Roadblock Republicans Filibuster FAA Authorization Bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) expressed his displeasure with Senate Republicans who today blocked the FAA Authorization Bill from reaching the floor.

“Bush Republicans have once again put big business first and American consumers last, choosing to look out for airlines instead of their passengers. Our bill would have made air travel safer in the skies and on the runways, help air travelers take off sooner and land safer, help commerce flow with fewer interruptions, and help carriers lower their fuel costs. It also included a passengers’ bill of rights to ensure travelers are treated with respect during long delays. “Frequent and infrequent flyers alike already face enough obstacles as they try to go from city to city and state to state. Republicans’ obstruction is just another unnecessary and unwelcome delay in making our air-traffic systems as safe and efficient as they should be.” {Reid Press Release, May 6, 2008)

The bill, H.R. 2881, was passed by the House of Representatives on September 20, 2007. A cloture motion to break the Republican filibuster failed 49-42 with 9 not voting; Senator John Ensign (R-NV) voted against cloture, Senator John McCain was a No Show. The President has issued a “veto threat” on this bill. The President wants, instead, to “experiment with pilot projects that use market based approaches and reduce delays in the air and on the ground.” The President is concerned about safety mandates that “will divert needed resources from ongoing safety projects and an overall safety agenda that has resulted in the safest period in aviation history.” This statement was written in September 2007, well before the safety related groundings on Southwest and American Airlines. However, the major issue seems to be that Congress has authorized more funding for the reform programs than the President put in his budget. [WHpdf]

Republicans agreed to a cloture motion on S.2284, the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007, to the floor on a 90-1-9 vote. [rc 116] This bill has also met with a veto threat, issued on September 26, 2007. [WHpdf]