Floor Statements

Offered By: Mr. Mica

Amendment No. 543: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), insert the following:

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(2) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and clause (b) of Rule I of the Rules of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I submit the Rules of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for the 112th Congress. On January 26, 2011, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure met in open session and adopted these Committee Rules by voice vote with a quorum present.

Rules of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, United States House of Representatives, 112th Congress, Adopted January 26,

2011

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and accomplishments of an educator, a statesman and a friend, Clark Maxwell, Jr., who passed away on January 18th.

Clark, was born August 21, 1934, in St. Petersburg. He grew up in Winter Park and graduated from Florida Southern College in 1956. After serving in the Army, he moved to Melbourne in 1959 and worked for Pan Am during the beginning years of the space program.

After leaving the private sector, Clark began his public service while serving as Member of the Brevard County School Board. Moving forward, as he always did, Clark decided to run for and won election to the Florida House of Representatives in 1974 and finally the Florida Senate in 1978. He served six years in that body and was eventually elected Republican Leader.

His passion was always education. It began at the local level, progressed to a regional level, and matured at the state level, when he resigned from the Florida Senate in 1984 to become Executive Director of the State Board of Community Colleges. He served with distinction in that position until 1997 when he formally retired. But retirement had a different meaning to Clark. After moving to Flagler County, Clark continued to support education and even hosted a television program called ``Eyes on Education''; an appropriate name as Clark always did have his eye out for improving the educational system in Florida.

To Clark's wife Margo and his three children, Clark III, Judy Henderson, and Marcia Maxwell, we extend our deepest sympathies.

Clark truly made an indelible mark on education in Florida. In our community, he always stressed integrity, compassion and public service, and through that principled dedication he leaves a proud and distinguished legacy. Mr. Speaker, I ask all Members of the U.S. House of Representatives join me in recognizing Clark Maxwell's years of service and dedication to our community, our state and our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 22, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Stated against:

I would like to rise to engage Chairman Dreier in a brief colloquy regarding the highway funding point of order that is included in this rules package as clause 3 of rule XXI.

It is my understanding that this point of order makes no change in the manner in which highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, and transit programs are currently funded, which is through contract authority derived from the highway trust fund and provided in authorization acts. Rather, the new point of order provides that Members will have the ability under House rules to offer amendments to reduce funding for such programs, if they choose to do so.

In the interest of clarity and mutual understanding, I want to be assured that my understanding of this proposed change to clause 3 of rule XXI is correct.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in memory of Patrick D. Deans who was killed in military action December 12, 2010 in Afghanistan, Kandahar Province. This 22 year old youthful Army soldier and his family lived in and near the 7th Congressional District. Patrick was raised in the St. Cloud area and I never had a chance to meet him. Because he did not reside in my congressional district at the time of his death I was not officially notified of his passing. I read about Patrick's life and his service and his death in our local newspaper.

When I read what this young soldier wrote in his Facebook posting on November 10th, one month prior to his being killed in a suicide bomber attack, I felt compelled to include his words and some of his life story in the Congressional Record. In his commentary Patrick said, ``A veteran is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including their life. That is beyond honor and there are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact.''

What an incredible statement and prophetic observation from this young man and hero. Before his sacrifice of his own life he clearly realized the commitment he had made to his Nation and also mentioned a reality of how military service and sacrifice is often forgotten by people and public officials. I believe it's important on not only Memorial Day and Veterans Day and now during the holidays and in fact every day that we remember the sacrifice of Patrick D. Deans and thousands of other men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live as a free people.

Patrick grew up in East Orange county Florida and moved to Narcoossee and east Osceola where he attended Harmony High and played football. He later resided in East Orange County and graduated in 2006 from Timber Creek high school where he was a member of Air Force ROTC Program.

Patrick joined the Army in 2007 and served as an Infantryman until his deployment. His awards and decorations include: Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Medal and Overseas Ribbon. He was posthumously promoted to corporal.

He is the only child of Patrick M. Deans, a corporal with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, and Robyn Deans of Seminole County Florida.

Along with my colleagues in the United States House of Representatives I extend my deepest sympathy to Patrick's family and the eternal gratitude of our Nation.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the accomplishments of Captain Carl Kuwitzky, President of the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association (SWAPA). Captain Kuwitzky will retire as SWAPA President on December 31, 2010 after serving two terms leading the organization which represents Southwest Airlines' nearly 6,000 pilots.

An Oklahoma native, Captain Kuwitzky has been a pilot at Southwest Airlines since July, 1983. Captain Kuwitzky's distinguished service with SWAPA also includes time as the association's vice president from 2006-2008, as a member of the Board of Directors representing the Phoenix and Houston Hobby Airports, and as Chairman of Southwest Airlines' Scheduling and Air Safety Committees. During his distinguished career at Southwest he also served as a member of the negotiating and merger committees during the airline's acquisition of Muse Air in 1986.

Madam Speaker, Southwest Airlines has grown to become a leader of the U.S. and global airline industry and has provided significant benefit to my home state of Florida. Captain Carl Kuwitzky's played an integral role in this growth and the benefits it has provided to Southwest Airlines, the traveling public, the airline industry and the millions of Americans who take to the skies each year.

My colleagues, please join me in recognizing the service of Captain Kuwitzky, for we are all better and safer today because of his outstanding leadership.

Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that we find ourselves considering the 17th FAA Extension bill.

As of September 30th, it has been three years since the FAA was last authorized. This has been the longest period of time between FAA reauthorizations in decades, but still Congress has been unable to reach agreement on a final FAA bill.

I know we are all disappointed that we have not been able to reach agreement on a full reauthorization package. Such a bill would:

Ensure stable funding for airport projects across the country, providing for long-term construction jobs;

Advance implementation of the Next Generation Air Traffic Control system; and

Improve aviation safety standards.

Both bodies have been negotiating to produce a final FAA bill that sets priorities and improves our airspace system.

Unfortunately, Congress just cannot seem to get the job done.

In the 112th Congress the FAA Reauthorization bill will be a top priority for the Committee. We will work closely with our colleagues across the aisle and in the other chamber to complete a bill as quickly as possible.

So, while I am sorry we were unable to reach agreement on a bill in this Congress, I support this extension to keep FAA up and running until we complete the bill next year. I urge my colleagues to adopt the legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the life and accomplishments of U.S. Army Specialist Marc Whisenant.

On Friday, September 24, a Central Florida soldier lost his life in service to our Nation during a training exercise in Kuwait.

At his funeral service at the Daytona Beach Baptist Church on Saturday, October 2, our community heard wonderful recollections of how this young man, Army SPC Marc Whisenant of Daytona Beach, while only 23 years old, lived and accomplished a great deal in his lifetime. As a member of the ROTC program and 2005 graduate of Spruce Creek High School, Marc joined the U.S. Army after graduation from High School. He knew that serving in the United States military would fulfill a life goal.

In the Army, Marc found his calling as an M1A1 Armor Crewman and honorably served tours of duty in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He received recognition for his work and accomplishments as an outstanding serviceman.

Many of Marc's brothers in arms have commented on what a fine soldier he was and how he always held a positive attitude--even in the toughest of conditions.

Marc was a soldier to his country, a friend to many, but most of all, he was dedicated to his family. Marc's memory will carry on in the hearts and souls of his proud parents, Jerry Whisenant and Elizabeth Cook, and his beloved sisters, Michelle and Monica.

My colleagues, please join me in recognizing the life and service to our Nation of Marc Whisenant. We are forever grateful as a Nation for Marc's service and sacrifice, and my deepest condolences are extended to his parents, family and friends.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Oberstar, Chairman Costello and Ranking Member Petri for their bipartisan work on this important legislation. While there are several issues that we would like to continue working on in conference, I support H.R. 4714 as amended.

U.S. commercial aviation is the safest in the world. U.S. aviation law and safety regulations are the international gold standard. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) can join the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in taking credit for the safety record.

The NTSB has done an excellent job with the resources and authority they currently have. In fact, the number of commercial aviation accidents has steadily dropped over the last several decades. The three-year average commercial aviation accident rate is now .018 accidents per 100,000 departures.

But there is always room for improvement--one accident is one too many, as was tragically demonstrated by the February 2009 Colgan accident.

Even though it has no regulatory authority, the NTSB has a unique role in transportation safety.

The NTSB investigates accidents and makes recommendations to improve transportation safety with over 82 percent of their recommendations being adopted by the Department of Transportation. NTSB certainly shares in the credit for the safety improvements achieved.

H.R. 4714 as amended, would authorize the NTSB for four years--2011 through 2014.

While we are very supportive of the NTSB and its mission, given the current state of the U.S. economy and the Federal budget, we remain concerned with the authorization levels included in both the introduced bill and the amended bill being considered today.

It has been pointed out that during the 107th and 108th Congresses-- when Republicans were in the Majority--we supported NTSB funding for 479 full-time equivalent employees.

It is important to note that these bills were considered well before the recession and the current Federal budget deficit in excess of $1.3 trillion. According to the Congressional Budget Office, ``Relative to the size of the economy, this year's deficit is expected to be the second largest shortfall in the past 65 years: At 9.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), it is exceeded only by last year's deficit of 9.9 percent of GDP.''

At a time of high Federal deficits, budget constraints, and belt tightening by American tax payers, we are concerned with the overall 27% increase in NTSB funding over 4 years and the 10% increase in NTSB authorization levels from 2010 to 2011.

The President's budget request for the NTSB in FY2011 was $100.4 million, a level the NTSB itself supports. We believe that this level is the proper starting point.

The NTSB has been very successful in carrying out its mission with staffing levels at the 380 FTE level.

We look forward to continuing to work with our colleagues to reach agreement on the appropriate authorization levels as consideration of the bill moves forward.

H.R. 4714 expands the workload of the Board and would duplicate reviews of other agencies with respect to transportation ``incidents''.

The FAA and other DOT modal agencies conduct accident investigations and have numerous programs in place to collect information and address safety concerns. The NTSB and these agencies need to better coordinate to avoid duplicative investigations and to ensure the best and most efficient use of scarce resources.

The inclusion of ``incidents'' in NTSB's investigative authority will require close Congressional oversight to ensure that the regulatory authority of the Department of Transportation is not negatively impacted.

So, we do have some remaining concerns and we will work with our colleague to address these concerns as we move forward. But given the importance of the NTSB's mission, I support this bill and urge Members to vote for its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, the ranking member, Mr. LoBiondo, for his yielding, and also for the excellent job. There is no one more dedicated to the United States Coast Guard than the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo). He loves, works, breathes, just exists to assist the United States Coast Guard. I am very proud of that dedication he exhibits.

And also I have to compliment Mr. Oberstar, my partner. We have probably one of the greatest challenges of any of the teams that serve in Congress. We have the largest committee in Congress, great deal of jurisdictional areas and none that we enjoy working on more than the United States Coast Guard. These are some fantastic Americans, one of the major service organizations of the United States, and sometimes I think the least recognized.

And we have been blessed with great leaders, Thad Allen. He came just at the right time, inherited so many problems, I can't even begin to spend tonight enumerating the problems. I think he came on duty about the same time I became the ranking Republican, and I would get his calls. And he always handles every situation so professionally. We have been blessed as a Nation to have leadership in the Coast Guard like that, Thad Allen, now Admiral Papp. And poor Thad Allen, just when he thought he was about to retire, just at the end of his watch and service, we, of course, had the incredible disaster in the gulf. And folks have to remember, the first responder to our shores is the United States Coast Guard, the protectors of our, not just maritime safety, but national security. And they have done that through their long, rich, and productive history.

So tonight, this is long overdue too, this authorization. I believe that is some 4 years in coming. I have been the ranking member for 3. And I am pleased that tonight, as the Congress probably will go into recess, that we are able to set with this bill the major policy decisions to operate the United States Coast Guard. This is the whole framework of Federal policy. You have to authorize these projects by the Constitution. Under the Constitution and laws, we must pass a law that gives them the authority to operate. So it is the framework, the policy. It really sets the funding parameters.

And I think also I am pleased to rise on behalf of my side of the aisle. Right now, people--I just got back from my district and traveled in August across the United States--they are tired of huge expenditures, 200 percent increases in programs and a skyrocketing deficit that this Congress has brought on. This is a moderate increase. It represents a 3 percent increase, and I think it deserves and is worthy of our support.

The other thing about the Coast Guard is, they aren't like some agencies, lobbying for huge amounts of money, or this team of lobbyists or special interests or whoever coming here, whining, complaining, trying to get more of the taxpayer money, expanding the range and control of their programs. They just get their job done. And, again, I am pleased that we are finally getting our job done and authorizing this Coast Guard legislation.

Let me also say that this is a much better bill than was introduced several years ago. And it may have taken more time, but I want to say, from my side of the aisle, I am pleased with what we have accomplished.

Again, leadership by Mr. LoBiondo and others who have worked on this, we blocked, I think, some--first of all, we blocked some devastating operational and structural policy changes that the Coast Guard did not want. The Coast Guard is, again, one of our service organizations, and it doesn't need to be hamstrung by Congress.

Safety is important, and we need the component of safety as one of their priorities. And I think we have properly placed that, fixed some of the original provisions that I don't think that they felt they could properly operate or live with. So I think, first of all, we have got that provision which is much better and will operate on a sounder basis.

The second thing is, there were provisions in here, and there are folks that had their own little interests, and some of those interests would have blocked our energy supplies. And as far as liquefied natural gas and bringing gas into some of our ports, I think we would have created higher costs for the consumers. I think the Northeast region in particular would have been hard hit by some of the original constraints and provisions that were in here. Yes, we want safety for the delivery of those kinds of fuels, but we also want reasonableness in the process. So we don't want to make, again, a problem where there isn't a problem. And we do need to have clean energy available at affordable price for the consumer. I think we have been able to do that.

We have also, I think, put provisions in here that protect America's ports.

There was a provision originally introduced that would have prohibited States from conducting additional background checks on port workers to ensure that drug smugglers and other convicted felons' access to secure areas of our ports was actually allowed under this bill, and States were prohibited from, again, putting these provisions forward for safety and security.

We have seen what happened with the Federal Government in Arizona, and Arizona wants to enforce Federal immigration laws. Well, States should be able to ensure that their ports too are safe; and if they have the need of a background check, it should be done. And we shouldn't have felons and others with bad records in some of the secure areas of our ports. So I think we have also improved the quality of that particular provision.

Then I think we have put some commonsense acquisition reform. When originally introduced, this bill would have, I think, created a disastrous recipe for failure for the United States Coast Guard to become a systems integrator. Now, I know we have had problems. We had problems with the national security class Coast Guard cutter that we tried to produce for the first time. We had problems with changing out 110-foot Coast Guard cutters to a longer model--I believe it was a 123- foot version. Yes, we had problems with some of these projects. But the answer isn't for government to step in and create a huge operation.

When you get into some of the acquisition questions and systems design and systems integration, even the United States Navy, which has one of the largest maritime fleets in the world, has trouble doing some of this by itself. The Navy is a much larger entity than the United States Coast Guard, which is the smaller entity, and casting legislation that would require them to do things that really they don't have the capability of doing was, I think, not a good proposal, and I think we have made it a better proposal.

The other thing we have to remember too, the Coast Guard pays a lot less than the private sector. And God bless those men and women who serve. Many of those professionals end up going into the private sector, or the private sector attracts folks to do these highly technical systems integration programs, and they have the resources to do this. Also, the other thing, too, we found with the Coast Guard is we do have a turnover in Coast Guard personnel. Many people serve their whole career there, but there is also a turnover in some of these highly professional, highly technical positions.

So given all of that, I think the provisions that were put in this legislation will allow us to not repeat some of the mistakes of past acquisitions and not get the government into creating a huge bureaucracy of acquisition or to take on something that the Federal Government should not do and cannot do, and we can do it much more cost effectively, I think, in the manner that we prescribed in this legislation.

So I am pleased with the bill. It took some tough negotiations. It took some time. I am honored to join my colleagues--Mr. Oberstar, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Cummings, some of the other members here tonight, anyone who was involved in this on both sides of the aisle--and particularly the staff who worked so hard to secure what I think is not only a sound piece of legislation but an excellent bipartisan product that the American people can be proud of.

Madam Speaker, I wanted to join others in extending my congratulations to Miami Dade College on its 50th anniversary.

For half a century, Miami Dade has been providing outstanding opportunities in education to the students of the State of Florida. As a 1965 graduate of Miami Dade College, I am proud to recognize the service and accomplishments of this great institution of higher learning.

Since opening its doors in 1960, Miami Dade College has helped make affordable quality education to the residents of Florida. We salute the past successful 50 years and the faculty and staff that make this a great educational institution.

At the Federal, State and local levels, we must remain committed in our support of higher education, especially at our colleges and universities in Florida.

Miami Dade College has made dreams come true for its graduates, many whom are the first in their families to attend college. Miami Dade has helped thousands achieve success in all walks of life. Having the largest enrollment of any college or university in the United States, the college has granted more associate degrees than any other college in the United States. Miami Dade College is also the premier college in providing education underserved minorities and low income families.

As a proud alumnus, I look forward to a bright future for my alma mater, Miami Dade College. I know it will be a leader in education for many future generations.

Mr. Chairman, I inquire as to how much time is remaining on each side of the aisle.

I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton).

(Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to a leader and member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which had part of this bill, one of the leaders of crafting our particular portion, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan).

(Mr. DUNCAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

I am pleased to yield at this time 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble), another one of our leaders in the T&I Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Olson), another one of our distinguished members from T&I.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Cao).

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to another gentleman from Texas affected by this, the distinguished gentleman, Mr. Gohmert.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time to close for the T&I Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I was hoping we could have come here in a bipartisan effort to pass legislation that would have made certain that the tragic spill, the loss of life, be prevented, that we never see that happen off America's shores again. We do need domestic oil production. We don't want to be beholden to foreign fossil fuels.

Unfortunately, this bill misses the mark. Unfortunately, this bill is the typical Democrat solution. It imposes huge taxes--$22 billion in taxes. It overregulates.

Yes, we want proper regulation. We saw where the mark was missed. We saw where the law did not keep up with technology. Though let me say we missed the mark, too, in holding people responsible. We must hold people responsible, and that is whether it is BP or anyone who had anything to do with this or whether it is the administration officials who stamped the permit allowing the drilling to proceed in deep water, as they did, without the proper protections of the environment.

Only 27 deepwater wells off the coast--only 27--have exploration, have production. This administration missed the mark. We want these people held responsible, and we also want it in law. You know, the guy who issued that permit, that one-page permit with a flawed backup cleanup for oil spills, is still on the job. He is in charge of the moratorium, which is another overreach that put people out of work, instead of being in charge of going down and making certain that the production and that those exploration wells were doing well.

They missed the mark. That is a shame for the American people, and it is a shame for the future of containing the tragedy we have seen here.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

First, Mr. Petri, I want to personally thank you as our ranking member; Mr. Costello, the chair of the Aviation Subcommittee; Mr. Oberstar, my partner on the full committee.

The hour is late, both for passage of this extension of our Federal Aviation Administration authorization, and the hour is late for passage of a Federal aviation airline safety bill, commuter safety legislation that we should have passed months and months ago.

First I have to address the airline safety provisions that have been rolled into this extension. I must apologize to those families who have waited so long, those families who experienced personal tragedy beyond what any of us could imagine, the loss of loved ones, the loss of life, and from that tragedy, they went forward and tried to change our Federal laws and our airline safety.

The United States of America is fortunate because we have probably the safest aviation system in the world. Large commercial aircraft, since November of 2001, we have not lost a single aircraft; every day it's a miracle, given all the human elements and possibilities of an accident. However, in

our service on the committee, we can't just be concerned about safety with large aircraft. Millions of Americans who fly every day and every week cross the land on commuter aircraft. The fatalities in commuter aircraft travel, as we have seen, have been too many, and we have not acted.

When we had the crash in February of 2009, again, from that tragedy families came forward and Members of Congress began the work of trying to craft legislation that would ensure a level of safety for those traveling on commuter airlines, an equal level of safety that everyone else enjoys in other classes of aircraft. I am sad that, again, it took so long, and now we're doing it on the extension, but it should have been done and now it will be done. Without their help, we wouldn't be here even tonight.

I also came tonight to stay a few minutes to thank one of our newer representatives. Imagine being elected to Congress and just a few weeks later, a few neighborhoods away, having a horrible aviation tragedy in your congressional district. That is what Representative Chris Lee experienced just a week after taking office. He also turned a tragedy into a personal commitment to pass the legislation which will pass tonight. So I am grateful for his action, and for the men and women and loved ones who, again, turned a tragedy into something that will hopefully prevent tragedies and the heartbreak that they have had to suffer.

I am disappointed that we are not passing an FAA bill. I had the honor to chair the Aviation Subcommittee back in 2001 through some very difficult times. Our previous authorization bill expired. On May 15, we introduced legislation, in 2003. We had it on the President's desk, signed, by December 12, 2003, the same year. That bill that I wrote then was only a 4-year authorization, it expired September of 2007. And here we are, the end of July, and we have not passed a reauthorization for 3 years. All of Federal policy dealing with all the aviation issues has not passed. All the projects we must authorize have not passed. All of the eligibility for Federal assistance to our aviation system has not passed. And we have picked out of this legislation tonight that airline commuter safety bill. It is sort of a sad state of affairs.

But again, I pledge to work with folks. We need to pass the rest of the legislation to ensure safety, to ensure that the United States maintains its position in the world not only for airline safety, but technology, and maintains leadership in that important role, provides a pathway for the future, jobs for the future, and safety for the future.

So again, I thank those that have made part of what we wanted possible tonight.

I yield back the balance of my time.