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Press Releases |
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Commerce Committee Reports FAA Investment and Modernization Act, Cameron Gulbransen Child Auto Safety Act, Nominees
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation today approved S. 1300, the Aviation Investment and Modernization Act of 2007, as amended, which would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and modernize the nation’s air traffic control system, and S. 694, the Cameron Gulbransen Child Auto Safety Act of 2007, as amended, which would mandate motor vehicle safety standards to improve rearward visibility and prevent backover injury. The Committee also approved David J. Gribbin, IV, to be General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and promotions for U.S. Coast Guard officers. The bills and nominees now await consideration on the Senate floor.
S. 1300, Aviation Investment and Modernization Act of 2007
Introduced by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), and Committee Vice Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the Aviation Investment and Modernization Act of 2007 would:
- Reauthorize the FAA’s four major accounts: Operations; Facilities & Equipment; the Airport Improvement Program; and Research, Engineering, and Development at a level of more than $65 billion from 2008 through 2011.
- Dedicate funding of approximately $400 million annually for modernizing the air traffic control system through the establishment of the Air Traffic Modernization Fund. The fund would be supported through a surcharge of $25 per flight on commercial and high-end general aviation (GA) jet flights. Approximately 90% of GA aircraft would be exempt from the surcharge. The funding generated from the $25 surcharge will be entirely dedicated to modernization costs approved by the Air Traffic Control Modernization Oversight Board, which would be established by the Act.
- Provide approximately $16 billion for airport infrastructure grants and would streamline the Passenger Facility Charge process.
- Strengthen environmental programs, including provisions that would guarantee $300 million annually for airports to address noise and other environmental issues.
- Provide funding for the Essential Air Service (EAS) program at a level of $133 million annually, an increase of $6 million per year. The Act also would provide the DOT with flexibility to encourage better service by incorporating financial incentives into EAS contracts, or signing longer term contracts.
- Restore equity to the air traffic controller collective bargaining process by requiring mediation and arbitration when labor disputes reach an impasse.
S. 694, Cameron Gulbransen Child Auto Safety Act of 2007
Introduced by Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Senator John Sununu (R-N.H.), the Cameron Gulbransen Child Auto Safety Act would:
- Require the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to initiate a rulemaking to consider amending or prescribing Federal motor vehicle safety standards to require power windows and panels to reverse direction when they detect an obstruction to prevent children from being trapped, injured, or killed. If the Secretary should prescribe new standards, they would be enacted within 30 months of the bill’s enactment. If not, the Secretary would send a report to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee describing the reasoning for not prescribing the standards.
- Require the Secretary, within 12 months of the date of enactment, to initiate a rulemaking to expand the required field of view to enable the driver to detect the presence of a person or object behind the vehicle in order to prevent death and injury resulting from backing incidents, particularly incidents involving small children and disabled persons.
- Require the Secretary to determine a phase-in period for compliance which could not exceed 48 months from the date on which the final rule was issued.
- Require the Secretary to issue regulations to require vehicles that are equipped with an automatic transmission that includes a “Park” position to have a system that requires the brake to be depressed before the transmission can be shifted out of “Park.” This system would need to function in any key position in which the transmission can be shifted out of “Park” and apply to cars and light trucks manufactured on or after September 1, 2010.
- Require the Secretary, not later than six months after the date of enactment, to establish and maintain a database of injuries and deaths in non-traffic, non-crash events involving cars and light trucks.
- Require the Secretary, not later than six months after the date of enactment, to provide information about hazards to children in non-traffic, non-crash incident situations by supplementing an existing consumer information program relating to child safety or by creating a new consumer information program relating to child safety.
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24th - |
Inouye, Stevens Introduce Communications R&D Bill
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an effort to restore America’s competitive edge in communications research and development, Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Vice Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) today introduced the Advanced Information and Communications Technology Research Act, S. 1493. The Act establishes a communications research and development program within the ...
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24th - |
Inouye Introduces Broadband Data Improvement Act
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), with the cosponsorship of Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), introduced today the Broadband Data Improvement Act, S. 1492, which seeks to improve the quality of federal broadband data collection and encourages state initiat...
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23rd - |
Senate and House Subcommittees Reschedule Joint NASA IG Oversight Hearing
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation announces the rescheduled date for a Joint Hearing between the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Space, Aeronautics, and Related Sciences and the House Science and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight on Oversight Review of the Investigation of the NASA Inspect...
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23rd - |
Inouye Pledges to Work with Leadership to Pass Energy Efficiency Package
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Leadership introduced a comprehensive energy efficiency package that includes S. 357, the Ten-in-Ten Fuel Economy Act of 2007, which the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation reported by voice vote to the full Senate on May 8.
Introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Commerce C...
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23rd - |
Commerce Committee Announces U.S. Trade Relations with China Hearing Date
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Committee on Commerce Science, and Transportation announces an Interstate Commerce, Trade, and Tourism Subcommittee Hearing on U.S. Trade Relations with China for Tuesday, June 12, 2007, at 2:30 p.m., in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.
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23rd - |
Stevens Calls for Internet Tax Moratorium to Be Extended
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today called for the Internet Tax Moratorium to be extended during the Commerce Committee hearing entitled “Communications, Taxation and Federalism.” The Internet Tax Freedom Act was first passed by Congress in 1998. The law prevents states and localit...
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18th - |
Senate Passes Stevens Resolution Condemning Harmful Foreign Fishing Practices
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Senate Resolution condemning harmful foreign fishing subsidies introduced by Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, unanimously passed the Senate last night. The Resolution is cosponsored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Maria Cantwell ...
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17th - |
Stevens and Murkowski Sponsor Resolution Declaring June “National Internet Safety Month”
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee joined Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and 15 other cosponsors in introducing Senate Resolution 205, which designates June 2007 as “National Internet Safety Month.” The Resolution, which passed the Senate last night by unanimous consent, calls on Internet ...
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16th - |
current Press Release |
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15th - |
Stevens Joins President in Urging Senate to Ratify Law of the Sea Treaty
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, today joined President George W. Bush in urging the United States Senate to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Commonly known as the Law of the Sea Treaty, this accord would regulate and govern activities that occur on or within the world&rs...
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14th - |
Commerce Committee Announces May 16 Executive Session Agenda
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation announces the agenda for its Executive Session scheduled for Wednesday, May 16, 2007, at 2:30 p.m., in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building:
1) S. 1300, Aviation Investment and Modernization Act of 2007
2) S. 694, Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act of 2007
3) PN 147, Nomination of Dav...
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10th - |
Stevens Says We Must Work to Understand Global Climate Change and Its Effect on Fish Stocks
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, today said we must research the effect that global climate change is having on the oceans and our fisheries, during the Commerce Committee hearing titled “The Effects of Climate Change and Ocean Acidification on Living Marine Resources.”
Below is Sena...
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8th - |
Stevens Says Fuel Economy Increases Long Overdue
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, today made the following statement during the Senate Commerce Committees Executive Session on S. 357, the Ten-In-Ten Fuel Economy Act.
Below are Senator Stevens’ remarks from today’s hearing:
“Thank you Chairman Inouye for your continued com...
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8th - |
Commerce Committee Reports Fuel Economy Bill
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation today reported S. 357, the Ten-in-Ten Fuel Economy Act, as amended, by a voice vote. The Act would revise corporate average fuel economy standards to achieve a nationwide fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020. The bill also would create, for the first time, fuel economy standards for medium-duty ...
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3rd - |
Inouye and Stevens Cosponsor Bill to Reauthorize the FAA
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Commerce Committee Vice Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) today joined Senators Jay Rockefeller (D – W. Va.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.) to cosponsor legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and modernize the nation’s air traffic control system. Th...
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3rd - |
Stevens Calls for a Reduction in U.S. Dependence on Foreign Oil
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, today called for reductions in the United States dependence on foreign oil during the Commerce Committee’s hearing on pending Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) legislation.
Below are excerpts from Senator Stevens’ comments at today’s heari...
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3rd - |
Stevens Introduces Resolution to Fight Harmful Foreign Fishing Practices
- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee today introduced a Senate Resolution against harmful foreign fishing subsidies. The resolution is co-sponsored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Trent...
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