Congressman NEWS RELEASE Steve Rothman New Jersey, District 9

ROTHMAN CONTINUES SUCCESSFUL EFFORT TO
KEEP LARGE JETS OUT OF TETERBORO
--House Again Passes Legislation That Keeps Out
Aircraft Weighing More Than 100,000 Pounds--

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) today announced another victory in his fight to keep the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from overturning Teterboro Airport's 37 year-old weight limit ban on aircraft exceeding 100,000 pounds. The Fiscal Year 2006 Transportation Appropriations bill, which passed the House last night on a vote of 405-18, contains a provision that prohibits the FAA from using federal funds to repeal the weight limit ban at Teterboro Airport. Rothman's efforts to set a federal ban on large jets at Teterboro began in July 2003, when the FAA announced its intention to overturn the weight limit set at the airport. Rothman has used his position on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation --which has jurisdiction over the FAA's budget-- since 2003 to prevent the FAA from eliminating this ban, thus preventing aircraft weighing over 100,000 pounds, such as the 175,000 pound Boeing Business 737 Jet, from flying into and out of Teterboro Airport.

"I am extremely grateful that the members of the House of Representatives once again recognized the importance of having a weight restriction at Teterboro Airport. By continuing to have this weight ban in effect, it will keep big planes, such as the 175,000 pound Boeing Business Jet, out of Teterboro," said Rothman.

In early May, Rothman met with the FAA Administrator, Marion Blakey, and stressed to her the importance of the weight ban, especially after the two accidents that had occurred at Teterboro Airport just this year. He recounted the crash of February 2005, when a 25,000 pound Challenger 600 jet skidded off the runway, through an airport security fence, across busy Route 46 during morning rush hour where it crashed into two cars, and smashed through a brick warehouse and burst into flames, just 250 yards from a local school. Rothman then framed a scenario ending in a tragedy of catastrophic proportions if the jet that crashed was a 175,000 pound Boeing Business Jet, fully loaded with fuel. By the end of May, there had been a third crash at Teterboro Airport.

"There is simply no good reason to put the lives of our residents in danger by lifting these weight restrictions. We have been fortunate to keep this 37 year-old weight ban in place so that jets weighing 175,000 pounds, like the Boeing Business Jet, can't use Teterboro. More still needs to be done," said Rothman. "That is why I am also fighting for an immediate 25% reduction in flights at Teterboro Airport, the banning of Stage 2 aircraft and a mandatory nighttime curfew."

The Transportation Appropriations bill is one of the measures Congress is required to pass each year. This legislation will next be considered by the U.S. Senate and then moves to the White House where President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law.

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