The motion is agreed to. I want to thank everything being being here today and talking about exextremely important i believe reforming it, make it a better system treemly if it depends on an efficient. We need nod earn 241st vench si but it is increasingly absleet. Just to quote him we had not too long ago. Congress has tried to reform it. It didnt fix. Then theres the shape of the bureaucracy. To deal with some of the midlevel management. But that didnt take either. He beon in order to ffrm and not subject to appropriations are thousand dollar downs that everybody degree there is a problem. Its you the form with it to reokay. The if dv we wasted over 50 million any so far we looked at air transportation, air frakt risment today well focus ton if die vesting the it was nechl and shifting it to an indepen dit for profit we can. No oers have is to to improve travel our hardhearne relationship inoff right. It has bp sbroeken for kids. It will identity doom us to rewe peting if and over. She quest ration isnt it lead to reduced operation, chbl i trooed to shut down contract ares. Not going to change mu time soon and it whached the annual apropuation tyke l. Over that time Period Congress massed 42 continuous resolutions to keep the oar open. It before they passed i dont remember. Testimony of air traffic flom sadly in todays paper strips which i have got a few to be from from tur and is nchl we all know any progress enkre mep it will nm mental. Lets peb name sz nex general was failed efforts to no, maam it money has never been the problem. Congress provided more than 7. 4 billion. Results of the problem, according to the faas own calculation invested has only been about 2 billion in benefits. The projected initial cost was 40 billion. It could double or triple and be delayed another decade. They also said it will forever redefine how we manage the system. In 2015 the National Research council confirmed what was already becoming painfully clear. The original version of next gen is not broadly transformational. Only in the federal government with such a dismal records be considered a success. Its an approach we have already tried many times additional reforms in 1995 exempt the faa from federal personal rules and allowed more flexible rules for hiring and assigning personnel. Reforms developed to me gauche jit additional reform in 2000 be tree yacht air traffic coordination. Reforms in 2012 to report next jen all have failed to toll to the f ark a being run more lj a if testimony it is the only akblen si that serves as trons farm moigs per are if it is too many for nrm fnchts fchl the true rest k. But we are open to chak. We want that talk to people abdomen get their ideas. Thats what we hope to hear today. Air Traffic Control proposal will create a not for proffer corporation. Fund the new Service Provider. Free the new Service Provider from governmental dysfunction, political interference and the uncertainty of the federal budget to process. Create a structure that is right sized and balanced i need to repeat fiduciary responsibility. If you you have fi dish area responsibili fiduciary, thats the pie in the sky. Access to the air space. Let me for the record remind people, i am from a rural district. I have one very small airport. I doubt i have more than a handful of people that work for the Airline Industry. I have several hundred ga pilots. If anybody thinks i want to harm the ga or Rural Communities they dont know who i am and where im from. I am committed to make sure what we do protects small and Rural Communities and protects the ga community. The ga community is over a billion dollars industry. Why would i want to harm an industry that produces so much good for this country . We want to ensure to support our Armed Services and their Nation National security mission. Free from the bureaucratic and the apropuations site and failed management. Give ability to access and Leverage Private funding need today modernize the mission. Ensure continued oversight by the d. O. T. And congress. Lots of people thats why they will still maintain vig uorous oversight. To realize the significant benefits of modern air Traffic Control system. Previous letter chases is to fete president it of the way. We see all over the world people tushing to the private sector whether it is europe, asia, canada, look around the world. Countries are looking to partner with the private sector because they see they do it better. Well go up to learn from the lessons and learn to help our own broken structure. Over 60 countries are followed this kind of reform. Opponents either ignore to evidence or must believe we are less capable. It is a bit outrageous. We can do it better than anybody else. It is time to take a look and move forward. It is a 24 7 technology service. For those who worry that the system is too complex i would say this, the most complex thing is not the air Traffic Control system, its the airplane. Its the people that build these aircrafts. They already oversee how maintenance and that flight information is. We dont build airplanes today. The government does. Overseeing air Traffic Control is not going to be more complicated than anything else they already do. Ultimately when it is safe efficient aviation to ensure more on time departures using less fuel which will be better for the environment and less waist waste of time on the tarmac. Ill yield to other members. Thats the longest Opening Statement since jim overstar. You only did it in one language. Thanks for the time. First off, i have spent over an hour with the foremost expert and longest termed critic and Movement Towards the 21st century system. Im not aware that any other member has spent that time and he has not been invited to testify. He has a different story to tell it today. He thinks it will be mistake and im paraphrasing. A massive change will into parts. It is subject to apropuations, she que leave the most important thing to the American Public i know the airlines arent here today and i would also note the airlines themselves have had t outages 36 times since 2015. Im not aware the national air Traffic Control system has had a major disruption who had to get the system and back up system. The airlines on their owns have managed to melt down their dispatch 36 times stranding million of people so they can do it better, right . I think maybe we should invite them in here and hear the story of how things changed and progress we are making and potential for disripuption at ts point in time. Unfortunately the way our colleagues are here and the budget process works they can be sequestered or shut down. Its a simple simple fix. Well put it over here and take this one part and put it over here and say its not your money that effects the price of ticket and competition and everything else. If they do away with ticket tax there goes 70 of revenues. What will they put in its place . We dont know. Congress will have no say over this. There will be a board, if i could have that slide if you could put this slide up, please. Anything that effects competition will go through this process. The secretary will have established consultants or her office who will advise secretary of limited period of time. If the word bis agrdisagree the court. Congress will have nothing to say about who people or the American People are charged for running that system. Now, we have heard other things here that are, you know, interesting construct. We are way behind because we dont use adsb. Can we get a slide . Okay. This is the oceanic air space. Youll notice that the vast majority of the plains are in oceanic control by u. K. And canada. We have one aircraft for every 51 in the air over the United States of america. Now go to the second slide. Oh, by the way yeah, go to the second slide. Now, see all of that yellow . Thats the u. S. That will be totally adsb satellite based in 2020 with an exception. The airlines have been given permission from the faa for exceptions because many of their older planes do not have modern enough gps systems to use the adsb. They have petitioned they have more years before those plains would be able to use the system. So we are being criticized because we wont pay a bunch of money but we are going to put my fear is there were disruptions in canada and Great Britain and a bail out and, you know, they every system that has all of the others in the world have gone to governmentbased corporations or government controlled corporations. They theres only two countries that have gone the other way. Mine have done studies. There will be a period of d disruptio disruptions. N they are on furlough because to Super Congress the people over here who have to certify it cant work. It does not make sense to me. The chairman talked to me about the reforms. It is who i think has made tremendous strides compared to anyone else in recent history. They failed because congress failed to say that the trolls and the secretary couldnt meddle. The propoeszed reforms cant go forward because they took control as they do over too many things and they ended up with a system you know, thats the way it happened. It is whose proposals because they are not be subject to meddling by the secretary of transportation and her staff. Put it off. It is already raising the revenue. Well figure out a different way to raise revenue and by the way, forget about safety. Forget about certification. After thoughts over there in the government not funded by any stable source. I invited a witness today. His family has been involved and wont have a chance to sell that today. It is both in that industry and as a pilot. To talk about what he sees as a pilot, a ga pilot and things we have done that are extraordinary for ga pilots that would be at risk in a new system. Why would the commercial Airlines Give a darn about all of the ga airports and new approaches because it costs money. Its not in their interest. They dont use them. They dont care. Well hear from him. I think his testimony will be a little more compelling than a couple more think tank people well hear from again and again and again. Mr. Pool is here for the, so thats what we have before us, mr. Chairman. I do think there are things we could agree upon. I do not believe privatizing the ato is the answer. Thank you. I thank the gentleman. You almost equalled my Opening Statement. Youre too much short. This hearing will be about it has to be about knocking things that just arent true. The what he puts up on his chart, its not my proposal. I dont know whose proposal it is. Its not mine. Let me just start off to undermine the whole thing, start at the very very top. It says in his chart if they decide to increase passenger aviation taxes they cannot increase taxes. They dont under law they cannot do that. The corporation decides to change let me finish with that. We are going to have a debate i think. The only person that can raise taxes is the United States congress. So thats patently false. Also they desietded to change safety procedures. That cant happen. I dont know whose chart this is. Its certainly not my chart. You might want to call that fake news . I dont want to go there. And one other point, he said congress failed. He is absolutely right. He is making my case. We have to take it out and stopping the way they operate. Its crazy. Again, im concerned he is taking it all out. Will there be any oversight in his new idea of how to run it . This chart, the chart he put up there, thats not my chart. I have to be very clear on that. If i could rebut for one minute. You certainly can. And secondly, im not proposing im proposing to give the faa administrator that authority free of omb and secretarial interference and we would give them a budget that is free from she quest congress could intervene if they felt the reforms werent warranted. Unlike their privatized system. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Well now go to our witnesses. I would like to welcome, again, our panel. I believe everybody has testified before us before at least one occasion or it may be a few. First the Inspector General of the department of transportation has been here men times. Joseph w. Brown, the president of propeller corp. I believe you testified in 2014, so this is your second time here. Mr. Robert pool, director of transportation policy at the Research Foundation who has been thinking deeply about this subject for many years. The president of the national air Traffic Controllers association has been before us before. And the independent policy analyst and former Clinton Administration official, who, again, has been through the wars on this many, many times. We appreciate you being back here to look at your insight. I ask you that our witnesses full statements be included in the record. Without objection so ordered. Since your written testimony has been made part of the record. The committee request your limit your oral testimony to five minutes. With that, you may record. Thank you for inviting me to testify on the efforts to implement reforms and modernize the National Air Space system. My testimony will focus on the past and on going work regarding the efforts to implement various agency wide reforms, as well as its progress and challenges with can you pull the mic a little closer to you . Sorry. Dont be afraid of it. My office does not make policy recommendations. I will also discuss how other countries have structured their Aviation Systems and highlight key factors that policy makers may wish to consider in evaluating faas structure. Over the last two decades, faa has made several reforms in response to mandates to improve operations, cost effectiveness and management. These include establishing new Employee Compensation systems, as well as Acquisition Management system. And undertaken reorganizations to improve the agencys efficiency and reduce expenses. In addition, faa achieved more than 2 billion in cost savings over a 13year period by out sourcing Flight Service stations. Despite this progress, faa reforms have not achieved their intended cost or productivity out comes. Instead, budgets have increased with a 35 increase in faas total budget after adjusting for inflation between fiscal years 1996 and 2015. In addition, faas Productivity Initiative has not yielded improvements. In part because faa did not establish measurable productive and cost goals or metrics. Faas reforms have also fallen short in improving its ability to deliver technology on time and within budget. This is due to longstanding management weaknesses, such as over ambitious plans, unreliable cost and schedule estimates, unstable requirements and ineffective contract management. For example, faa has made progress with its six next gen transformational program. Such as installing the ground system. However, faa has not determined when the programs will start delivering benefits or how theyll improve air traffic flow or productivity. They currently estimate the six projects at 5. 7 billion. Their total cost and completion dates remain unknown. In part because their requirements continue to evolve. Furthermore, weaknesses with internal controls and oversight problems have hindered faas contract management, which we found in our reviews of sole source, service support, and Small Business set aside contracts. To its credit, faa has worked with the industry to identify and launch some of the highest priority next gen capabilities. For example, a key priority is performance based navigation or pbn, which allows more fuel Efficient Aircraft routes and reduces airport congestion. Faa fully deployed these procedures at the Northern California metroplex in 2015, well ahead of schedule. Faa has also deployed new technologies at some airports to enhance controller pilot Data Communications and runway operations. Yet, many risks remain to complete these and other next gen priorities and full benefits for users remain years away. Key challenges include addressing noise concerns, resolving avionics issues and integrating complex on board system and controller technologies. As congress consider the faas structure, other nations may offer a comparison. At the request of this committee, we review the aviations system of canada, france, the United Kingdom and germany. All four have separated their oversight functions which remain government controlled from the air Traffic Controlled functions. Air Traffic Control has been commercialized, their time, into air navigation Service Providers via various organizational structure. These providers finance their operations through user fees and may finance their infrastructure with longterm bonds and other debt instruments. They also embark on smaller modernization efforts and roll them out incrementally using a variety of methods such as modifying commercial off the shelf products. Yet, any discussion, on next gen structure should consider our nations unique characteristics, as you know, the u. S. Runs the busiest and most complex Aviation System in the world, with more operations each year than the other four nations combined. Safety, financing and labor issues will also be key questions. Ultimately safely will oversee the top, regardless of what the future looks like, it will be vital to provide safe system. This concludes my statement, mr. Chairman. I look forward to answering q