John Mica

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. My colleagues and Mr. Speaker, this is a 60-day extension that has been agreed to by our leadership and negotiated with the other side of the aisle. I believe it will ensure the surface transportation programs at the Department of Transportation will continue to function, and that we can continue programs across the country, ensuring our men and women stay in jobs at such a difficult time with our economy, again, needing some reliability in transportation programs from this Federal level. So with that, I urge a ``yes'' vote on H.R. 4239, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC, March 26, 2012. Hon. John Mica, Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Mica: I am writing concerning H.R. 4239, the ``Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012,'' which is scheduled for floor consideration this week. As you know, the Committee on Ways and Means has jurisdiction over the Internal Revenue Code. Title IV of this bill amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by extending the current Highway Trust Fund expenditure authority and the associated Federal excise taxes to June 1, 2012. However, in order to expedite this legislation for floor consideration, the Committee will forgo action on this bill. This is being done with the understanding that it does not in any way prejudice the Committee with respect to the appointment of conferees or its jurisdictional prerogatives on this or similar legislation. I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming this understanding with respect to H.R. 4239, and would ask that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the Congressional Record during floor consideration, Sincerely, Dave Camp. Chairman.

Mr. MICA. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, let's deal with just a few facts. First of all, the fact is that this would be the ninth extension. The fact is that the Democrats, who are on the other side of the aisle, when they controlled the entire House of Representatives and the United States Senate--the other body--in a huge majority and the White House, they did six extensions. That's the first fact. The second fact is that the folks from the other side of the aisle, when they controlled it, they weren't even able to get a bill out from subcommittee to full committee. We passed it in committee, and we've gotten it this far to the floor with huge majorities. They did not pass it. Let's just deal with the facts. The facts are, on June 17, 2009, after my cooperating with the previous chair on the other side of the aisle to go forward with a long-term bill, it was President Obama who sent then-Secretary Ray LaHood to tell us that they were going to kill a 6-year bill that we had agreed on to move forward, which they couldn't even get out of committee, to an 18-month extension. These are the facts. The fact is that they had 6,300 earmarks in the last bill, and they were open to earmarks in the bill that they were about to propose. This bill is being brought forward without tax increases. It is responsibly funded with dramatic reforms and, again, devolves to the States and local governments, which actually build these projects, the streamlining and other financial opportunities that they can take advantage of. As for the part about bankrupting the trust fund, let's deal again with facts. The facts are that the bill that is proposed by the other body is a 2-year bill, and the trust fund money expires in 18 months. That's not responsible. The bill we brought out has a pay-for. With regard to the comments that we're slashing, we are continuing at current levels. It's $52 billion for 5 years. Do the math. It's 260. The Senate bill is $109 billion. It's 54.9. We are increasing spending at a time when we shouldn't be increasing spending, but we're maintaining the current level. They count no increase as a cut. That's the kind of math that's going on here. So I came to the floor because there was a bipartisan agreement between the leadership of the House and the Senate to move forward because we have to get people to work. This is my third extension. I have had the honor and privilege of chairing the committee for--what?-- 14 months now. I have cooperated with the other side, including holding extensive hearings in the district of the first gentleman who spoke, Mr. Rahall--in Beckley, West Virginia--all the way to the west coast. I've held dozens of hearings out in the field and here in Washington to try to develop legislation that could get the job done and so that we could do more with even the same amount of money and put people to work at this time in our country's history. So those are the facts. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. MICA. I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan), the chair of the Highway Subcommittee.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the balance of time on each side?

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. I yield 2 minutes to Mr. Shuster, the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. MICA. I yield the gentleman from Pennsylvania an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. MICA. I have no further speakers, and I would reserve my time to close.

Mr. MICA. I yield myself the balance of my time. Unfortunately, this has turned into, I guess, sort of a political ``gotcha'' game. If this was a sporting event right now, the umpire would probably come out, throw down the flag, and say a foul has been committed. It's kind of sad that bipartisanship has become a one-way street. No one has worked harder than I have to try to accommodate the other side of the aisle. Mr. Speaker, one of the former speakers said we had refused to work with the Democrats. That's not true. We took 60 percent of their recommendations. And one reason we took longer than I had hoped was to make certain that everybody had a fair and open opportunity. The process was completely open by going to the ranking member's district for the first hearing and all the way to the west coast. In the amendment process, I told Members that everyone would be heard and everyone would have an opportunity to offer an amendment. Yes, we sat for 18 hours. We took over 100 amendments from the other side of the aisle, and each of them was considered with the respect and dignity that every Member of this body should have before everybody. This is not true. Again, I just don't think it's fair. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bishop) came to the floor and said that I was the only one that had a copy of the bill. In fact, the irony of it is that Mr. Bishop and his staff, everyone--in fact, all the Members were given a copy beforehand, which is twice the period of time in the past; and copies of the bill were distributed from his office, which he also admitted to in committee long before the bill came to the committee. The Secretary said this is the worst bill he has seen, and it is for bureaucrats and for people in those tall buildings in Washington, because we're consolidating programs. We went from six core programs to 130. We have offices that we don't need, duplicate programs. Someone is trying to actually do reform. Yes, we do substantial reform. They throw money at problems. We, at least, keep it level and we responsibly pay for it. But even when they threw money at things, like the stimulus that Mr. Shuster brought forward, 35 percent of the money and 2\1/2\ years later, that money was still sitting in the Federal Treasury because shovel-ready became a national joke; and it is a national joke because of the red tape, the bureaucracy, all by those people who may lose their jobs in those glass buildings right here in our Nation's Capital. Again, I don't think it's fair. I'm disappointed. We tried to do a 90-day bill. The House and the Senate are going to be out for 2 weeks for Easter. Then they come back, and one body is out and the other body is out and nobody is here. They weren't happy with 90 days, and we tried to accommodate the 60 days. This is a political game of ``gotcha,'' and it's unfortunate because there are many Americans who are counting on us for jobs and many people who have lost their home, particularly in the construction industry. They don't want rhetoric. They want action from this Congress. If we just had a cooperative effort on this, and true bipartisanship, we could get so much done for the American people. I'm saddened in a way, but I tell you I've done everything I can to move this forward. For some of those people I've talked to that don't have a job, that have lost their homes and their life savings, we need to put a few of them to work. And we can if people would stop the nonsense and move forward in a responsible fashion. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, let me speak to transportation and what we're doing in Congress on the Republican side. The other side of the aisle, the Democrat majority, had responsibility over transportation, and huge majorities for 4 years and control for 2 years of the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives. This week the President signed it into law, and we got it done. As the Cable Guy says, we're going to ``git 'er done.'' And we're getting her done. But you wouldn't know that the FAA bill was signed into law by the President. He signed it in the dark. He failed to send me even a bouquet of flowers or candy on Valentine's Day when he did it. He didn't want the American people to know that we succeeded in getting legislation that is responsible for 10 percent of our economy done, and we got it done without tax increases, cutting $3,700 subsidies for airline tickets. We're going to do the same thing with the transportation bill because it will put people to work and it will lower energy costs. So, Mr. Speaker, there's more, as Paul Harvey said, there's the rest of the story, and that's part of the story I came to tell you and the rest of the country and the Congress.

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 44 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. MICA

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 533, I call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 658) to amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the Federal Aviation Administration for fiscal years 2011 through 2014, to streamline programs, create efficiencies, reduce waste, and improve aviation safety and capacity, to provide stable funding for the national aviation system, and for other purposes.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the conference report to accompany H.R. 658.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Today, I am pleased to rise in support of the conference report for the FAA reauthorization. This is the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2012. First, I want to take a moment to thank Ranking Member Rahall, Chairman Petri, Ranking Member Costello, as well as Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Hutchison, and the conferees who worked on this conference report and the underlying bill so that we could reach an agreement on this conference report and this bipartisan bill. I also want to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall), the Science, Space, and Technology Committee chairman, who is with us this morning, as well as Ranking Member Levin of the Ways and Means Committee, for their assistance, and I want to thank other committees in Congress that have played important parts and have provided assistance to our Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to get this bill done. I must also thank the staff. If I look a little bedraggled this morning, our staff is probably even more bedraggled. Almost all of the members of the T&I Committee stayed through a markup that ended at 2:49 a.m. this morning, and they are here bright and chipper this morning. I appreciate all of the staff. I want to particularly thank Holly Woodruff Lyons, who is our staff director on the FAA subcommittee; Mr. Jim Coon, our staff director of the full committee; Amy Steinmann Smith, who is our policy director; Bailey Edwards; and Suzanne Mullen. I also have to give a special thanks to our legal counsel, who last night informed me she is resigning today. That was at about 2 a.m. in the morning, but it was with good plans for her, her family and her future. She has served the committee well. We'll miss her. It wasn't as a result of staying up all night and working on this bill, but I'm sure that provided some incentive. People don't understand how our staff works. On this measure, our staff worked over the holidays--and I'm talking about through Christmas last year and the New Year's holiday. They worked on weekends, and they worked late into the night, not unlike many Americans. They did this for many Americans who want to work, and that's what this legislation is about. This legislation deals with our entire American aviation industry. It sets all of the policy, all of the formulas. All of the major projects are outlined. This is the blueprint for the United States of America and, actually, for anywhere between 8 and 11 percent of our entire economic activity. Aviation, we take for granted, but two-thirds of all the people who fly in the world fly in the United States. Aviation has provided a magic carpet where today, these Members are here, Mr. Speaker, and in a few hours or several flights later, they'll be home--across the continent, to the far reaches of the United States and our territories. That's the magic it provides us. It's the engine that drives business and the economy for the United States, and this Congress failed to provide a reauthorization. I have only been the chair of this committee for a year now. I had the good fortune of being the chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation in 2001, and we wrote the last authorization, a 4-year bill, in 2003 that expired in 2007 when the other side of the aisle had control. For 4 years, they had control of the House and the Senate, and for 2 years, they had total control--House, Senate, White House. They could not pass a bill, a blueprint for the aviation industry. They passed 17 extensions, and the former FAA Administrator said it's causing havoc. These extensions cost the taxpayer millions of dollars, and you can't run an agency that's responsible for so much of our economy with these hiccup extensions. Now, we've done a total of 23, probably more extensions in the history of any other legislation that's come before this Congress for authorization of an activity within the government. Twenty-three. Seventeen. I had to do six. I got a little testy, I got tough, but I said, enough is enough. I was tough, and I think I did get people to come to their senses and say that this isn't a Republican or a Democrat issue. This isn't a labor a business issue. This is an issue about putting people to work and defining Federal policy for one of the most important aspects of our economy. So although it's tough, I intend to be tough. Last night, we stayed till 3 o'clock in the morning. We'll stay as long as it takes to get these measures done that are so important to drive the economic engine of America. With the transportation legislation last night, there were historic reforms, and we took 90 amendments, I believe, from the other side, in a very open process, and everyone had an opportunity to participate and vote on this FAA authorization and in the historic legislation that we passed at 2:49 a.m. this morning. So no one has been denied the opportunity to participate. It's amazing, when you come together, what you can get done, and the American people want that. They're tired of the bickering and they're tired of the fighting. Yes, we may have some heated discussions--yes, we may have differences of opinion--but we got the job done. So today is an historic day on two counts with two major accomplishments to pass a transportation bill, working, again, with Members, and I appreciate their work. Today, this historic conference report finally sets a blueprint for aviation industry and an important aspect of our economy. This sets the policy for also taking us into the next generation of air travel. It's called NextGen, next generation air traffic control, so our planes can fly safer in the skies, so we have the ability to save fuel, so that we can get from point to point and know where those aircraft are both in the air and on the ground. This legislation sets that blueprint. So I am very pleased to be here. I am pleased for the American people because the Congress has done its work. They don't want excuses. They want results. And today is a day of results for one of the longest-term extended authorizations in the history of the United States Congress. Mr. Speaker, it is important to document for the Record a clerical error in the message to the Senate regarding the House appointment of conferees on H.R. 658. On January 31, 2012, the Speaker appointed members of the Ways and Means committee to serve as conferees on, among other provisions, title VIII of the Senate amendment. The Journal, the House Calendar and the signature sheets on the conference report accurately depict this appointment. However, the message to the Senate provided that the appointment was for title VII of the Senate amendment. I want to assure Members that the House conferees acted in accordance with the Speaker's appointment. With those few remarks--and I will have additional--I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICA. I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri), the chair of the Aviation Subcommittee.

Mr. MICA. I yield myself 15 seconds to say how much Pat Mica and I have enjoyed our relationship with Jerry Costello and his wife, Georgia. People don't know a lot about Congress and how many friends there are across the aisle and how we can be privileged to have somebody like Jerry Costello, both to chair an aviation subcommittee and to be a ranking member, a key player. I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, one of the conferees, and a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Mr. Shuster.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. Let me just say that we did not change the provision of the law, that it still requires the same provisions that the NMB put in place that changed 70 years of labor law. Of anyone who shows up--if there are 1,000 people in the union and 200 show up--101 can have a vote and go into the union. We did change a requirement, and actually, I didn't negotiate it specifically.

Mr. MICA. I yield myself 30 additional seconds. That was negotiated by our Mr. Boehner, our Speaker, and the leadership controlled by the Democrats in the Senate. In fact, it is fair to labor because it does requires a certain number of people to sign up to have the election. I think it's a good compromise. The House voted to do away with the provision that the gentleman spoke about. Republicans are concerned and want to help labor. In fact, the vice-chair of our subcommittee, Mr. Cravaack, is a card-carrying member of the union. So that's bogus. I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall), the chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the young, dynamic leader and chair of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Palazzo).

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California, a senior member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Mr. Rohrabacher.

Mr. MICA. I would be pleased at this time to yield 1 minute to one of the most distinguished chairs of the Transportation Infrastructure Committee, a good friend, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).

Mr. MICA. I yield myself 30 seconds, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to hear the cooperative tone of the other side of the aisle, which had the opportunity, when it controlled the House, the Senate, and the White House, to pass a bill and failed to do so. But I'm really encouraged today by their willingness to come together in a bipartisan effort on behalf of the American people and to get one of the most important job creation infrastructure bills and pieces of legislation done, which is our responsibility. I yield 1 minute to the chair of the Aviation Subcommittee, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri).

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time remains on both sides.

Mr. MICA. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.