Rafferty, Thomas A., director of aviation, San Antonio International Airport; Albert J. Huber, general manager, Regional Airport Authority, Louisville and Jefferson County; George J. Berry, commissioner of aviation, city of Atlanta; Thomas J. Kapsalis, commissioner of aviation, city of Chicago; J. Donald Reilly, executive vice president, Airport Operators Council Interna- Richardson, Robert A., executive director, Helicopter Association Internation- al, and Richard G. Stutz, chairman, Heliports and Airways Action Group ..... Winant, John, president, National Business Aircraft Association, accompa- Prepared statement ADDITIONAL ARTICLES, LETTERS, AND STATEMENTS Aerospace Industries Association of America, Inc., statement. 193 197 de Lugo, Hon. Ron, U.S. Representative from the Virgin Islands, statement. Duffy, Thomas N., executive director, National Organization To Insure a Francois, Francis, executive director, American Association of State Highway 267 Grear, Ronald B., executive director, Omaha Airport Authority, statement.... 269 274 Hitchcock, Cornish F., associate director, Aviation Consumer Action Project, 272 AIRPORT AND AIRWAY SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1981 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1981 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION, The subcommittee met, in room 235, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Senator KASSEBAUM. The hearing will be in order. We are all here this morning in the interest of airport development and in hearing the testimony before us regarding the bill, S. 508, the Airport and Airway System Development Act of 1981, which we will include in the record after Senator Cannon is recognized. I have no opening statement to make other than to state that this is the second go-around at efforts that were initiated by Senator Cannon last year in support of airport and airway development. It was successful in the Senate, and I lent strong support to that. We are continuing to move in that direction, hopefully, with some success, and some refinements that will be, eventually, beneficial. Senator Cannon. OPENING STATEMENT BY SENATOR CANNON Senator CANNON. Thank you very much, Chairman Kassebaum. First, I want to congratulate you and Chairman Packwood for your leadership in introducing S. 508 and beginning the hearing process without delay. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of the new Senate bill. These hearings look to be especially interesting, considering the divergent views on how the Aviation Trust Fund program should be utilized. However, in light of some of the extreme proposals we are about to receive, I think it is important to remind all of the witnesses of our starting point. Today we have a 5-percent ticket tax which feeds the General Treasury the equivalent of $1.1 billion; a 4-cent-per-gallon fuel tax, no waybill tax, no international departure tax, 3,000 airports that are federalized, and a surplus in the trust fund of at least $3.7 billion that is not growing larger. Now, I can think of a better formula than that, but other people are doing a good job of thinking of much worse formulas, in my opinion. So I want to make clear about my intentions. One of the options before us to support is the status quo and oppose the legislation which does more harm than good. I prefer to find a compromise package for reauthorization which I can sup (1) port, and clearly, S. 508 with a matching tax bill would represent such a package. However, if an acceptable compromise cannot be reached, I will not hesitate to make the argument that no bill is a more constructive route for our aviation industry. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. Senator KASSEBAUM. Thank you, Senator Cannon. [The bill follows:] To provide for the improvement of the Nation's airport and airway system, and for other purposes. II IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 20 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 16), 1981 Mrs. KASSEBAUM (for herself, Mr. PACKWOOD, and Mr. CANNON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 1 A BILL To provide for the improvement of the Nation's airport and airway system, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That this Act may be cited as the "Airport and Airway 4 System Development Act of 1981". 5 7 བ DECLARATION OF POLICY 6 SEC. 2. The Congress hereby finds and declares that— the safe operation of the airport and airwaysystem will continue to be the highest aviation priority; continuing airport and airway improvement programs and more effective management and utiliza 8 9 10 1 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 2 tion of the Nation's airport and airway system are re quired to meet the current and projected growth of aviation and the requirements of interstate commerce, the Postal Service, and the national defense; all airport and airway programs should be administered in a manner consistent with the provisions of sections 102 and 103 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C. 1302 and 1303), as amended by the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, with due regard for the goals expressed therein of fostering competition, preventing unfair methods of competition in air transportation, maintaining essential air transportation, and preventing unjust and discriminatory practices; this Act should be administered in a manner to provide adequate navigation aids and airport facilities, including reliever airports, for points with scheduled commercial air service; this Act should be administered in a manner to maximize the use of safety facilities, with highest priority for commercial service airports, including but not limited to, the goal of installing, operating, and maintaining a precision approach system and a full ap 23 proach light system for each primary runway, grooving 2285 22253 24 or friction treatment of all primary and secondary run ways, a nonprecision instrument approach for all sec |