Transportation and Infrastructure

Legislation allowing the government to re-direct millions of dollars was approved in an overwhelming 361-41 vote.

The House is expected to vote today on a bill that would let the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) dodge the sequester, which could end the battle over rising flight delays around the country.

Late Thursday, the Senate passed S. 853, the Reducing Flight Delays Act. The bill gives the secretary of transportation to move up to $253 million to the FAA to help avoid furloughs of thousands of air traffic controllers.

The passage of the bill, sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), capped a day of scrambling.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) read a letter from an anonymous whistle blower Thursday, that said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is pressuring union employees to all take the same furlough day off so that air travel shuts down.

“Management at FAA is trying to make union employees all take the same day off … so that the sequester can hurt,” Coburn said on the Senate floor. “How cynical, how un-American is that?”

Two House Democrats have proposed legislation that would require the government to set up an appeals process for people who are delayed at airports by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) after being "wrongly identified as a threat."

The Fair, Accurate, Secure and Timely (FAST) Redress Act, H.R. 1583, would give people an avenue for contesting TSA decisions to screen them against the terrorist watch list. Misidentification by the TSA against the terrorist watch list can lead to delays or even banning people from boarding a flight.

A House lawmaker said Tuesday that by allowing air traffic controllers to be furloughed, President Obama is using the sequester as a political weapon to make the case for higher taxes.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said the furlough of about 14,000 air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is leading to "politically motivated" flight delays all around the country.

"This administration seems bound and determined to wield their sequester … like a club in order to drive their political agenda," Meadows said on the House floor.

"These unnecessary flight delays are just the latest proof that this administration is clearly more interested in making a political point than coming up with serious solutions to the problems that our nation faces," he said.

The fight on who is to blame for sequestration continued on the Senate floor Tuesday.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) blamed President Obama and his administration for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) furloughs that will cause long delays for travelers at airports this summer.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned travelers that sequestration cuts will feel real this summer because of lengthy flight delays.

“Whether traveling from Maine or Montana they should expect a long delay for a flight,” Reid said on the Senate floor Monday. “Millions of Americans who fly will get their first taste of the pain of sequestration.”

Lawmakers from several states are pushing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to go beyond its two-month delay in closing 149 air traffic control towers, and to use the delay to find ways to avoid these closures altogether.

On Monday, Connecticut's entire congressional delegation welcomed the FAA's Friday announcement of the delay, but said a two-month delay should not be seen as a final answer.

Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) is calling on his House colleagues to support the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) policy of allowing small knives onto passenger aircraft, despite efforts from dozens of others in Congress to reverse this decision.

In a "dear colleague" letter sent last week, Salmon said TSA's proposal to allow small pocket knives on board later this month would help TSA focus on keeping bombs, guns and other weapons off flights.