Sam Graves

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I missed one Roll Call vote today. Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA'' on Roll Call No. 400.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8812) to provide for improvements to the rivers and harbors of the United States, to provide for the conservation and development of water and related resources, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Kean).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Rouzer), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 8812.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in strong support of H.R. 8812, the Water Resources Development Act of 2024, WRDA 2024, a bill that delivers critical water resource infrastructure improvements for communities all over America. Last month, we advanced WRDA 2024 out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 61 yeas to 2 nays. I thank Ranking Member Rick Larsen, Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chair David Rouzer and Ranking Member Grace Napolitano for all their hard work in developing this legislation and shepherding it through the committee and now across the line here on the floor. I offer special thanks to Ranking Member Grace Napolitano for her work on the WRDA bill and the many contributions she has made to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee over the many years that she has served. I am proud that with WRDA 2024, we are continuing the bipartisan tradition of passing a WRDA bill every 2 years, something we began back in 2014. WRDA 2024 has been developed through many months of work and significant participation from Members in this Chamber to address the water resource needs in communities all across the Nation. This bipartisan legislation provides necessary authority and direction to the Corps to carry out its mission to maintain and improve our water resource infrastructure from ports to levees to navigation channels. I am particularly proud that this bill charts a new path forward for systemic flood control on the upper Mississippi. It has been more than three decades since the great flood of 1993, and there has been very little progress in improving flood control along this stretch of the Mississippi. I believe this bill will finally change that. That is why, in addition to authorizing new projects and studies, WRDA 2024 makes policy and programmatic reforms to streamline processes, reduce cumbersome red tape, and get projects done much faster. Particularly important to my constituents are the steps this bill takes toward ensuring flood control and navigation are the top priorities on the Missouri River, along with the efforts to shore up the PL 84-99 program and long overdue reforms to move rural projects forward. I could go on and on about the good things in this bill, but I would run out of time if I tried to list all the wins that this bill delivers, big and small, all over America. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support WRDA 2024, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), who is the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, for purposes of a colloquy on H.R. 8812, the Water Resources Development Act of 2024.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate very much the gentleman from Oklahoma and his willingness to work with me on that. As he pointed out, we will have ample opportunity in conference to work these issues out. I give the gentleman from Oklahoma my word that we will do just that. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman the Louisiana (Mr. Graves).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I missed two Roll Call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 336 and YEA on Roll Call No. 337.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 3935) to amend title 49, United States Code, to reauthorize and improve the Federal Aviation Administration and other civil aviation programs, and for other purposes.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas), the chairman of the full Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, may I ask for the time remaining on both sides again.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the Senate amendment to H.R. 3935.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of passing and concurring in the Senate amendment to H.R. 3935, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. This bill is a bipartisan, bicameral, and comprehensive agreement to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration and our Nation's aviation safety and infrastructure programs through fiscal year 2028. I thank Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Chair Maria Cantwell and Ranking Member Ted Cruz for their partnership in crafting a strong final agreement. I also thank House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Garret Graves and Ranking Member Steve Cohen and Senate Aviation Subcommittee Chair Tammy Duckworth and Ranking Member Jerry Moran for their support in getting this bill across the finish line. For over a century, the United States has led the world in aviation safety and innovation. Unfortunately, our gold standard status is being threatened by increased global competition, rapid developments in technology, a shortage of aviation professionals, and influences at the FAA due to process failures and inadequate practices. H.R. 3935 is critical to ensuring America remains the global leader in aviation, and it is vital to our economy, to millions of American jobs, and to the millions of passengers who depend on our National Airspace System every single day. H.R. 3935 also provides the long-term certainty necessary to ensure the safety and prosperity of the American aviation industry for decades to come. This bill makes reasonable organizational reforms at the agency. It provides much-needed agility while simultaneously providing safety each step of the way. The FAA is simply too slow in everything it does, from rulemakings to aircraft registrations and from certifications to just simple paperwork. This bill ensures robust investments in infrastructure for airports of all sizes, with special emphasis placed on the thousands of smaller and general aviation airports that make up the bulk of our Nation's airport system. Further, it is a personal point of pride for me that this bill includes the first-ever general aviation title in the FAA reauthorization bill. I have been saying this for years, but GA is the foundation of our aviation, our civil aviation system, and it is where many of our pilots, mechanics, and other hardworking aviation professionals began their careers. It is also responsible for helping meet the critical community needs in thousands of cities and towns all across America. This bill recognizes the importance of GA and protects the freedom to fly for every American. As previously mentioned, the shortages across the aerospace workforce are a growing risk to the future of American aviation, and H.R. 3935 addresses workforce challenges head-on by removing barriers for individuals and veterans interested in pursuing careers in aviation, such as through improving aviation workforce development programs. The bottom line is our bill encourages the growth of our aviation workforce through targeted and meaningful reforms. What is more, H.R. 3935 maintains American leadership when it comes to the development and integration of new and emerging technologies into the airspace, such as drones and advanced air mobility, or AAM. Specifically, this bill requires the FAA to move beyond endless testing and pilot programs that go nowhere and to move toward integrating innovations, such as drones and AAM, into the National Airspace System. As air travel recovers from the COVID pandemic, renewed growth in air travel has come with some difficulties for the traveling public, and our bipartisan bill includes an entire title dedicated to improving issues each of our offices hears about from constituents almost daily: the flying experience for the traveling public, including individuals with disabilities. Finally, and most importantly, this bill recognizes that while our aviation system is safe, we have to continue raising the bar for safety. The bill is centered around a strong aviation and safety title and makes many important reforms that address the close calls and near misses that have unnerved many of us over the past several years. Madam Speaker, I have every confidence that the provisions we enact here today will make aviation safer, thus ensuring that America continues to be the world's gold standard in aviation safety. One of the most important safety features of this bill is the title for a 5-year reauthorization of the National Transportation Safety Board, or the NTSB. It is the independent Federal agency that investigates all civil aviation and other transportation accidents. I believe the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 is one of the farthest reaching, most consequential pieces of legislation that the House will consider in the 118th Congress. Madam Speaker, I will take a moment to point out a couple of additional provisions in the bill that I think warrant bringing up. The first is the provision that is going to help protect general aviation airports from closure. Airports are a valuable community resource, and our vast national aviation airports are part of what has brought about American leadership in aviation. Many of these airports are also grant obligated, meaning they have made assurances to the Federal Government that they will operate and develop the airport to its fullest potential. In too many places, local neglect or hostility threatens the viability of many of these small airports and the community's commitment to these obligations. Aeronautical development at airports is vital to our national interests, so our bill includes provisions that will prohibit the Federal Aviation Administration from waiving grant obligations if the FAA finds the waiver would impair the aeronautical purpose of an airport or result in its closure. Although this bill contains a legislative waiver of grant operations for Banning Airport in California, this should not be viewed as anything other than a very unique exception to the hard-and-fast rule that Congress is enforcing in this bill. Moving forward, it will take legislative action to pursue closing an airport and getting a waiver on those grant assurances. One other provision I will point out is airline refunds. I remain concerned that the new Department of Transportation rule is going to result in significant unintended consequences for passengers, including increased prices for the processing of unintentional refunds when all the passenger wants is just simply to be rebooked on the next flight home. However, now that the Senate has amended the refund provision to more closely align with the DOT rule, it is important the DOT adheres to its published 6-month implementation period for the rule. DOT should not view this legislation as short-circuiting the implementation period, which is necessary for airlines and ticket agents to adopt new systems to ensure regulatory compliance. I look forward to working with both DOT and the FAA as they work to implement these provisions and the many other important sections in this bill. Madam Speaker, in closing, this bill has the support of more than a thousand aviation organizations and companies and comprehensively addresses thousands of Member and stakeholder issues and requests that we received. Simply put, this bill is vital to America's airport infrastructure, to our economy, and to the future of American leadership in aviation. It is an honor to stand here and urge all of the Members in the House to support this transformational bill. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), who is also the chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining on both sides.

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Owens).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hunt).

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.