Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Senate Passage Of FAA Reauthorization Legislation

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the final vote to pass the FAA reauthorization bill. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:

After months of painstaking work, the FAA Reauthorization has passed in the Senate today. Aviation safety has been front of mind for millions of Americans recently, and passing this FAA bill is the best thing Congress can do to give Americans the peace of mind they deserve.

Passing this FAA bill preserves critical funding for airport security, training for more air traffic controllers, and safety inspectors at manufacturing plants.

Passing FAA means avoiding costly delays to airport infrastructure projects.

And passing FAA means avoiding the furloughing of over three thousand federal employees.

I am especially proud that this FAA bill keeps in place the 1500 hour rule for airline pilots, which I promised would not be weakened.

Thank you to Chair Cantwell, she worked so hard on this bill, and to Ranking Member Cruz for their work to finish this bill. Thank you to all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who contributed to making this bill stronger. Without everyone working together and being willing to reach consensus, this very difficult bill would not have gotten done.

###