Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2490 - Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY 1994

(SENT 7/22/93)
(House Floor)
(Sponsors: Natcher (D), Kentucky; Carr (D), Michigan)

This Statement of Administration Policy provides the Administration's views on H.R. 2490, the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY 1994, as reported by the House Appropriations Committee. The Administration supports House passage of H.R. 2490 and will work with the House to address the concerns described below.

President's Investment Program

The Administration supports the Committee's action that funds a significant portion of the Federal-aid highways and mass transit investment proposals. The Administration objects, however, to the lack of funding for other investment proposals, in particular, high-speed rail.

The House is urged to reserve funding for unauthorized investment proposals, such as high-speed rail, so that these proposals can be funded upon authorization. The Administration continues to support full funding for the Federal-aid highway program at the levels authorized in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.

Reductions in requested funding for investment proposals could be restored, in part, through a reallocation of funding from lower-priority, earmarked, or unrequested programs included in the Committee bill. For example, over $300 million is provided for place-specific highway projects.

Investment Criteria

The Administration commends the Committee for its effort to develop and apply a set of economically-based investment criteria for transportation projects.

Other

The Administration is pleased that the Committee has provided the Secretary of Transportation the discretion to allocate $100 million for transit new start projects based on the Department's assessment of needs and priorities.

Additional Administration concerns with the Committee bill are contained in the attachment.

Attachment

Attachment
(House Floor)

ADDITIONAL CONCERNS

H.R. 2490 — DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS BILL. FY 1994

(AS REPORTED BY THE FULL COMMITTEE)

The Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to address the following concerns as the appropriations process progresses.

FUNDING ISSUES

Coast Guard. The $74 million reduction to operating expenses would reduce the level and quality of service the Coast Guard provides. For example, notwithstanding the Committee's funding reduction, flight pay for Coast Guard pilots remains a statutory requirement and would have to be absorbed. The $139 million reduction to the acquisition, construction, and improvement account would constrain the Coast Guard's ability to support its capital plant.

Federal Aviation Administration. The Administration objects to the continuation of the controller pay demonstration project at the expense of higher-priority operations activities, including safety workforce levels. The reduction to the facilities and equipment account could delay modernization projects, such as the Advanced Automation System and the Voice Switching and Control System.

Amtrak. The $65 million reduction for Amtrak capital would leave insufficient funds to continue purchase of new equipment and maintenance of stations, or to upgrade equipment repair and overhaul shops.

Office of the Inspector General. The Committee has expressed concerns about the implementation costs of the Chief Financial Officers Act (CFOs Act). Therefore, the bill includes a proviso restricting the total amount of funds that may be spent for this purpose. The Administration believes that this proviso could not only restrict the auditing of financial statements completed by the Department, but is written so broadly that it could restrict all other activities of the Office of the Inspector General authorized by the CFOs Act. The proviso should be deleted.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Chicago O'Hare Slots. Section 336 of the Committee bill would prohibit the withdrawal of domestic slots for increased international operations at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. This would effectively cap the growth of international services at Chicago by foreign airlines unless they were willing, and able, to purchase slots for increased services.

The proposed prohibition could compromise the ability of the United States to secure access for U.S. air carriers to foreign airports where they are seeking to increase their services. The Administration has insisted, successfully, to our foreign trading partners, including Japan and the United Kingdom, that routes granted on paper must be backed up with the airport slots necessary to operate the services on a commercially viable basis. The inability of the United States to honor the bilateral entitlement of foreign airlines to serve Chicago could be expected to result in restrictions on U.S. carrier operations overseas.

The Administration recognizes that the impact of increasing international operations at O'Hare must be reviewed. However, the Administration believes that the regulatory process would be more effective than a statute in providing the flexibility needed to address legitimate concerns of all O'Hare users.

Collection of Passenger Facility Charges on Frequent Fiver Tickets. Section 337 would prohibit the awarding of airport improvement program funds to any airport that allows the collection of passenger facility charges (PFCs) on frequent flyer tickets. This provision would extend the current prohibition to PFCs that were grandfathered under a similar provision in last year's bill. The Administration objects to this extension. Retroactively restricting PFC collections may prevent an airport from fulfilling a bond covenant and could limit an airport's ability to use PFCs to back bonds in the future. Furthermore, this issue would be more appropriately addressed through the authorization process.