“The House has joined the Senate to send a clear bipartisan message to the White House: use the flexibility you have put safety first and solve this problem”
(AP) – The U-S Congress has easily approved legislation ending furloughs of air traffic controllers that have delayed hundreds of flights daily. But, it could also keep the FAA from closing contract control towers including the one in Hutchinson.
The House approved the measure Friday on a 361-41 vote, one day after the Senate agreed to the bill. The action came with lawmakers streaming toward the doors for a week-long spring recess.
The Federal Aviation Administration has furloughed the controllers as part of the government-wide, $85 billion spending cuts called the sequester.
Republicans are accusing the Obama administration of using the controller furloughs to put political pressure on Congress to roll back all the cuts. Airline delays have infuriated travelers and caused headaches for lawmakers.
Kansas Senator Jerry Moran who co-author of the “Protect Our Skies Act,” released the following statement today on the passage of the Senate-passed bill in the house to provide the Secretary of Transportation with additional flexibility to transfer funds to prevent reduced operations and staffing at the FAA:
“The House has joined the Senate to send a clear bipartisan message to the White House: use the flexibility you have to put safety first and solve this problem. This bill directs the FAA to find savings elsewhere in their budget rather than target air traffic controllers for furloughs and control towers for closure. Through smarter cuts, rather than tax hikes or smoke and mirrors, the bill provides $253 million in additional funding flexibility to the FAA – more than enough to protect both air traffic controllers and the 149 contract control towers slated for closure. This bipartisan solution is about safety – and is a victory for air travelers and communities nationwide.”
Democrats largely went along with the bill but said all the cuts should be lifted.