(Senate - September 13, 1995)

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague Senator Ford, to introduce legislation that will streamline the Federal Aviation Administration in a comprehensive and responsible manner. This bill was developed to ensure that in this era of fiscal accountability, the FAA can continue to operate the safest air traffic control system in the world. Our work on this bill began with the premise that aviationsafety was no place for partisan conflict or for gamesmanship between the legislative and executive branches. We worked to craft a bipartisan solution that brings together the views and experience of all the parties engaged in aviation safety. We also sought a partnership with the administration to get the job done.

Currently, one of the most challenging tasks for those of us in Congress who want to balance the budget is to find innovative and workable solutions to ensure that essential Government services not only continue, but are performed even better. Federal regulation of airline safety is one such service that virtually everyone agrees must continue and, in fact, should undergo major modernization. Indeed, after several major air traffic computer systems failed this summer, the traveling public is right to be concerned about what the Government intends to do about the problem. Traditionally, the Government's response would have been to pour more tax money into the FAA's budget. Under the new budget resolution, however, that will not be possible. More importantly, the truth is that simply spending money does not guarantee improvements anyway.

For those of responsible for the oversight of aviationsafety, the focus in the FAA reform debate is now how we can actually improve airline safety at the same time that the amount of tax dollars spent on the FAA is cut back. We believe that the legislation being introduced today, by making major reforms at the FAA and changing the way the agency is financed, can accomplish this goal. In addition, this bill enables us and the agency to create incentives to reduce or eliminate current operational inefficiencies that cost airlines and their passengers billions each year.

Specifically, our proposed legislation will take the FAA as far as possible out of the political environment and provide it with a clear direction and stable source of funding. It will free this essential agency from many restrictive regulations and requirements, particularly in the areas of procurement and personnel. Most significantly, however, it will compel the FAA to become an organization that is far more responsive to the needs of those who use the air traffic control system--air carriers, general aviation , and the traveling public.

It is designed to provide the kind of direction and incentives that will result in a safer and far more efficient air transportation system.

As the FAA reform debate has intensified this year, the role of the FAA has come under intense scrutiny. Without question, the FAA has provided the United States with the finest aviation safety system in the world. However, this is an agency that has major flaws. It has spent over $20 billion in the last decade for a modernization program that is way over budget and has never lived up to its promise. Moreover, the operational inefficiencies resulting from the failure of the modernization program are measured in billions of dollars annually.

Some have suggested that the FAA's problems could be solved simply by procurement reform--in other words, by giving the agency the ability to cut redtape in buying equipment. Although we acknowledge that procurement reform is important, even essential, that alone does not do enough. Without changing the basic mission and structure of the organization, procurement reform would merely be a way of allowing an agency to make bad purchasing decisions even faster. Our proposed legislation reflects an understanding that we had to do more than procurement and personnel reform to resolve the FAA's problems. Our bill recognizes that the legislative and budget constraints under which the FAA works are simply too restrictive to make the fundamental changes necessary.