During remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke about the FAA Reauthorization Act.
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Mr. President, I'm very pleased that the Senate has tonight passed this vital legislation.
00:06 The House of Representatives should next week take it up and quickly pass it and send it to the President's desk for signature.
00:14 This legislation is a strong, bipartisan, bicameral bill that includes hundreds of priorities for Senators and Representatives, both Republican and Democrat.
00:28 This bill gives the FAA the safety tools it needs at a critical time to help bring new aerospace technologies to market.
00:39 I want to take a moment to recognize the staff who has spent countless hours hammering out this legislation.
00:46 This was no easy task.
00:49 As I stated earlier, this bipartisan product was the result of many, many months of hard work, late nights.
00:57 There were many times it appeared this bill was not going to make it over to the finish line,
01:01 and the hard work of the staff is a big part of the reason we are where we are tonight.
01:06 I want to thank my staff for their tireless efforts to get this bill passed into law.
01:12 Many thanks to Simone Perez, who is next to me and who has not slept in about six months.
01:18 I will note she broke her foot stepping on a dump truck of her young son.
01:25 But I personally said she got the foot boot from kicking hindquarters.
01:33 Since the presiding officer is also a pastor, I will make sure to speak in a way that would be appropriate in front of a pastor.
01:41 I want to thank Duncan Rankin, Andrew Miller, Matt Swint, Hannah Hagen, Ryan Cannon, Melissa Braid,
01:49 Christian McMullen, Amanda Thompson, Liam McKenna, Nicole Christus, Brad Grantz, Omri Saron, and Erin Reitz.
01:58 I'm also thankful to Chairwoman Cantwell and her staff.
02:02 The chair has worked tirelessly as well. Her staff has worked tirelessly.
02:07 We have worked hand in hand navigating issues, some contentious, some passionate,
02:12 some that seemed would take the entire bill down, and then we went back and worked out a compromise.
02:18 They have been terrific partners with us, and I look forward to our committee continuing to produce
02:25 strong bipartisan products in the near future and the weeks and months ahead.
02:31 I would be remiss if I also didn't thank Senators Moran and Duckworth,
02:35 who serve as the leaders on the Aviation Safety Operations and Innovation Subcommittee.
02:41 I appreciate both Senator Moran and Senator Duckworth and their staff for working collaboratively with us on this bill.
02:48 Finally, I'd like to thank Senate Legislative Council, specifically John Getchis, Ruth Ernst, and C.J. Murphy,
02:57 who worked long hours and late nights to make this bill happen.
03:02 And now, Mr. President, I look forward to going to Ronald Reagan National Airport,
03:06 getting on an airplane, and flying home to Texas.
03:09 I yield the floor.
03:11 Mr. President.
03:13 The Senator from Washington.
03:14 Mr. President, I too want to thank our colleagues for their hard work
03:18 and their overwhelming support for the passage of this legislation.
03:23 This legislation will now hopefully go to our House colleagues on the consent calendar on Tuesday,
03:30 and then very shortly after that to the President's desk.
03:34 This is historic, bipartisan, bicameral legislation that not only invests in the Federal Aviation Administration,
03:43 but the National Safety Transportation Board for the next five years.
03:48 It is a record reauthorization to make sure that our safety regulators and our safety investigators
03:54 make aviation the safety gold standard of the world.
03:58 This bill not only provides those authorizations, but I believe it helps give consumers
04:06 the right kind of refunds for tickets after three hours of delay.
04:12 It also puts the right safety people on the job, both at our air traffic controller system
04:18 and at the FAA oversight of manufacturers.
04:22 By assuring that we have the safest aviation system in America, we are investing in our economy.
04:29 Aviation contributes more than 5% to our GDP, $1.9 trillion of economic activity,
04:36 and it supports over 11 million jobs.
04:39 And if you ask me, the best way to the middle class is get an aviation job,
04:44 coming in as working class, leaving as middle class, as many manufacturing jobs in my state represent.
04:52 Our bill invests in the growth and well-being of that aviation workforce
04:56 to try to continue to thrive by making education investments in controllers, machinists, engineers,
05:05 mechanics, pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers, maintenance workers,
05:10 and all those that are the backbone of the aviation economy.
05:14 I want to thank my colleague and partner in this, Senator Cruz,
05:18 the ranking member of the Commerce Committee, for everything he's done to help pass this landmark legislation.
05:24 It really was a bipartisan effort, and his efforts were instrumental in helping us get this legislation over the goal line.
05:33 I, too, want to thank many of our colleagues.
05:35 He mentioned our two colleagues, the chair of the subcommittee, Senator Duckworth and Senator Moran,
05:45 who both played a long and terrific advocacy role on very key sections of this bill,
05:51 including essential air service and expanding the aviation workforce in our country.
05:57 I want to thank House Transportation Infrastructure Committee Chairman Graves
06:01 and Ranking Member Larson from my state for their leadership and dedication to making this a bicameral product
06:08 and certainly making it bipartisan.
06:11 I also want to thank President Biden, Secretary Buttigieg, and Administrator Whitaker for their input
06:16 as we move through this legislation, and Senator Schumer for helping us get this bill to the last phases here and over the goal line.
06:25 I also want to thank Senators Schumer and Thune, Duckworth and Sinema for helping to negotiate key positions of this bill related to pilot training.
06:33 Nearly 3 million passengers fly in and out of our airports,
06:37 and making sure that we have the safest skies by the FAA doing its job is exactly why we needed this bill.
06:45 This bill implements new safety improvements in that workforce
06:50 and codifies, as I mentioned, strong consumer protections like refunds,
06:55 and it provides direction and resources to build a well-trained FAA workforce.
07:01 I want to thank the hard work of Senators Casey and Fetterman, including in this bill,
07:06 that helps the FAA require airlines to have a secondary cockpit barrier to ensure that safety and security of our flight deck is there.
07:16 I want to thank Senator Klobuchar for advancing the aircraft runway traffic and landing technologies to prevent near misses,
07:24 a conversation that has been very much part of this debate.
07:28 The air surface detection technology helps prevent close calls,
07:32 and at only 43 airports, this bill was about expanding that as soon as possible,
07:39 because the NTSB said that was one of their number one recommendations.
07:44 Our bill will now require the deployment of this technology that will help prevent runway close calls
07:51 at medium and large hub airports within the next few years.
07:56 Building on the aircraft certification and accountability program,
08:00 we helped provide for significant improvements in the design process so that the public is more informed,
08:06 and we also directed the FAA to require training programs for those organizational design authorities.
08:15 These are the ODA units that oversee the manufacturer.
08:19 This includes strengthening those unit members' understandings of safety management systems,
08:25 something the committee has held a lot of hearings on,
08:28 and we know how important safety management system is, according to our expert review panel, to implement into law.
08:36 We authorized money for the next five years to boost the FAA's programs in safety and factory inspections
08:44 and implemented a revised model that really helps us with our air traffic controller system.
08:52 So critical, because right now we need more air traffic controllers, and we need them to be rested on the job.
08:59 This bill also includes an important safety provision from Senator Schatz,
09:03 a helicopter safety bill which brings standards to the commercial air tour systems in Hawaii.
09:09 And another major safeguard in safety is Senator Baldwin's provision with Senators Welch and Capito
09:17 called the Global Aircraft Maintenance Safety Improvement Act, which helps oversee the safety inspections at our overseas airports.
09:26 There are nearly 1,000 FAA-certified maintenance and repair stations outside the United States,
09:32 and they need to make sure that they have the proper oversight.
09:36 This helps raise those safety standards worldwide.
09:40 Specifically, these technicians are now required to go with background checks,
09:45 alcohol testing, and foreign repair stations are now subject to surprise inspections.
09:51 As I mentioned, the NTSB authorization is critical,
09:55 and I want to thank my colleague Senator Lujan for his leadership on helping get this in the bill.
10:00 But also, one of the number one requirements why we wanted to get this done now with the NTSB
10:06 is one of their key recommendations that's now in this statute is a 25-hour cockpit voice recording requirement
10:14 that was also championed by Senators Blumenthal and Wyden.
10:18 This means when accidents happen, the NTSB will no longer be stifled by not getting the recording.
10:25 They will have this recording, and it will be required to be held for more than 25 hours.
10:31 I mentioned the workforce issues, which to my state are paramount.
10:34 We need to continue to train and skill the best workers,
10:37 and certainly that means air traffic controllers and aviation safety inspectors.
10:44 We also, besides the increase for air traffic controllers to help deal with the staffing gap,
10:51 we are making sure that they have the best technology to work with as well.
10:56 And our colleagues, Senator Klobuchar, Duckworth, Moran, Thune, Peters, and Kelly,
11:02 helped us to recruit and retain the next generation of workforce.
11:08 So I can't thank all my colleagues enough.
11:11 As mentioned and much discussed, Congress is setting, for the first time in statute,
11:16 a refund standard for consumers to get a refund on non-refundable tickets
11:22 after three hours of delay in the United States and for six hours on an international flight.
11:31 These statutory rights are a big win for consumers.
11:34 Passengers can just reject vouchers, alternative flights, and get a hassle-free refund.
11:40 I want to thank Senators Markey and Vance and their provision of the bill
11:45 that says you cannot charge families extra dollars to sit next to each other.
11:51 And the fact that they are championing, as Senator Markey and Schatz did,
11:56 a new office at the Department of Transportation to make sure that airlines receive fines
12:03 if they don't adhere to those provisions.
12:06 I also want to thank Senator Duckworth.
12:08 I can't thank her enough, not just as the ranking member of the committee,
12:12 but also for her key leadership on so many aspects of this bill.
12:17 Not only is she a pilot, but she understands the needs of handicapped individuals
12:22 and made sure that this legislation did a better job of training and skilling people at our airports.
12:28 She is a true champion of the provisions of this bill dealing with wheelchair damage on flights
12:35 and ensuring that passengers can safely evacuate a plane if necessary.
12:41 We will be forever grateful for your many leadership provisions of this legislation.
12:46 I want to just finally say Senators Tester, Fischer, and Sullivan also worked on essential air service
12:52 and infrastructure financing improvements to make sure that our airports and rural communities continue to grow.
12:58 And Senators Peters, Baldwin, and Warnock for championing additional federal resources
13:03 to help airports dispose of harmful chemicals and replace them for firefighters.
13:10 My colleague from Texas mentioned the great investments in next generation technology.
13:16 Senators Hickenlooper, Rosen, Moran, Thune, Warner, and Wicker advancing drone technology
13:22 so that the United States can compete on a world stage and providing next generation research for companies
13:28 like Universal Hydrogen and Zero Avia who are making great products.
13:33 Also Senators Thune and Warner, our colleague from Virginia, for the creation of a regulatory path
13:41 for drones to operate beyond the visual line of sight.
13:45 That means yes, we're going to move forward on how drones are going to start delivering home products to us
13:51 and I thank them for their hard work.
13:53 And Senator Rosen for her hard work on a grant program so that states and local governments
13:58 using U.S. manufactured drones that are used in repairing and fixing critical infrastructure
14:06 and Senator Blackburn for her leadership that the FAA is not funneling any drone funding to American adversaries.
14:15 So you can see, Mr. President, you were part of this process.
14:19 I thank you for your leadership, certainly in expanding capacity at airports
14:24 and getting more flights, but also for your great contributions, as I mentioned, in this legislation on PFAS and many other things.
14:35 This was a committee process.
14:38 It really was the way the Senate is supposed to work.
14:42 It really was bipartisan and bicameral and lots of people got their issues addressed.
14:48 And they got their issues addressed because we had great staff who were willing to accommodate
14:54 and work hard and implement those legislative ideas.
14:58 So I want to thank from our team the staff director of the Commerce Committee, Lila Helms,
15:05 our general counsel, Melissa Porter, Rachel Devine, who literally came back about six, seven months ago
15:11 to rejoin the Congress, and literally we would not have this bill today if Rachel Devine had not rejoined the effort to work on the Hill.
15:21 So I thank you, Rachel, for your hard work and dedication.
15:25 I want to thank Alex Simpson and Gigi Slays.
15:28 Gigi has been at this for so long, working under many people, and she knows every detail of this bill, and I so appreciate it.
15:37 Doug Anderson, Lucia Mastrogiello, and our current Sumo Rose Stumo Air Grant Fellow, Amber Willett,
15:49 Tricia Enright, Ansley Lacedis, Jamie Burgess, Maury Mueller, Drew Hamill,
15:57 and certainly want to thank Megan Tyree from Senator Schumer's office for helping us through many phases of this.
16:04 I also want to thank our former staffer, Ronce Allman, and detailee from the FAA airport office, Rob Hawks,
16:11 and our Samuel Rose Stumo Fellow, who is now over at the FAA, Rukia Hassam, for their hard work on this legislation.
16:21 I also want to thank Senator Cruz's team, because in all of these negotiations,
16:26 it was critical to not only have a great understanding of FAA issues, but our colleagues and their priorities
16:33 in continuing -- I'm not saying the Republicans came up with more amendments, but it certainly felt like that for a long time.
16:42 It felt like you all had a lot of -- we had a pilot on our side, you had a few pilots on your side.
16:48 So we processed a lot of amendments.
16:50 So I, too, want to thank Brad Grants, Nicole Christus, Simone Perez, Andrew Miller, Matt Swint,
16:57 Hannah Hagen, and Liam McKenna for their work, and of course, Matt Wiseman and Ben Rodeside from Senator Duckworth's team,
17:05 and Lauren Bates from Senator Moran's.
17:07 This is a big moment for aviation.
17:10 We've been through a lot.
17:12 We have been through a COVID crisis, and how to manage our aviation system while we're in that crisis,
17:18 coming out of the COVID crisis, when we may not have had everything correct in the order of how to keep flights
17:26 and regain the capacity where we were at.
17:29 And we certainly know that we have had safety issues and concerns that we need to make a big investment.
17:37 This legislation is that investment in safety standards, in protecting consumers,
17:43 in advancing a workforce and technology that will allow the United States to be the gold standard in aviation.
17:50 I thank my colleagues, Mr. President.
17:52 I yield the floor.