A bill expanding the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expires Friday, but lawmakers are still trying to get their pet bills into the legislation.
The FAA Bill It is scheduled to expire at midnight Friday, but the House stepped in to approve a one-week extension on Wednesday, leaving the rest in the hands of the Senate.
However, if the Senate does not approve a short-term extension by Friday, airports across the country would come to a standstill as funding for air traffic controllers and other critical aviation functions could dry up.
To further complicate matters, FAA reauthorization is one of the last bills Congress must pass this year.
As a result, Democrats and Republicans are trying to attach amendments to the already 1,000-page bill to secure funding for their personal “pet projects.”
Their proposals include: banning drones from flying over NFL and MLB games, adding pro-Palestinian protesters to the “no fly” list, increasing the number of flights from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and reintroducing whole milk to public school lunch menus.
The FAA authorization bill provides funding for airports across the country, and lawmakers are attempting to add many non-aviation-related amendments to the measure.
One measure in the current FAA package would add additional long-haul flights from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)
“In terms of the schedule, how it is done, we will gain some time if the House obviously sends us that [bill] “We have to do it next week,” Senate Minority Leader Jon Thune, R-S.D., told reporters.
“This just gives us a little bit of a break,” he said.
Still, some in the Senate Republican conference have issues with some of the amendments, which could pose problems for the bill even with an extension.
“We clearly have a number of objections on our part, which are not likely to go away,” Thune said.
But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., still hopes the FAA reauthorization can be approved before Friday’s deadline.
“We’re working very hard to get it done this week in the Senate and that’s what we hope to do,” he said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
And lawmakers insist the FAA authorization will not expire, crippling airports across the country.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday that he expects the Senate bill to pass before the Friday deadline.
If the Senate’s full FAA reauthorization bill or a one-week extension does not pass, travelers would experience significant flight delays and cancellations.
“Well, it will be done this week or there will be a temporary extension,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told DailyMail.com. “One or the other we will not close the airports.”
When pressed about the huge number of amendments still being debated for the bill, Blumenthal admitted that it is one of lawmakers’ last opportunities to pass the legislation before the November elections.
‘There are very few vehicles to pass bills. [remaining]so people are trying to get their bills back under the FAA measure,” he said.
“And so I fully understand that many of the unrelated or superfluous amendments will simply be rejected for that reason.”
One of the non-aviation-related proposals would eliminate tariffs on certain types of titanium sponge imports.
Another would authorize an Internet access program that serves rural and low-income communities.
However, there are also numerous provisions related to flights.
One proposal would raise the retirement age for pilots from 65 to 67 as the industry faces an aging workforce and pilot shortage.
A different amendment, which has caused controversy among Republicans and Democrats, would ensure that travelers receive an automatic refund if their flights are canceled.
That move is in line with a Department of Transportation rule announced in April, but Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is the top Republican on the committee responsible for the FAA bill, said the automatic reimbursement of Canceled flights not necessary. as travelers often choose to immediately rebook on the same airline.
“If you fly somewhere and your flight is canceled, what most consumers want is not a refund,” Cruz told reporters Wednesday.
“It would be of little use to consumers to say that in the event that a flight is cancelled, they will automatically refund your money even if you don’t want it and prefer to be rebooked.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said the FAA bill will include language allowing refunds for canceled flights.
He said he is still in favor of refunds in the case of canceled flights and that there are still provisions in the bill to ensure that consumers are compensated, but it will not happen automatically.