As the Senate races toward Friday's deadline to pass a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill amid extreme uncertainty and turmoil in the air travel system, a number of policy disputes and unrelated issues threaten to prolong the debate. be.
As one of the few bills considered a must-pass this year, the FAA package has become a magnet for dozens of amendments and policy riders that lawmakers are vying for a vote, making it a likely candidate for the Senate. It's slowing down progress. Regional interests have also disrupted normal political alignment among lawmakers, making swift action more difficult.
“We all need to work constructively and urgently to get the job done on the FAA,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “No one, absolutely no one, should want us to miss the deadline. It would unnecessarily increase the risk for so many travelers and so many federal employees. I guess.”
The bill provides more than $105 billion to the FAA and an additional $738 million to the National Transportation Safety Board for airport modernization, technology programs, and safety, and reauthorizes the agency over the next five years. The content is as follows. It would also strengthen the hiring and training of air traffic controllers, codify airline passenger refund obligations, and strengthen protections for passengers with disabilities.
The bill follows months of bipartisan negotiations by the House and Senate committees that oversee the FAA, after Congress has approved several short-term extensions of the FAA when lawmakers failed to meet early deadlines. It's a compromise. The House passed the bill nearly a year ago on a lopsided vote of 351-69.
“To make the FAA a reality, we need a shared desire to pass quickly,” Schumer said Wednesday. “If a member requests unrelated changes, it only increases the likelihood that the deadline will be missed.”
Amid fears of stalling the bill, the House on Wednesday approved a one-week extension to leave Washington for the weekend. But it was unclear whether the Senate could comply by the deadline, and leaders continued to push for a longer-term review.
The discussion comes at a time of great uncertainty regarding the aviation system, which has seen a number of worrying incidents in recent days, including dangerous near collisions on runways, aircraft breakdowns, and thousands of flight delays and cancellations. It is being said.
Senate leaders have scheduled a key test vote for early Thursday afternoon, which will determine how quickly the bill can move forward.
Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, said the Senate had “very good prospects of passing this bill” by Friday and that “by the end of the day we will have a strong bipartisan He said he expected a “high vote.”
“That's what I want to happen,” he said. “This is a bill that incorporates the priorities of hundreds of member states from both sides of the aisle and delivers real progress in investing in air traffic controllers to improve safety and reduce delays.”
The senators maintain their influence as the clock ticks down in Congress, where 60 votes are needed to break the filibuster. They have submitted dozens of amendments to the bill for Senate leadership to vote on. Some proposals are related to aviation systems, while others are completely separate bills that proponents would like to add to the FAA bill to increase its chances of passage.
One of the region's fiercest battles is over a provision in the bill that would add five flights to and from Ronald Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C. Proponents, including Delta Air Lines, say they want to expand access to Washington, D.C. It increases the country's capital and increases competition.
But the proposal infuriated lawmakers representing the region, who argued that the airport maintains one of the nation's busiest runways and cannot accommodate additional flights. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia and Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, both Democrats, proposed an amendment to strike new flights. submitted. Mr. Kaine and Mr. Warner threatened Thursday to oppose swift passage of the one-week extension if the proposal did not receive a vote. This, leaders said, would allow processing time to expire on the broader package. Allow the amendment to be voted on.
Another group of senators was pushing for a vote on a bipartisan proposal to halt the Transportation Security Administration's expansion of facial recognition technology at airports and limit where it is used.
The senators also proposed adding a number of unrelated policy ideas.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, called for a vote on a bill that would expand eligibility for federal compensation for people harmed by exposure to the nation's nuclear weapons program. (The Senate passed the bill in March, but the House has not yet taken it up.) He also vowed to block swift approval of the extension if his own bill fails.
Mr. Cardin and Mr. Van Hollen wanted to add a bipartisan measure that would allow the federal government to fully fund the replacement of Baltimore's Francis Key Scott Bridge, which collapsed in late March.
The second-ranking Democrats, Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), wanted to attach legislation on credit card competition.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also require social media networks to take “reasonable steps to prevent harm to minors on their sites.” The plan was to enact a Kids' Online Safety Act that would require the government to take “safety measures.”
Senate leaders cited the overwhelming 81-10 vote last week to begin consideration of the bill as a sign of momentum and consensus around the bill. But the path to approving a short-term extension was unclear as the government continued to work on Thursday to secure an agreement to speed up the process.
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican, said Wednesday that a deal seems “increasingly unlikely” but “there's always hope.”
“Everyone is on top of this now,” he said. “Whether they get enough exercise remains to be seen.”
If the Senate makes major changes to the bill, the House would be thrown into chaos. Leaders are calling on lawmakers on the other side of the Capitol to eliminate irrelevant provisions.
Justin Harkleroad, Republican spokesman for the House Transportation Committee, said the bill was a “carefully negotiated package, with the Senate potentially unraveling key elements of the deal or adding completely unrelated bills to the package.” “If they do, it could undermine support for the package.” . He added that the policy rider “could complicate passage in the House.”
Air travel industry stakeholders are calling for swift passage of the bill to address a variety of important issues within the system and provide long-term operational certainty for the FAA.
“A4A supports the swift passage of the bipartisan, bicameral agreement text announced Sunday night after months of thoughtful negotiations,” industry group Airlines for America said in a statement. “Unrelated and unrelated amendments threaten passage of this bill as the May 10 deadline approaches.”
“We urge Congress to pass the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization agreement without delay,” Sarah Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, said in a statement. “This agreement will stabilize the FAA and provide it with the resources it needs to ensure that America's aviation system remains the gold standard for safety, security, and connectivity.”