Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) spoke on the Floor in support of the Senate’s amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill, which the House will be voting on tomorrow.

The bill includes Rep. Lucas’s language for the FAA to submit a plan to Congress to improve air traffic controller training and set the air traffic controller hiring goal to the maximum number of students that can be trained.

Click here or on the image above to watch Congressman Lucas’s full speech.

Transcript:

Mr. Speaker I rise today in support of the Senate’s amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill. As Chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology committee, I’ve worked with my colleagues for over a year on this bill and I’m proud of the agreement we’ve come to with our Senate counterparts. I want to give a special thanks to Ranking Member Lofgren for working with me throughout this process.

The Research and Development title of this bill provides a comprehensive safety framework and integration of emerging technologies into air travel. By preserving and protecting the House provisions of this bill, we’ve ensured that this is the most robust Research and Development title we’ve seen in an FAA bill.

The bill includes essential support of the Air Traffic Control Academy located at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City.

The Center is named after former Oklahoma U.S. Senator Mike Monroney who wrote the Federal Aviation Act that created the FAA. Senator Monroney’s legacy is realized every day through the more than 6,000 employees at the Center that serve the FAA’s mission of training, research, and operations for the flying public.

The Air Traffic Controller Academy at the Center is responsible for the first few months of training for all new air traffic controllers. Centralized training at the Academy ensures that operating in the national airspace is seamless from one end of the country to the other. I’m proud to represent and support the interests of this institution which gives us the safest airspace in the world.

I yield back.

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