Washington, DC – U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-FL), the Republican leader of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and U.S. Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI), the Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member, released the following statements on today’s House consideration of another short-term extension of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs:

Mica Statement

“Unbelievably, this will be the 16th short-term extension of FAA programs Congress will pass since the previous multi-year authorization expired three years ago. In 2003, when I chaired the Aviation Subcommittee, we completed that FAA reauthorization in seven months.

“Without a long-term FAA bill, major aviation projects and the jobs they would create remain on hold.

“We have to pass this extension to ensure that funding continues to trickle to FAA programs, but it is deeply disappointing that this Democrat-led Congress has again failed to pass a vital long-term, job-creating infrastructure reauthorization and has put our nation’s aviation system in this sorry predicament.”

Petri Statement

“The House first passed its long-term authorization bill three years ago during the 110th Congress. Our airports need certainty in funding in order to efficiently and wisely plan and carry out needed infrastructure projects. We have important, complex programs like NextGen to modernize our air traffic control system that deserve more than to be funded in this endless series of extensions.”

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