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Federal Document Clearing House Congressional Testimony

February 29, 2000

SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY

LENGTH: 2907 words

HEADLINE: TESTIMONY February 29, 2000 BILL CAMPBELL MAYOR CITY OF ATLANTA HOUSE TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE AVIATION FAA BUDGET

BODY:
THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF MAYORS Statement of The Honorable Bill Campbell Mayor of Atlanta on Pending Aviation Issues before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation U.S. House of Representatives February 29, 2000 Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I am Bill Campbell, Mayor of Atlanta. I thank you for this opportunity to talk with you today on pending aviation issues. I am testifying today on behalf of the City of Atlanta and The United States Conference of Mayors, where I chair the Conference's Transportation and Communications Committee. Mr. Chairman, I am also pleased to-join with my colleague, Susan Savage, the Mayor of Tulsa, to share our views on the need for Congressional action on a comprehensive aviation renewal bill. We are here today to make our urgent call to end the deadlock in the House-Senate Conference Committee and pass this legislation. Just like our strong support of this Committee and its efforts to bolster investment in surface transportation through TEA-21, Mayors strongly support you and this Committee's efforts to secure a final aviation agreement that follows what is set forth in ((AIR-2 I.)) And, our members have engaged with their Representatives and Senators in pressing for this legislation. Overview Today I come before you as the Mayor overseeing the busiest airport in the world, Hartsfield International Airport. In this capacity, I would like to underscore the importance of the aviation legislation now pending before this Congress. And, I would suggest that getting an agreement this year on the legislation is among the most important questions for the 106th Congress. It is now an undeniable fact that the future health and overall competitiveness of the U.S. economy, and the city/county metro economies that drive it, is directly tied to the strength and performance of the nation's aviation infrastructure. Our experience in the Atlanta region offers compelling evidence of the need for this nation to take stock of the role of aviation in helping to build world class economies for the 21" century. Hartsfield International Airport Let me talk more specifically about Atlanta's Hartsfield and the Atlanta region. Last year Hartsfield became the busiest airport in the world, providing services to more than 78 million passengers. Today, more than one of every ten passengers passes through Hartsfield. This is an incredible rate when you consider that there were about 650 million passenger enplanements in 1999. This did not happen by accident. It was about the vision of local leaders in our region to make the investment in critical infrastructure to build a strong economic base for the region. They understood early on that aviation investment is a powerful ingredient in building strong local economies. I believe that AIR-21 is a contemporary example of this same kind of vision,, by investing the resources over time that builds the economic assets of America's future prosperity. The performance of this critical transportation asset - Hartsfield - has been for some time, and will continue for the foreseeable future, to fuel the economy of the greater Atlanta metro region, our state and the U.S. economy. We have calculated that Hartsfield has a $15 billion annual economic impact on the Atlanta region, an output that is nearly equal to the entire output of the State of Vermont. This is a powerful statement about the critical importance of investment in our infrastructure. And, mayor after mayor can offer their own testimonials about the role of aviation investment in securing their futures. Our airport now anchors a regional economy that in 1998 outpaced U.S. economic growth by more than two to one. And, here on Capitol Hill, all of us continue to be amazed by the growth of the national economy. From 1997-1998, the Atlanta metro area grew by 10.77 percent. For every ten dollars our economy generated in 1997, we were producing more than eleven dollars one year later. And,, the benefits of this output, including the performance of our airport, extend well beyond the boundaries of our region. I am here to tell you today that Hartsfield is a big part of our region's economic growth. AIR-21 and Hartsfield Yet we don't take this success for granted. We are continuing to invest in the facilities and improvements that are needed to keep our airport performing. We are increasingly concerned about continuing delays, and not just those at our airport, but here on Capitol Hill. Our entitlement funds under the AIP program and payments under our LOI (Letter of Intent) for our new runway are held hostage by the stalled negotiations over AIR-21. As I just discussed, our airport has a $15 billion economic impact on the Atlanta region, and to secure this for the future, Hartsfield and for that matter all airports that are so vital to their communities' economic vitality, must have the federal partnership resources provided by AIR-2 1. Hartsfield's capital improvement needs now total about $8 billion over the next 15 years. The resources and authorities provided under AIR-21 are crucial to our airport and so many others that continue to experience shortfalls in funding needs, as demands on our aviation infrastructure continue to escalate. Mr. Chairman,, we thank you and the Members of this Subcommittee for your leadership, and we so much appreciate the very able and committed leadership of Chairman Shuster and Ranking Minority Member Oberstar, and for the vision you have set forth in AIR-21. This legislation provides the framework to help us close this shortfall in capital needs and respond to the rising demands of the traveling public and the businesses that are so dependent upon the performance of our aviation system. Support of Mayors for AIR-21 Let me talk about the features of AIR-21 and how it will help us finance our needs at Hartsfield and for other airport needs throughout the nation's aviation system. AIR-21 would - - ensure that funds collected are expended on aviation needs, and provide certainty over time on what funds will be available; - triple annual "entitlement" grants under the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) that flow to the 'primary' airports; -increase the availability of AIP discretionary funds to support significant investments at many airports; -allow airports to increase Passenger Facility Charges (PFC); -double AIP entitlement grants for cargo airports; -increase funding commitments to noise mitigation; and -make changes to the AIP program to ensure funding for smaller airports and strengthen the national system. These provisions explain why the nation's mayors so strongly support your efforts on this legislation. I was pleased to author a strong policy resolution last year at the Conference of Mayors' 1999 Annual Business Meeting which conveyed the mayors" strong support for AIR-21. I should also point out that this statement included our support for a continuing "fair share") allocation of general fund revenues in support of AIR-21 and investments at FAA and at our airports. Let me make a few additional points about the legislation. Like the debate on TEA-21, we are strongly committed to the principle that aviation trust fund revenues be expended for the purposes for which these revenues were collected. This is a must. At a time when the federal government's fiscal house is in order, this is the time to make good on the pledge to the traveling public and others. And, we need to recognize the relatively modest share of the federal revenue commitment we are talking about in putting trust back into the aviation trust fund. And, to weigh the many sizable economic benefits we will secure from committing these funds to aviation needs. Mayors are also familiar with the continuing debate over the PFC. These are not taxes, these are fees from the users of these assets. Local governments could not function under the standard some are suggesting in calling these taxes. How could cities operate the many user-based systems and other enterprise functions for water, stormwater, wastewater, electric and the like under this view of the world? In calling for an increase to $6 from the present level of $3 in order to help us meet our local capital needs, I note with amusement that the air carriers are allowed to levy $15 and $20 surcharges on all tickets to cover the recent spike in fuel costs, while our airports are not allowed to raise their fees to meet expansion needs. Conclusion Mr. Chairman, let me again reiterate how important the AIR-21 legislation is to our efforts to secure our economic future. I was pleased that the Administration in its recent budget request is proposing additional funding commitments to elements of the AIR- 21 legislation. The mayors will continue to press-the case for why action on the AIR-21 legislation is so crucial at this time. I note that a recent state-by-state survey reveals that at least $1.2 billion in projects could be lost for this construction season if AIR-21 is not passed soon. You should also know that Conference of Mayors President and Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb has made enactment of AIR- 21 one of the organization's top legislative priorities for this year. Mayor Webb also recently released the Conference's "Agenda for America's Cities, 51 which sets forth a 10-point program that emphasizes the importance of infrastructure investment like aviation. Again, let me thank you, Mr. Chairman, and the Members of the Subcommittee, Chairman Shuster, Ranking Minority Member Oberstar, and the Members of the full Committee for your strong leadership on these matters. Thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today.

LOAD-DATE: March 1, 2000