CONSERVATIVES SUPPORT UNLOCKING AVIATION TRUST FUND -- HON. BUD SHUSTER (Extensions of Remarks - March 09, 1999)

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HON. BUD SHUSTER OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1999

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, unlocking the Aviation Trust Fund is a tax fairness issue. Republicans should unanimously support this effort, because it restores honesty to the budget process. A part of the budget surplus comes from aviation user fees that the travelling public pays on a promise from Congress to ensure a safe and efficient transportation system. In ten years, under current aviation investment patterns, it will be neither safe nor efficient.

Moreover, investment in assets for America is a Republican concept and sound transportation infrastructure is the foundation of commerce and our economy. We can credit Theodore Roosevelt with the vision to build the Panama Canal, and Dwight Eisenhower for the Interstate Highway System. Republicans have historically been the party of builders and we should continue to advocate sound federal programs that enrich our nation and our quality of life.

I am submitting for the record a letter from Paul Weyrich, National Chairman of the Coalition for Americans, supporting our efforts to unlock the Aviation Trust Fund and make much-needed investment in our airports and air traffic control system.

Let it not be under our watch that the nation's aviation system falls into such disrepair that Americans are imperiled when they take to the skies. I urge my conservative colleagues to support protecting the Aviation Trust Fund by cosponsoring H.R. 111, the ``Truth in Budgeting Act,'' and supporting a Budget Resolution that reflects this critical priority.

Coalitions for America,

Washington, DC, March 8, 1999.
Hon. BUD SHUSTER,

Rayburn House Office Building,

Washington, DC.
DEAR CHAIRMAN SHUSTER: I am writing to congratulate you for introducing AIR-21, a bill to ensure adequate funding for the national air transportation system. Your proposal to require that federal aviation user taxes be used for their intended purposes--particularly development of airports and the air traffic system--is commendable. The needs of the aviation system are so massive that all available funds must be spent. The health of our economy depends to a very significant extent on a vibrant air transporation system.
I also applaud your inclusion in AIR-21 of a provision to lift the federally imposed restriction on the local airport funding option known as the passenger facility charge (PFC). As I stated in my letter of February 8, whenever there is an opportunity for the federal government to provide more autonomy to local governments, it should do so. Your bill does that. While it would be preferable to remove the PFC cap entirely, easing the federal restriction on local government funding prerogatives by doubling the amount of funds that airports can raise through this means is a constructive step. I urge you to continue to pursue the goal of eliminating the federal cap on PFC's, but in the meantime, I support the provision in your bill. I urge your colleagues in the House and Senate to support it as well.
It is also critical to ensure that airports have the ability to spend the PFC to meet the needs that exist at their particular facilities. For some airports, the needs are greatest on the airside--runways, taxiways, and aprons. At other airports, gates and related facilities throughout the terminal are needed to expand capacity or enhance competition. At still other airports, groundside access is the biggest problem. Given that PFCs are collected from the passenger, any project that makes the passenger's trip to or through the airport more efficient and less susceptible to congestion and delays--whether airside, in the terminal, or groundside--should be allowed.
I know that you are particularly concerned about protecting the interests of passengers. Ensuring that airports have the flexibility to use PFCs to fund projects that ease the burdens encountered by the traveling public any where at the airport will certainly be in the passengers' interest.
Again, I applaud your commitment to promote the development of the national air transportation system, for the benefit of our national and regional economies and the passengers and shippers who use the system.
Sincerely,
Paul M. Weyrich,

National Chairman.

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