage, cybersecurity, physical security, spectrum, and many other challenges. This legislation helps to ensure that we have solutions in place when the technology is ready.

Again, Madam Speaker, I want to thank the vice chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Sharice Davids, for her leadership and partnership in sponsoring the bill. I appreciate the work of Ranking Member Sam Graves and Chairman DeFazio in allowing us to move this forward in a bipartisan manner.

Madam Speaker, before I yield back, I also want to recognize one of the hardworking heroes and unsung heroes of this Congress. I want to take a few minutes to honor our Aviation Subcommittee Republican staff director Holly Woodruff Lyons, who will be retiring at the end of the year.

Holly was raised in sunny southern California, and she made the inexplicable decision to choose to go to Colgate University in freezing cold Upstate New York. I think she quickly realized the error of her ways and transitioned to the University of San Diego School of Law for law school.

She did some time in private practice, and then she began her federal service over 20 years ago, in 1999, where she followed in her father's footsteps and worked for the Federal Aviation Administration in the Airports and Environmental Law Division.

Holly came to the Aviation Subcommittee as counsel in May of 2002 under then-Chairman Don Young. Madam Speaker, also having worked for the dean of the House, I also question that decision.

When considering whether to take the job, Holly wondered whether she was too old to start a career on Capitol Hill. But her first subcommittee staff director saw there was something special about Holly, and he told us that one of the best decisions he ever made was recommending Holly to the committee.

Holly became the Aviation Subcommittee staff director in 2007, where she remained for most of the last 14 years, working under Chairman Mica, Chairman Shuster, and now Ranking Member Sam Graves. She did, however, spend a brief time as deputy general counsel to the full committee before returning to her rightful place in the subcommittee.

She made invaluable contributions, as the ranking member noted, to every aviation legislative effort over the past 20 years, including the Homeland Security Act of 2002; the Vision 100--Century Aviation Reauthorization Act; the Cape Town Treaty Implementation Act of 2004; the NTSB Reauthorization Act of 2006, and the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010. She served as the lead House negotiator on the European Union ETS Prohibition Act of 2011; the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012; the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016; and the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. Recently, last Congress, she was also the lead House Republican negotiator on the 2020 Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act.

In each one of these efforts, Holly has been a model staffer. She is professional, intelligent, conscientious, and hardworking. She is an excellent and fierce negotiator, as everyone who has had the pleasure of sitting on her side of the table, or misfortune of sitting on the other side of the table, knows. She fights for every advantage at every turn while remaining disarmingly pleasant and entirely unflappable.

In one memorable negotiation, though, Holly leaned forward, made a circle with her fingers, and told another committee in no uncertain terms that they had zero jurisdiction over a certain topic. As one former committee staff director is fond of saying: Holly plays for keeps.

Madam Speaker, there are two kinds of people that work on Capitol Hill: Those that have been schooled by Holly and those that will be.

But the reason everyone loves a good war story about Holly is that it contrasts so much with her usual personally. She is friendly, kind, approachable, and always ready to help. She has been a wonderful mentor and friend to junior committee staff. She has almost singlehandedly trained and mentored an entire generation of transportation and aviation policy professionals. There is no one who has worked with or for Holly who can say they haven't learned from her.

Madam Speaker, we often say that aviation is the safest form of transportation, as though that is the way it has always been. When we get on a plane, we don't have to think about whether it is safe or not because of the incredible hard work of people like Holly and

what they have done over the decades. It is only when we look back over the career of someone like Holly where we can see how much things have changed for the better. Without question, aviation is safer today than it has ever been, in no small part through the work of Holly Woodruff Lyons.

We thank Holly so much for her service to the committee, her service to the House of Representatives, and her service to the American people. Her work has saved lives and made this country a better, safer, and more prosperous place. We are sad to see her go, but we will not say goodbye. We still have her cellphone number. Instead, we will say, see you soon. We wish her and Mark all the best as they start this next chapter of their life.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 516) to plan for and coordinate efforts to integrate advanced air mobility aircraft into the national airspace system, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 516, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 516, the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act.

Last November, this Chamber took a critical first step in fostering innovative advanced air mobility, AAM, in the U.S., by passing with an overwhelming majority, H.R. 1339, companion legislation also titled Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act.

That bill would establish an interagency working group comprised of the Federal Government, States, localities, the aviation industry, labor unions, and other key stakeholders to plan and coordinate efforts to safely integrate AAM operations into our airspace system.

Today, we are one step closer to making what was once only thought of as a figment of the imagination--as people used to refer to flying cars and things like that. S. 516, as amended, reflects a bipartisan, bicameral agreement that will make this a reality.

It will require the development of an AAM National Strategy; include a Government Accountability Office study on the interests, roles and responsibilities of Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments affected by AAM aircraft and operations; and direct the Department of Transportation to conduct an evaluation of whether the AAM working group should be terminated after the group submits its required recommendations to Congress. It will incorporate relevant language and technical corrections from H.R. 1339; and clarify the key stakeholders with whom the new AAM working group will collaborate.

The Federal Government industry stakeholders alike recognize the potential for AAM aircraft to alleviate traffic congestion, reduce the current burden on surface infrastructure, create good-paying U.S. jobs, and provide a more environmentally sustainable mode of daily transportation.

As these new aircraft emerge in an already complex national airspace, we must be certain that they are safe for

those on board, those on the ground, and fully and safely and effectively integrated into the national airspace system.

The interagency working group and subsequent AAM National Strategy on safety, security, and infrastructure will help support the development and deployment of AAM and advance U.S. leadership in this growing global industry.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the sponsors of the original House bill, Representatives Sharice Davids and Garret Graves, for their bipartisan effort.

Mr. Speaker, I support S. 516, as amended, and I urge all my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, we have just heard the bipartisan consensus expressed by the two speakers on that side about the looming extraordinary importance of this industry and how we have to get it right as we move forward to not impede it but also to protect safety.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly recommend this legislation to my colleagues, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1339, the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act.

I want to thank the sponsors of this legislation for introducing this very important bill. The bill directs the Department of Transportation to form a working group with other Federal agencies to ensure that the advanced air mobility industry has the Federal backing it needs to commence operations and to succeed.

I recently had the opportunity to fly a simulated advanced air mobility, or AAM, flight and was very impressed with the technology.

In just a few short years, we may be seeing multiple companies carrying paying passengers in highly automated electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

These operations will connect cities, towns, and neighborhoods all across the country in a very safe, quiet, and environmentally friendly way.

Madam Speaker, this is a good bill and keeps the momentum going for American leadership in the advanced air mobility industry. That is why I support H.R. 1339, and I urge a ``yes'' vote today.

Madam Speaker, before I reserve, I also want to pay tribute to Holly Woodruff Lyons, our longtime Subcommittee on Aviation staff director. After nearly 20 years on the committee, Holly will be retiring at the end of this year.

It is hard to imagine the committee without Holly. Each new Republican chairman or ranking member has received the same advice from their predecessor: whatever you do, make sure Holly stays. I am sorry to say that the streak has finally ended on my watch, but her legacy will cast a long shadow in these halls for years to come.

Holly has helped shape every single piece of aviation legislation in the past two decades, and she is responsible for literally hundreds of provisions in law that have improved the lives of everyday Americans.

Holly is a consummate professional and dedicated staffer, and we will sorely miss her counsel and very much miss her wisdom.

I am personally grateful for her service to this committee, both as a pilot and a Member of Congress.

I thank her so much for dedicating her career to aviation safety and her service to the American public. She will never be a stranger around here, and I hope she and Mark make the most of their well-earned retirements. I thank her for all she has done.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves).

Madam Speaker, in closing, this legislation takes an important step in preparing the Federal Government and our communities for the introduction of advanced air mobility vehicles.

Madam Speaker, I urge support, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, to maintain safe airspace, we know we have to have coordination. Think about all of the moving parts that are required to keep people safe in that shared resource. That kind of coordination is also important at the Federal level if we want to keep everybody safe, and if we want to make sure AAM keeps moving in the right direction.

That is what S. 516 does, the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act. It makes sure that we are able to continue moving forward and that AAM has the Federal support it needs from a variety of agencies to be successful.

As the chairman mentioned, we had a similar bill, H.R. 1339, which passed the House overwhelmingly, 383 yeas to 41 nays.

I think we all realize that that kind of strong bipartisan support is not always as typical around here as we would like. Of course, this has got a Senate number so, of course, we have strong bicameral support as well. Indeed, the text that is before us today has been amended, and so it reflects language that has been negotiated and agreed upon, Mr. Speaker, by both Chambers.

This sort of bipartisan, bicameral agreement ensures that industry and government can start to hash out these questions on the tough and sometimes thorny issues that have to be addressed so that we make sure that innovative new entrants are able to operate safely within our transportation system.

We know that it is not always easy to deal with the Senate--our colleagues on the other side of the Capitol--but my hope is that once we pass this legislation, they will quickly take up the amended bill and send it to the President's desk for speedy signing into law.

Mr. Speaker, I commend Congresswoman Sharice Davids, as well as Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member Garret Graves, whom I am normally loath to say anything good about, but in this instance, I will. I thank them both for their leadership on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Obernolte).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, I think the gentleman from California just did a wonderful job rattling off a number of key questions that policymakers have to settle on before we can make sure that AAM is safely integrated into our existing airports and airspace. This bill will do much to make sure that we have the coordination that will be necessary to answer those questions.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1339) to require the Secretary of Transportation to establish an advanced air mobility interagency working group, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on H.R. 1339, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the bill introduced by the gentlewoman from Kansas (Ms. Davids) as well as the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves).

Once viewed as only a figment of people's imagination, flying cars are now on the verge of becoming a reality and will take to the skies in no time, thanks to recent innovations in aircraft and propulsion technology. Advanced air mobility, or AAM, vehicles have the potential to alleviate traffic congestion, reduce the current burden on surface infrastructure, create good-paying U.S. jobs, and provide a more environmentally sustainable mode of daily transportation. In fact, last year, my home State of New Hampshire became the first State to safely allow roadable aircraft to use our roads, once they become certified for travel.

But as these new aircraft emerge in an already complex U.S. airspace, we must ensure that they are safe, both for those on board and those on the ground.

H.R. 1339, the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act, would establish an interagency working group, bringing together the Federal Government, States and localities, the aerospace industry, labor unions, and other key stakeholders to plan and coordinate efforts to safely integrate AAM operations in our national airspace system.

The interagency working group's recommendations on safety, security, and infrastructure needs will help support the deployment of this technology and advance U.S. leadership in this emerging global industry. This legislation has support from both sides of the aisle and the endorsement of several organizations representing the U.S. aviation and aerospace sector.

Madam Speaker, I support this bipartisan bill, I urge my colleagues to do the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, we thank Holly as well for her contributions to the House and to this important issue area and wish her all best in her next steps.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge adoption of this commonsense legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.