Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, released the following statement today after a Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing about a proposal to privatize the air traffic control system. Larsen brought forward concerns from the Department of Defense (DOD) about what the proposal would mean for national security. The DOD is currently an equal partner with the Federal Aviation Administration in managing the national airspace, but the privatization proposal would relegate DOD to an advisory role, leaving many unanswered questions about where DOD fits.

“I started this hearing with many concerns about the GOP proposal to privatize the national airspace, especially how it would affect national security. Red flags are only waving harder after the GOP expert on ATC privatization had few answers about DOD’s role, going so far as to say those issues are the ‘turf’ of the House Armed Services Committee.

“The takeaway is that even the majority’s ATC privatization expert has not thought through the national security implications and says the issue belongs to HASC.

“At the beginning of this hearing I said that DOD’s role in this privatization proposal remains undeveloped, uncertain and undermined. Nothing has changed, and we are still left with many more questions than answers.

“Running political science experiments on our national airspace, and by extension our national security, is not an option. Without clear answers about DOD’s role, this proposal cannot go forward,” Larsen said.

Read Larsen’s full opening statement here.

Watch his opening remarks here, and his questions to witnesses here.

More information about the ATC privatization proposal is available here.

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