Transportation
Congressmember Karen Bass believes that transportation infrastructure is critical to a prosperous nation. Both California and Los Angeles are in dire need of additional transportation investment. Transportation investment is critical to create jobs, spur economic development, ease congestion, expand our national transportation network, and foster the development of safer, more livable communities. We must ensure that states and local transportation agencies have the resources and flexibility to build projects quickly and create good jobs along the way.
More on Transportation
During a meeting with Administrator Dickson in October 2019, Caucus members expressed serious concerns about airplane and helicopter noise and the FAA’s lack of responsiveness to impacted communities. Caucus Members asked questions about unresolved problems and FAA’s plans, as well as issues specific to their districts. The FAA responded formally in January in a letter addressed to QSC co-chair Eleanor Holmes-Norton.
“In a time when Trump is featured in every headline, it’s important to make sure that the real struggles and issues that local constituents are facing every day are being heard and addressed,” Rep. Bass said. “These forums give me the opportunity to not only report back on what has been happening in Washington, but to also hear about how I can better serve my community. I look forward to taking what was discussed back to Washington with me and continuing to work on the important issues raised here tonight.”
LOS ANGELES – As the FAA Reauthorization package makes its way to the House floor, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) introduced 4 amendments and worked with colleagues on the Quiet Skies Caucus to cosponsor more than 40 others, all aimed at reducing flight noise in Culver City, Baldwin Hills and the West Adams neighborhood. Of these, 12 amendments were accepted to be voted on by the entire House of Representatives.
In the letter, Rep. Bass highlighted extensive constituent complaints and demanded greater adherence to published minimum altitudes and the elimination of night flights below minimum altitudes. Rep. Bass also suggested that the FAA work with LAWA and others to reduce night flights over homes whenever safety permits.
You can read the full letter here or below:
October 6, 2017
“The main focus of my amendments is to require the FAA to provide resources to address noise reduction on aircrafts and to increase funding research, development and the implementation of air traffic noise reduction technologies,” Bass said in her testimony before the committee. “Congress must take action to address airplane noise and its harms. Increasing airline efficiency must not and cannot require the sacrifice of health and well-being of those on the ground.”
“The goal of this meeting was to put affected people in the same room with representatives of the organizations that can help mitigate and eliminate these problems,” Rep. Bass said after the meeting, which was held at Sixth Avenue Elementary School in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The Quiet Skies Caucus, led by co-chairs Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and vice chairs Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL), wrote to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development requesting they include in the subcommittee’s fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill two important provisions to help mitigate airplane noise.