Three Congressmen Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Restore Tower Funding | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.10.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Fri, Apr 12, 2013

Three Congressmen Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Restore Tower Funding

Two Republicans And One Democrat Co-Sponsoring The Bill In The U.S. House

Congressmen Tom Cotton (R-AR-04), Bruce Braley (D-IA-01), and Richard Hudson (R-NC-08) (pictured, L-R) have introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to restore funding for contractor-operated air traffic control towers in the U.S.

Funding for the towers was cut due to sequestration. The FAA said that because of the way the Department of Transportation is structured, there was no other way for the department to meet its budget reduction targets other than to close 149 contract control towers. The three representatives say their bill, H.R. 1432, the Air Traffic Control Tower Funding Restoration Act, would restore funding for contractor-operated air-traffic-control towers without appropriating new funds.

“Last month, the FAA announced it would direct what we believe are a disproportionate share of their sequestration cuts towards the Federal Contract Towers program budget. During Senate consideration of fiscal year 2013 appropriations last month, Senator Moran (R-KS) led a bipartisan group of senators in offering an amendment to provide funding to the contract towers," the Congressmen said in a prepared statement. "Unfortunately, the amendment was not brought up for a vote, meaning 150 air-traffic-control towers will close on June 15, and an additional 16 towers will shut down by year’s end.

"Local air-traffic-control towers have served a vital role in our country’s aviation infrastructure for over 30 years and are integral to the success of local businesses and rural communities. They prove to be a safe, cost-effective alternative to federally operated towers in low-traffic areas and should not be closed without an opportunity to evaluate alternative approaches the FAA could take within its operating budget.

“In the interim, the Air Traffic Control Tower Funding Restoration Act would provide control-tower funding through a rescission of unobligated funds within the current FAA budget. We urge the FAA to reevaluate these impending cuts and look forward to working with our colleagues as this legislation advances.”

A companion bill was to have been introduced in the Senate Wednesday, but a news conference called by a group of Senators including Jerry Moran (R-KS), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), James Inhofe (R-OK), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN.), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and David Vitter (R-LA) to announce the bill was postponed and has not yet been rescheduled.

FMI: http://cotton.house.gov, http://braley.house.gov, http://hudson.house.gov

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Final Report: Aviat A1

Airplane Bounced About 3 Ft Then Touched Back Down And Then, With No Brakes Applied, The Airplane Began Veering To The Left Analysis: The pilot entered the airport traffic pattern >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.08.25)

Aero Linx: British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) The primary focus within all aviation activity is SAFETY. In all aspects of our sport SAFETY must come first, whether it b>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Fly Corvair’s Reliable Engine Alternative

From SnF25 (YouTube Edition): William Wynne Builds Practical Aircraft Engines on the Corvair Platform Seeking an affordable alternative to the traditional aircraft engine options, >[...]

ANN FAQ: Contributing To Aero-TV

How To Get A Story On Aero-TV News/Feature Programming How do I submit a story idea or lead to Aero-TV? If you would like to submit a story idea or lead, please contact Jim Campbel>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: CiES Fuel-Quantity and e-Throttle Systems Praised

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Bridge of CiES CiES Inc. is a Bend, Oregon-based designer and manufacturer of modular embedded aircraft systems and sensors. The company’s fuel-l>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC