A show of bipartisanship in Washington as the Senate passes
a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration.
The $105 billion bill aims to improve customer service and
safety for air travelers.
The deal came Thursday night,
just hours before a deadline that could have led to
the FAA furloughing thousands of workers.
It still needs approval in the House.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz played a key role in pushing
the bill through.
The Senator joins us now.
This bill comes after news of several near misses at
airports around the country,
including here in Austin. What does this bill do when
it comes to safety improvements?
Well, this bill does a major investment into safety and
aviation.
It, among other things, directs the FAA to hire substantially
more air traffic controllers.
That will help with safety.
That will also help with reducing delays.
It also invests significantly in technology
on runways. We've seen, as you've noted,
multiple near misses including one at Austin's Bergstrom Airport where
where two planes came within a couple 100 feet of
each other nearly collided and and so this invests in
technology to try to prevent potential runway accidents like that.
This bill also invests billions of dollars in airports and
infrastructure in Texas and all throughout the throughout the country.
You know, in the state of Texas,
aviation is enormously important. It produces hundreds of thousands of
jobs in the state of Texas,
and there are millions of jobs in Texas that depend
on having a vibrant aviation sector.
And so this, this bill was a bipartisan,
landmark legislation designed to really impact and improve aviation in
America.
This squeaked in just under the deadline.
What was the big challenge to get this thing passed?
Well, look, it really was building bipartisan compromise.
And I have to say,
the way this, this bill moved forward,
I I think it's a model for how legislation should
move forward.
I am the ranking member of the Senate committee of
Commerce,
Science and Transportation. And so for months I've been working
with the chairman of the committee,
Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington State.
And she and I have been working to negotiate this
bill and to reach a bipartisan compromise.
In the process of drafting the bill,
we solicited from our colleagues their priorities.
And this bill incorporates amendments,
priorities for over 200 different
amendments that came from other senators,
from Republicans, from Democrats addressing needs and concerns they have
in their states.
That process was an extended negotiation as we worked through
incorporating those amendments,
and the final product we had was voted on Thursday
night,
we saw an overwhelming bipartisan vote.
In fact, out of the entire Senate,
there are only four no votes
out of all 100 senators.
Now, our partners at The Hill reported that some of
your fellow senators gave you some ribbing as you tried
to keep this bill on track,
basically saying they found it kind of funny since they
see you as usually the one blocking legislation with amendments
or other holds working for bipartisan legislation.
Do you see this as a different role for you?
It is true that my colleagues have have enjoyed giving
me some grief the past couple of weeks and and
managing the process through and and this is,
this is the largest bill that I've managed on the
floor.
Part of the reason for that is to manage a
major bill,
you have to be either a chairman or ranking member
of a major committee and in the Senate that depends
on seniority.
And so I became the ranking member of the Commerce
Committee just this past year.
But yes, my colleagues were giving me grief.
I sort of laughed because when I was managing the
bill,
I did it on the Senate floor from Mitch
McConnell's desk and and and I was threatening to to
carve my name in the drawer if if they kept
at it,
which which is an old tradition that you sign your
desk
when you're done serving. But look,
you ask if it's something new.
And and I would say,
actually, no, it is not this bill,
the FAA bill. It so happened.
It is the 100th bill that I have authored and
passed into law.
And so this has been something I've been doing the
entire time,
drafting legislation, getting bipartisan support for that legislation,
passing it into the law.
And I'll tell you, my principal focus when it comes
to drafting and passing legislation is jobs,
jobs, jobs, because that's my number one priority in the
Senate,
and that's the number one priority of Texas.
All right. Senator Cruz, thank you so much for being
with us.
Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
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