FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, as one of the only professional pilots in Congress, I rise today in strong support of the long-awaited FAA reauthorization bill. I was happy to work closely with the chairman, ranking member, and all of our Senate counterparts to reach the compromise legislation that we have today.

We are finally providing our aviation programs the much-needed, long- term certainty that they desire, and I am excited about a number of policies included in the bill that I advocated for.

Just quickly, I secured language to prevent new taxes targeting consumers who rent cars at the airport. My aviation workforce development bill to encourage people to pursue careers in aviation as technicians and mechanics is included. I secured fixes on how the FAA regulates Living History Flight Experience flights. We finally ended the egregious FAA fees on large aviation events, such as Sun 'n Fun and Oshkosh air shows. We extended aircraft registration from 3 to 7 years. We directed the FAA to restore the ``all makes and models'' certificate for experimental aircraft. Building an aircraft in your hangar now will be considered an aeronautical use of that hangar.

There are many other things I can't include in my limited amount of time.

As we approach key milestones in the program in 2020 and beyond, my colleagues and I on the committee will remain committed to holding the FAA accountable and ensuring the goals of NextGen are achieved.

Mr. Speaker, I could go on, but, obviously, time does not allow.

Mr. Speaker, as one of the only professional pilots in Congress, I rise today in strong support of the long awaited FAA Reauthorization bill.

I was happy to work closely with the Chairman and Ranking Member, and our Senate counterparts to reach the compromise legislation before us today.

We will finally be providing our aviation programs some much needed long term certainty.

I am very excited about a number of policies included in the bill that I advocated for.

Just to go over them quickly:

I secured language to prevent new taxes targeting consumers who rent cars at the airport;

My aviation workforce development bill to encourage people to pursue careers as aviation technicians and mechanics;

I secured fixes to how FAA regulates living history flight experience flights;

We are finally ending the egregious FAA fees on large aviation events;

We extended aircraft registration from 3 years to 7 years;

Directed the FAA to restore the `all makes and models' certificate for experimental aircraft;

Building an aircraft in your hangar will now be considered `aeronautical use' of that hangar;

And many others that I can't cover in my limited time.

As we approach key milestones in the program in 2020 and beyond, my colleagues and I on the committee remain committed to holding FAA accountable and ensuring the goals of NextGen are achieved.

Mr. Speaker, I could go on and on when it comes to all the aviation policy in this bill that excites me.

But I'll save some time for my other colleagues.

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