Congressman Bill Shuster (R-PA), the driving force behind efforts to privatize a portion of the Federal Aviation Administration, has waved the white flag in his efforts to do so after it was announced that his sponsored legislation would not be brought to a vote this week.
At issue is the NextGen system which employs about 30,000 FAA employees. Shuster had proposed privatizing this portion of the agency to to turn it into a private, non-profit corporation. For details on the proposal, see Should a Portion of the FAA Be Privatized?.
However, after meeting resistance from his colleagues in the House, he has given up efforts to move the legislation forward after two attempts.
“Despite an unprecedented level of support for this legislation – from bipartisan lawmakers, industry, and conservative groups and labor groups alike – some of my own colleagues refused to support shrinking the federal government by 35,000 employees, cutting taxes, and stopping wasteful spending,” Shuster said in a statement.
“Although our air traffic control reform provisions did not reach the obvious level of support needed to pass Congress, I intend to work with Senator Thune and move forward with a reauthorization bill to provide long-term stability for the FAA.”
Shuster announced his retirement from Congress after his current term ends, so any further efforts to move the legislation forward at this point would have to come from a different source.
