Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, today I missed a series of rollcall votes.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 599 and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 600.

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, I missed a series of rollcall votes. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall 514 and ``yea'' on rollcall 515.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize Elizabeth Funchess. Elizabeth is a very special young woman who has exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship and leadership by taking an active part in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 8G, and earning the most prestigious award of Eagle Scout.

The multiyear journey to the Eagle Scout Award is one of the most involved and transformative experiences a young person can have. They try new things through the merit badge program, develop confidence in the outdoors, practice leadership tactics, and plan, develop and give leadership to a service project that benefits their community. For Elizabeth's Eagle Scout service project, she, built 2 picnic tables that convert into benches for her church to have an outdoor classroom.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in commending Elizabeth Funchess for her accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of America and for her efforts put forth in achieving the highest distinction of Eagle Scout.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Carson DeVaul. Carson is a very special young man who has exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship and leadership by taking an active part in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 1376, and earning the most prestigious award of Eagle Scout.

Carson has been very active with his troop, participating in many scout activities. Over the many years Carson has been involved with scouting, he has not only earned numerous merit badges, but also the respect of his family, peers, and community. Most notably, Carson holds the rank of Warrior in the tribe of Mic-O-Say and is an Ordeal Member in the Order of the Arrow. Carson has also contributed to his community through his Eagle Scout project. Carson, with the help of many fellow Scouts, organized the construction of 2 footbridges across a small ditch for the disc golf course at Bennett Park in the City of Liberty, Missouri.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in commending Carson DeVaul for his accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of America and for his efforts put forth in achieving the highest distinction of Eagle Scout.

Mr. Speaker, I missed a series of votes today. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall no. 383, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 384, and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 385.

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize Paul Benavidez. Paul is a very special young man who has exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship and leadership by taking an active part in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 1376, and earning the most prestigious award of Eagle Scout.

Paul has been very active with his troop, participating in many scout activities. Over the many years Paul has been involved with scouting, he has not only earned numerous merit badges, but also the respect of his family, peers, and community. Paul has also contributed to his community through his Eagle Scout project. Paul benefited his local community and the City of Liberty by painting parking lot lines in a newly paved parking lot. He also painted lines on a basketball court at Place Liberte Park, a neighborhood park that the city maintains.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in commending Paul Benavidez for his accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of America and for his efforts put forth in achieving the highest distinction of Eagle Scout.

Madam Speaker, I missed a series of rollcall votes. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 365 and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 366.

Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 597, I offer amendments en bloc.

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

I rise in support of the bipartisan en bloc. This en bloc contains 17 amendments offered by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

The en bloc includes amendments that look to increase access to airspace for its users. It reinforces staffing levels and availability of advanced technology for air traffic controllers and further enhances runway safety at airports, along with a whole lot of other things that are in the en bloc.

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleagues for their work on these amendments. I am proud to support this en bloc and encourage all Members to support it.

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

Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Yakym).

Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).

Mr. Chair, before I close, I will take a moment to thank Ranking Member Larsen. He has been a great partner to work with in this process. I also thank the Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Garret

Graves and Ranking Member Steve Cohen for their hard work on this, too.

The FAA's reauthorization expires at the end of September, and this is truly a bipartisan product. This en bloc reflects that. The underlying bill is supported by over a thousand stakeholders, including national organizations, companies, pilot groups, airlines, airports, individual leaders in the aviation community, and so many more.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the work that has gone into this product, and once again, I thank the staff on both sides of the aisle.

This bill is vital to America's airport infrastructure, to our economy, and to the future of American leadership in aviation.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the en bloc amendment and the bill on final passage a little bit later this morning.

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

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to amendment No. 76 that is offered by Mr. Perry. This amendment proposes to strike two provisions in the bill that seek to make fairer the process of reserving aircraft registration numbers, also known as N-Numbers.

The bill also prevents individuals from profiting from the sale or transfer of an N-Number that is otherwise sold, as was pointed out, by the FAA for $10.

What do I mean by that? There are people out there who scoop up N- Numbers from the FAA for $10 using automated software. What that does is if you are making a transfer and buy a different airplane, and you want to keep the same N-Number, you will be blocked in many cases because of the automated software. They hold hostage that particular N- Number and offer it for sale for thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in some cases, depending on what the N-Number is.

As was pointed out, we are interrupting freedom of enterprise. Pirating is also an enterprise. We make it illegal. Why do we make it illegal? Because it should be illegal.

If you use the logic of this amendment, why are we interfering? Why would the government interfere if somebody is just trying to have freedom of enterprise when it comes to pirating or anything else, for that matter, that is illegal? It is just individuals trying to make a living.

The logic is flawed, and we need to keep this provision in the bill.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Clerk be authorized to make technical corrections in the engrossment of H.R. 3935, to include corrections in spelling, punctuation, section numbering and cross-referencing, and the insertion of appropriate headings.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 11 a.m. on Monday next.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the proceedings had during the recess be printed in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 3935.

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

Mr. Chair, H.R. 3935, the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act, is a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration and the Nation's aviation safety and infrastructure program for the next 5 years.

I thank Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen, Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Garret Graves, and Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member Steve Cohen for working with me to develop and introduce this legislation.

For over a century, the United States has led the world in aviation safety and innovation. Unfortunately, our gold standard status is being threatened by increasing global competition, by rapid developments in technology, a shortage of aviation professionals, and the inefficiencies and lack of leadership in the FAA.

H.R. 3935 is critical to keeping America a global leader in aviation. It is vital to our economy, to millions of American jobs, and to the 850 million passengers that depend on our National Airspace System every single year.

If Congress fails to act on a new long-term aviation measure by September 30, when the current FAA law expires, key aviation programs will cease to function.

H.R. 3935 provides the necessary long-term certainty that is demanded by both the civil aviation system and the aviation community to guarantee its safety and prosperity for decades to come.

This bill not only improves FAA's efficiency through reasonable organizational changes but makes the agency more agile while simultaneously prioritizing safety each step of the way.

The FAA is simply too slow in everything it does, from rulemaking to aircraft registrations and from certifications to just simple paperwork.

This bill ensures robust investment in infrastructure for airports of all sizes, including the thousands of smaller and general aviation airports that make up the bulk of our aviation system.

I am proud to say our bill includes the first ever General Aviation title in the FAA reauthorization bill. GA is the foundation to our civil aviation system. It is where many of our pilots, mechanics, and other aviation professionals begin their careers, gaining valuable experience along their journey in the aviation industry.

This bill recognizes the importance of GA and protects the freedom to fly for every American.

As previously mentioned, growing shortages across the aerospace workforce are a true threat to the future of American aviation.

H.R. 3935 addresses workforce challenges head-on by removing barriers to entry for individuals and veterans interested in pursuing careers in aviation, such as through the CAREER Program.

Bottom line, our bill encourages growth in the aviation workforce through meaningful reforms, the most meaningful in decades.

What is more, H.R. 3935 maintains American leadership when it comes to the development and integration of new and emerging technologies into the airspace, such as drones and Advanced Air Mobility.

Specifically, this bill requires the FAA to stop endless testing and pilot programs that go nowhere to integrate innovation, such as drones and AAM into the National Airspace System.

As air travel recovers from the COVID pandemic, renewed growth in air travel has come with some difficulties, obviously, for the traveling public. Our bipartisan bill includes an entire title dedicated to improving the flying experience for the traveling public, an issue that each of our offices hear about from constituents probably on a daily basis.

Finally, and most importantly, the bill recognizes that while our aviation system is safe, we must continue to raise the bar for safety. As such, this

bill includes a number of safety-focused provisions to ensure that America continues to be the world's gold standard in aviation safety.

One of the most important safety features of this bill is a title for 5-year reauthorization of the National Transportation Safety Board, the NTSB. It is this independent Federal agency that investigates all civil aviation accidents and transportation accidents throughout this sector.

I believe the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act is one of the most important pieces of legislation this body is going to consider in the 118th Congress.

This bill is vital to America's airport infrastructure, to our economy, and to the future of American leadership in aviation.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives, Committee on Science, Space,

and Technology,

Washington, DC, July 6, 2023.

Hon. Sam Graves,

Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing concerning H.R. 3935, the

``Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation

Act,'' which was introduced on June 9, 2023.

H.R. 3935 contains provisions within the Committee on

Science, Space, and Technology's Rule X jurisdiction. As a

result of your having consulted with the Committee and to

expedite this bill for floor consideration, the Committee on

Science, Space, and Technology will forego action on the

bill. This is done based on our mutual understanding that

doing so will in no way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of

the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology nor is it a

waiver of any future jurisdictional claim over subject matter

contained in this bill or in similar legislation.

I would appreciate your response to this letter confirming

this understanding and would request that you include a copy

of this letter and your response in the committee report and

in the Congressional Record during the floor consideration of

this bill. Finally, I ask that you support the appointment of

Science Committee conferees during any House-Senate

conference convened on this legislation. Thank you in advance

for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Frank D. Lucas,

Chairman.

Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman

from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), the chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas), the chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. D'Esposito).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Molinaro).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins).

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

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

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

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

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

Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, it has been made clear through debate that H.R. 3935 is a must-pass bill that provides a path for America's future success, growth, and leadership in civil aviation.

This strong bipartisan, forward-looking legislation is going to improve efficiency and operations at the FAA. It is going to strengthen America's foundational general aviation sector, and it is going to grow the aviation workforce.

It is going to invest in airport infrastructure across the country. It is going to encourage domestic innovation in aviation, enhance the passenger experience, and uphold America's gold standard in aviation safety.

Before I yield back, Mr. Chair, I would like to recognize the work of staff on both sides of the aisle in the development of this legislation. I appreciate the many long days, weeks, and weekends, for that matter, that staff, including the folks in the legislative counsel's office, have put into this effort. I think it shows in the quality of the legislation that we have before us.

On the Republican Subcommittee on Aviation, I thank staff director Hunter Presti, Laney Copeland, Julie Devine, Andrew Giacini, Christopher Senn, and Will Moore.

On the Republican full committee staff, I thank staff director Jack Ruddy, Michael Falencki, Corey Cooke, Meghan Holland, Abby Wenk, Leslie Parker, Chris Divine, Tyler Micheletti, Wills MacKay, Payton Palazzolo, Justin Harclerode, Jake Murphy, and Kerry Goldberg.

I also thank Maggie Aryea of subcommittee chairman Garret Graves' staff.

On the Democratic staff, I thank committee staff director Kathy Dedrick, Helena Zyblikewycz--I am sorry; I apologize--Stanton Johnson, aviation staff director Brian Bell, Alexandra Menardy, Adam Weiss, and again, all the staff who worked on this complex and critical legislation.

Mr. Chair, I urge support of the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in the American Aviation Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

I rise in support of the Graves-Larsen amendment. This amendment makes several technical conforming and clarifying changes throughout the underlying bill.

Furthermore, the amendment includes provisions that were the result of bipartisan negotiations on several policy issues.

These provisions include additional requirements for FAA to further coordinate the safe integration of new entrants into the National Airspace System, adding pilot apprenticeship, internship, or scholarship programs or veteran career transition nonprofits as an eligible grant recipient under the aviation workforce development program, protections on voluntary safety information disclosures, and several other provisions that reflect the bipartisan work with our colleagues across the aisle.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I would urge my colleagues to support this important amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 597, I offer amendments en bloc.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of en bloc No. 1, containing 18 amendments from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. This en bloc contains a number of important amendments that address issues of national importance as well as issues that are impacting individual districts.

This package allows airports to use their Federal dollars to better understand the communities which they serve and the length people travel in order to take a flight.

It will instruct the FAA to test and evaluate means by which general and business aviation can utilize technology to receive flight clearances as opposed to using antiquated systems.

It also instructs the FAA to stand up a multidisciplinary task force to review the impact that human factors have on aviation safety and to make related recommendations.

In addition, this package instructs the Government Accountability Office to consult with airports to review emergency response plans and assess electrical resiliency for the safe operations of an airport during emergency scenarios.

This en bloc includes a number of provisions from members of the T&I Committee that were raised at markup but that we didn't have time to resolve. I am very glad that we were able to work together to resolve the few issues and support changes on a bipartisan basis.

Mr. Chair, I urge support of this bipartisan en bloc package and reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Yakym).

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this en bloc amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 597, I offer amendments en bloc.

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

I rise in support of en bloc No. 2, containing 20 amendments from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. This en bloc reflects the bipartisan work of our committee, which has done what we have done to address Members' priorities.

This includes bipartisan agreements on several amendments that we considered during our markup, including requiring the FAA to develop training materials to improve safety for airport ramp workers, and it requires the GAO to conduct a study on air cargo operations in Puerto Rico.

Furthermore, the en bloc package includes amendments to ensure the Secretary responds to essential air service contracts in a timely manner, allowing the FAA to provide weather observer training to airport personnel and ensures that United States passengers on foreign air carriers are protected in the same manner as they would be on United States air carriers by avoiding Russian airspace.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan en bloc package, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I don't have any speakers, so I am prepared to close. I urge my colleagues to support these amendments en bloc, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 597, I offer amendments en bloc.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this en bloc, which contains 17 amendments to H.R. 3935 offered by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

This en bloc package includes amendments that seek to require the Government Accountability Office to study the pilot shortage, require community feedback regarding aircraft noise matters, improve emergency medical kits on board aircraft, require an audit of recent flight cancellations that continue to plague passengers and travelers, as well as many more things in this en bloc.

I urge support of this en bloc package and encourage a ``yes'' vote by all Members.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose).

Mr. Chair, I have no further speakers at this time.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this en bloc amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to amendment No. 10 offered by Mr. Langworthy.

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

Mr. Chairman, it is hard to even know where to begin. The sad thing about it is that very few people have actually read the report on what happened to Flight 3407.

Starting out, I have to say that I don't question anybody's motives on whether they oppose or support, or whatever the case may be. The sad thing about it is the wrong questions are being asked.

Now, what we are trying to do does not in any way change or weaken the 1,500-hour rule. What we are trying to say is that simulator time-- which you can simulate anything--should be used in training pilots.

I am an ATP, and I will kind of explain how that process works. You get your private pilot certificate, and then you move on to your commercial certificate. After an instrument rating, you get the single- engine commercial rating, the multiengine commercial rating, and then you move on to the ATP. It stands for airline transport pilot, and I have that rating. I have flown all the profiles that anybody would have to go through to achieve an ATP.

What is interesting in this whole process is that if you take a look at the recommendations that came out of the investigation when it comes to Flight 3407, the Buffalo accident, you have to wonder--again, this is where the wrong questions are being asked.

The pilot had 3,379 total hours before the accident. This pilot failed six checkrides, and not just checkrides that were recurrent. He failed his initial instrument checkride. He failed his commercial single-engine checkride. He failed his commercial multiengine checkride. He failed at the Gulfstream Academy when he was checking out in Gulfstreams. He failed his checkride in the Gulfstream. He failed his ATP checkride and had to do remedial training. Then, ultimately, when he was upgraded to the plane that was in the accident, he failed his sixth checkride.

He didn't fail some of his checkrides when he advanced from one rating to the next. He failed all of them and had to go to remedial training.

I ask whether you would get on an airline or a flight or put your family on a flight if you knew that the captain had failed all six checkrides as he advanced through his process. No, you wouldn't, not in a minute. Would you get on a flight if it was recommended that the pilot have remedial training?

Here we are with a simulator. You can simulate anything. I remember one of my simulator profiles, one of my simulator flights. We were coming in. I was doing an approach and lost my autopilot as a result, so I had to hand-fly the approach--zero visibility, 200-foot ceiling, which is at the minimum.

As I am on approach, I lose sight of the runway because the ceiling comes down. I have to execute a go-around to reestablish my approach. This is all being done in the simulator.

As I am executing my go-around, I lose an engine. I have to execute a go-around with one engine to minimums, and I have to get it on the ground in zero-zero visibility.

You can't simulate that in a real airplane. You can't simulate any of this, any emergency, in a real airplane.

First of all, in an airliner, that means the airplane is going to have to be taken down because it is going to have to be checked. If you do stalls in a full-blown airliner, you are going to have to take that aircraft down to have the airframe inspected because of the stress that is put on it.

Now, what I do want to point out is ALPA, the airline association that represented the pilots, I got on their website and found it fascinating. One of the things that they like to point out--I am glad they were part of the board that was the ARAC. That is the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee, which is who we established to make recommendations on exactly how much simulator time we should add. They co-chaired the ARAC when it came to investigating this accident.

Do you know one of the things that they tout, one of the things that they are very proud of on their website that they push? When it comes to one of the recommendations made by the NTSB, additional training on upset prevention and recovery, a new certification training program course requirement. These new simulator-based training requirements also include performing manual controlled maneuvers, procedures, slow flight--all these things. They actually endorsed more simulator training because you can simulate anything.

Today's simulators, by the way, are far and above what they were just 10 years ago.

I also have the testimony that the NTSB gave in the Senate hearing. It is unfortunate, Mr. Chairman, because the testimony in the Senate hearing says it all.

Mr. Chairman, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues not to support this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong opposition to this amendment and urge Members to vote ``no.''

The Essential Air Service program has proven to be a vital tool for rural connectivity, and for decades, it has been providing commercial air service to rural America.

It ensures our constituents in rural communities are connected to the national air transportation system and provides businesses across the country with the opportunity to grow their

businesses and families easier access to loved ones across the Nation. It drives economic development in many of our districts.

This amendment most certainly eliminates air service to our smallest, most rural communities. I have been a longtime, strong supporter of the EAS program.

In order to ensure the program's long-term viability, smart and targeted reforms are needed to ensure the program can continue to serve our communities.

Those reforms are in this underlying bill. It phases in cost-saving reforms to secure the program's long-term stability and ensures that it will continue to meet the needs of communities served while reining in the ballooning costs.

I, myself, have an EAS airport in my district that will be subject to the cost-share provision beginning in fiscal year 2027. I fear that without reducing costs, the entire program will cease to exist in due time, thanks to the program's cost.

Let's do anything we can to attempt to save this program. I think anything that we do if we are not attempting to save this program is literally a disservice to our constituents. Please vote ``no'' on the amendment.

Madam Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize Carolyn Applegate of Queen City, Missouri. Carolyn retired from her position as a second-grade teacher for the Schuyler R-1 School District at the end of the school year, closing the book on a remarkable 28-year career.

A good education is one of the building blocks of a strong citizenry, particularly in rural America. Few individuals can touch the hearts and minds of young people like teachers. They serve the public in ways many others cannot and forge the fate of our Nation for generations to come. Mrs. Applegate has been exemplary in her service to Schuyler County and her students. In her nearly three-decade career, she continued to be the definition of what an educator should be: caring, committed, and patient.

Although her time as a teacher for Schuyler R-1 schools has come to an end, she will always be remembered as a world-class educator. Mrs. Applegate's impact to her community will be carried on in the students she taught. Her much-deserved retirement will be spent making new memories with her friends and family.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me and the people of the Sixth Congressional District in thanking Carolyn Applegate. I am proud to represent her in the United States House of Representatives and wish her well in her retirement.