URGENT! – REJECT THE CURRENT FAA REAUTHORIZATION ACT
Quiet Rockland
P.O. Box 918
Pearl River, NY 10965 USA
(845) 735-9691 (phone)
(845) 735-0476 (fax)
Monday, November 9, 2009 - URGENT! – REJECT THE CURRENT FAA REAUTHORIZATION ACT
Re: Quiet Rockland Urges All Senator-Members Of The United States Senate Committee On Finance
To Reject Or Amend The FAA Reauthorization Act
Dear All Honorable Senators Of The United States Senate Committee On Finance:
We ask you to please vote “NO” on the current FAA Reauthorization Act. This letter is written on behalf of all Quiet Rockland members, in solidarity with 47,000 residents of Orangetown NY, 300,000 residents of Rockland County NY, and over 30,000,000 Americans adversely affected by the FAA’s ill-conceived proposed “NY/NJ/PHL Airspace Redesign”. Quiet Rockland opposes all fast-tracking and blank-check financing of FAA mismanagement and the lobbyist aero-enablers that seek unchecked profligate aviation spending to feather their own respective nests. We have no objection to bona fide technological improvements enhancing safety. We fully support the NATCA refusal to ever again accept FAA-imposed “work rules” during any future collective bargaining impasse. But we categorically repudiate unchecked cash infusions to a Tombstone Agency that currently acts like they don’t care if we live or die.
We are a non-partisan group. We do not support, and REJECT, the FAA Reauthorization Act as written. Any “Yes” vote for this Bill as currently constituted will effectively render Congress powerless over current and future FAA malfeasance and economic waste. The bad far outweighs the good in this bill. We respectfully request that all members of the Senate Finance Committee please closely examine the two (2) Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reports on FAA and ARC, before considering any support of planned massive funding increases for NextGen and its fatally-flawed NY/NJ/PHL Airspace Redesign. FAA continues to fail on a colossal scale according to the new audit and testimony:
http://gaonet.gov/products/GAO-10-188T
http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d10188thigh.pdf
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10188t.pdf
http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2557
http://www.oig.dot.gov/StreamFile?file=/data/pdfdocs/NextGen_RTCA_Testimony_Final_10-28-09.pdf
Honorable Senators, if you elect to ignore these above-linked GAO reports, the American voting public will adjudge you to be directly complicit in FAA’s gross mismanagement of taxpayer dollars – past, present, and future. The GAO Reports serve as constructive notice to the world, including to us and each of you, of the bungled methodology of FAA’s multi-billion-dollar “projects”. Accordingly, you would be taking on an ill-advised and significant political liability if you vote in favor of FAA funding authorization this year, without at minimum first crafting amendments to provide protections against this now-well-recorded gross FAA waste and mismanagement of the people’s money. FAA must address these glaring issues before obtaining any funding, much less anything resembling a blank-check. FAA needs to do its homework, re-group, and re-do. FAA cannot be allowed to continue operate multi-billion-dollar “projects” without cost-benefit analysis, risk analysis, and benchmarks. That is NO WAY to run a federal agency responsible for aviation safety and the lives of innocent Americans. Congress needs to be vocal and decisive in opposition to the current FAA Reauthorization bill - because Congress holds the people’s checkbook.
Respectfully submitted,
Quiet Rockland - No New Flights Over Rockland County, NY
cc: ALL UNITED STATES SENATORS ON THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, ALL OTHER U.S. SENATORS, ALL U.S. REPRESENTATIVES, THE GAO, OTHER FEDERAL OFFICIALS, STATE OFFICIALS, COUNTY OFFICIALS, TOWN OFFICIALS, LAWYERS, CITIZENS, BUSINESSES, GROUPS, NEWS MEDIA, LAW ENFORCEMENT, CLERGY, EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS, OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES, OTHER U.S.-FRIENDLY COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD, EMBASSIES, WORLD MEDIA, AND USDOT, FAA, AND NASA PERSONNEL
Quiet Rockland
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-6200
(202) 224-4515
Democrats
MAX BAUCUS, MT <http://baucus.senate.gov>
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, WV <http://rockefeller.senate.gov>
KENT CONRAD, ND <http://conrad.senate.gov>
JEFF BINGAMAN, NM <http://bingaman.senate.gov>
JOHN F. KERRY, MA <http://kerry.senate.gov>
BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, AR <http://lincoln.senate.gov>
RON WYDEN, OR <http://wyden.senate.gov>
CHARLES E. SCHUMER, NY <http://schumer.senate.gov>
MARIA CANTWELL, WA <http://cantwell.senate.gov/>
BILL NELSON, FL http://billnelson.senate.gov/
ROBERT MENENDEZ, NJhttp://menendez.senate.gov/
THOMAS CARPER, DE <http://carper.senate.gov/>
REPUBLICANS
CHUCK GRASSLEY, IA <http://grassley.senate.gov/>
ORRIN G. HATCH, UT <http://hatch.senate.gov>
OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, ME <http://snowe.senate.gov> FOR US-
JON KYL, AZ <http://kyl.senate.gov>
JIM BUNNING, KY <http://bunning.senate.gov>
MIKE CRAPO, ID <http://crapo.senate.gov>
PAT ROBERTS, KS <http://roberts.senate.gov>
JOHN ENSIGN, NV <http://ensign.senate.gov/> KIND OF AGAINST US – PRESSURE HIM
MIKE ENZI, WY <http://enzi.senate.gov/public/>
JOHN CORNYN, TX <http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/>