Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced that there is a deal to end an almost two week impasse in Congress on the operations of the Federal Aviation Administration. The deal is expected to be approved on Friday when the Senate has a scheduled "pro forma" session.
Here is a statement issued by Reid's office:
"I am pleased to announce that we have been able to broker a bipartisan compromise between the House and the Senate to put 74,000 transportation and construction workers back to work. This agreement does not resolve the important differences that still remain. But I believe we should keep Americans working while Congress settles its differences, and this agreement will do exactly that."
The deal will involve the Senate accepting the House FAA bill, but after the measure is signed into law, then Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood will use waiver authority in that bill to waive the Essential Air Service provisions as they impact a small number of airports.
Basically, that is a "clean" extension of the FAA authorization legislation, which means Congress will return after Labor Day to fight on these issues again.
As for Secretary LaHood, he issued this statement:
"This is a tremendous victory for American workers everywhere. From construction workers to our FAA employees, they will have the security of knowing they are going to go back to work and get a paycheck - and that's what we've been fighting for. We have the best aviation system in the world and we intend to keep it that way."
From Capitol Hill came some jabs as this deal was announced, as Democrats again blamed Republicans for "hostage taking" in this FAA squabble - this from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).
"The Senate reached a resolution today because we need to allow FAA safety workers to get back on the job and the American economy needs thousands of construction workers building airports. House Republicans made it clear they would continue to hold the entire aviation system hostage. I deplore those tactics, but ultimately the stakes for real people are too high.
"It's clear the right wing of the GOP wants to undo worker protections and may again block progress on the FAA bill in September in order to get its way. Thankfully, for now, this deal allows the FAA to restart, maintains workers' rights, and ensures that rural airports can get the resources they need, with language that protects deserving small communities whose airports are the lifeblood of their economies."
President Obama added this statement from the White House:
I'm pleased that leaders in Congress are working together to break the impasse involving the FAA so that tens of thousands of construction workers and others can go back to work. We can't afford to let politics in Washington hamper our recovery, so this is an important step forward.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced that there is a deal to end an almost two week impasse in Congress on the operations of the Federal Aviation Administration. The deal is expected to be approved on Friday when the Senate has a scheduled "pro forma" session. Here is a ...
