Airport Alert: House Committees Advance Reconciliation Pieces

September 15, 2021 

The House Homeland Security and Transportation Committees yesterday and early this morning, respectively, approved their portions of a $3.5 trillion reconciliation package.  The committee actions come as Democratic leaders are trying to piece together a massive spending bill that is acceptable to both progressives and moderates in their caucus.

Meanwhile, the House has yet to take up the bipartisan infrastructure bill that the Senate approved last month.  The $1.2 trillion infrastructure package contains $25 billion for aviation including $20 billion for airports and dedicated funding for airports that participate in the Contract Tower Program.   

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has wowed to have a vote on that infrastructure bill on or before September 27th – less than two weeks from now.  But that is part of a dual-track strategy that will require movement on the much more controversial and much more expensive reconciliation package. 

Transportation and Infrastructure

The almost $60 billion reconciliation piece that theTransportation and Infrastructure Committee approved contains funding for Democratic priorities including $10 billion for affordable housing and $4 billion to "reduce surface transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions."  The vote was 39 to 29.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Low Emission Aviation Technology:  On the aviation front, the package includes $1 billion for DOT to "support investments for projects that develop, demonstrate, or apply low-emission aviation technologies or produce, transport, blend or store sustainable aviation fuels." Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) offered an amendment to strike this provision. But it was defeated by a vote of 22 to 44. 

Carbon Offsetting:  The package also includes $6 million to help the FAA "fully implement the provisions of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, the system adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization to reduce aviation's international carbon emissions." Rep. Perry offered an amendment to strike this provision, too. But it was defeated by a vote of 19 to 47. 

Vaccine Mandates:  Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) offered a second-degree amendment to prevent funds in the bill from being used "to impose or support vaccine passport requirements for verification of vaccine status as a condition to travel in the United States" on commercial aircraft or any other public or private mode of transportation. 

Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) argued that there is "no need" for the amendment since there is no pending proposal for a vaccine passport.  He pointed out that the only proposal for a vaccine passport previously came from airline industry, it was rejected by the administration, and the TSA said it would be impossible to enforce.  The amendment was defeated by a vote of 29 to 36.

The Massie amendment comes in response to bills introduced recently in the House of Representatives that -- if enacted into law -- would create vaccination requirements for air travel. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) introduced legislation, H.R. 4980, directing DHS to ensure that any individual traveling on a flight that departs from or arrives to an airport inside the United States or a territory of the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19.   

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) also introduced the Safe Travel Act, H.R. 5204, which would require proof of vaccination or a negative covid test within 72 hours of travel for domestic airline and Amtrak trips.  AAAE has opposed potential vaccine mandates for air travel given concerns over the operational and financial impacts of such a requirement and questions about how vaccine or testing mandates would be implemented and managed.  

Homeland Security

Yesterday afternoon, the House Homeland Security Committee also considered its portion of the budget reconciliation package. The Committee's bill focused solely on cybersecurity funding needs within DHS' Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Numerous amendments were offered; those not related to cybersecurity were defeated along party lines because they were not "germane" to the bill.  

TSA Security Technology/Salaries: Amendments of note included one offered by Full Committee Ranking Member John Katko (R-NY) to fund additional TSA security technology enhancements such as computed technology (CT), credential authentication technology (CAT), biometrics, and other digital identification verification efforts at security checkpoints and one offered by Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) to increase the salary of TSA's front-line employees and for COVID-related hazard pay. Both were defeated.   

Vaccine Mandate:  Additionally, one amendment related to the vaccine mandate was offered by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), which would have prevented CISA from conditioning or limiting services that agency provides to the private sector based on these companies' compliance with a COVID vaccine requirement. Cammack's amendment was not germane and was defeated.   

Funding recommendations contained in the Homeland Security Committee bill, as amended, were adopted on a party line vote of 19 to 14, and the recommendations will be transmitted to the House Budget Committee.