Brandontwalker Posted July 11, 2017 Report Share Posted July 11, 2017 I wrote my US Senators immediately upon the heels of Pres. Trump's signing of the ATC privatization memorandum and expressed my concerns relative to the same. I received a response from one Senator, Luther Strange, today. His response, which takes the typical politician position of say nothing in as many words as possible, follows below: Dear Mr. Walker, Thank you for contacting me regarding the oversight and management systems for our national air infrastructure and the re-authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). I appreciate hearing from you on these important topics. The United States currently enjoys the safest, most reliable air transportation system in the world. From the Air Commerce Act of 1926 to the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, our ability to comprehend and adapt to innovation in aviation enabled our country to become a world leader in air safety, traffic control, and technological integration. To help ensure the system remains responsive, the United States Congress must periodically reauthorize the agencies responsible for overseeing the national air system. With the current authorization set to expire in September of 2017, Congress is currently engaged in this process. Two proposals have been put forward to accomplish this, the 21st Century AIRR Act (H.R. 2997) and the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2017 (S. 1405). The bills propose reforms, reorganizations, and management innovations including ATC restructuring, fuel tax reform, and the codification of rights for airline passengers. At this time, while the relevant committees in the House and Senate have approved both pieces of legislation, they await further action in their respective chambers. As the Senate continues to evaluate S. 1405, the measure under our consideration, know that I remain committed to keeping the American aviation system the safest and most reliable in the world and that your thoughts and views will be in the forefront of my mind. Again, thank you for taking the time to express your views regarding the oversight and management systems for our national air infrastructure. Should you have any other questions, on this or any other issue, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Luther Strange United States Senator 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted July 11, 2017 Report Share Posted July 11, 2017 Nice work, Brandon. We have to write letters. They have to respond... It is the first volleys of a long protracted battle. If we don't write, they don't hear us. We can't get what we need, when they don't know what we are thinking... Thinking out loud, -a- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted July 12, 2017 Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 I commend on your proactive approach and I do hope more pilots are doing the same! But I had the feeling the final nail in the coffin had already been hammered in when you eleceted a billonaire reality TV show host as your 45th. GA, with its wealthy and out-of-touch aircraft owners, foreign owned manuafacturers (Mooney included), and loud and dangerous airports (http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/13/luxury/trump-palm-beach-lawsuit/index.html - SAD FAKE NEWS ALERT), is part of the swamp... You made the bed now you have to sleep in it. ps. and your rep's vague and equivocal reply inspires very little confidence if any. The sky is safest when there is no plane flying... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted July 12, 2017 Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 8 hours ago, Brandontwalker said: I wrote my US Senators immediately upon the heels of Pres. Trump's signing of the ATC privatization memorandum and expressed my concerns relative to the same. I received a response from one Senator, Luther Strange, today. His response, which takes the typical politician position of say nothing in as many words as possible, follows below: Good work! Can you post your letter to the senator here? I'm sure everyone would love to read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandontwalker Posted July 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 Good work! Can you post your letter to the senator here? I'm sure everyone would love to read it. Unfortunately, I cannot. The contact has to go through the Senator's website and I did not save a copy. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnoe Posted July 12, 2017 Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 Thanks for bringing this up Brandon; this is very serious. EVERY US-based Mooneyspace member should take a moment to voice their opposition to the House Bill which basically hands over our freedom to fly to the big airlines. This would have serious negative consequences for GA which is already struggling. If you don't join the efforts to stop this then don't come on here crying later when you're no longer allowed to land at class-C and class-B airports. And when ATC sends you a bill for filing IFR don't complain; just pay it. If you don't think this can happen in the good-old-USA then just ask any of our European members how difficult and expensive it is to fly GA there! The AOPA and EAA both make it easy to contact your congressional representatives. If you're not a member of either I still urge you to do this on your own. For AOPA just go to: https://app3.vocusgr.com/WebPublish/Controller.aspx?SiteName=AOPA&Definition=ContactLegislators&IssueID=9550 and follow the instructions. EAA members can visit: http://govt.eaa.org/ctas/oppose-air-traffic-control-privatization to make your opinion known to your representatives. If you truly care about this issue it would also be a great idea to send a modest donation to the AOPA PAC. I'm not a big fan of PACs but for the first time ever I sent $25 to this one last week. I urge you to do the same. Note that this shouldn't be a political issue but oddly ATC privatization is widely supported by the GOP and almost universally panned by the Democrats. Particularly if you're a Trump supporter it's vital that you let your REPUBLICAN representatives know that you OPPOSE ATC privatization. Okay, I'm getting off my soapbox now. One more thing... here's the letter that's sent when using the AOPA contact site. I'm sure they wouldn't mind your copying it if you send a letter on your own. Dear Congressman/Congresswoman, I live in your district, and I am asking you to let your leadership know that you oppose H.R.2997, the 21st Century AIRR Act, which would remove air traffic control responsibilities from the FAA and turn it over to special interests. General aviation in America contributes more than one million jobs and over $200 billion to our economy, and foreign countries that have privatized air traffic control have seen this vital segment falter. Our nation’s air traffic control system is the safest and most efficient system in the world – and we want to keep it that way. We support the modernization of our system but not privatization. The 21st Century AIRR Act would bring uncertainty and unintended consequences without achieving the desired outcomes. A privatization proposal that requires protections for a large and important segment of aviation (general aviation) is fundamentally flawed. Rather than adding tens of billions of dollars to our debt and spending almost a decade to transition to a privatized air traffic control system, that funding would be better used to continue the progress to update and modernize our air traffic control system. Thank you in advance for contacting House leadership to say you oppose HR 2997. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandontwalker Posted July 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2017 My second response was received today. He will keep my concerns in mind. Lol. Don't effin commit to any position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertGary1 Posted July 29, 2017 Report Share Posted July 29, 2017 I'm I'm caifornia so I don't bother. My us rep is far from my politics and wouldn't care to hear me and my us senators are twice as bad. But good luck to you who feel represented. -Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peevee Posted July 29, 2017 Report Share Posted July 29, 2017 But but but but smaller gubment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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