NATCA Bookshelf

NIW Today | 5 Speaker Info REP. MARK MEADOWS, R-N.C. Congressman Meadows has represented North Carolina's 11th Congressional District since 2013. In just six years in Washington, Congressman Meadows has risen to be one of the most influential members of Congress. Meadows currently serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and, specifically, the Aviation Subcommittee. Additionally, he serves on the Government Reform Committee as the top Republican on the Government Operations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over federal employee issues. In January, Congressman Meadows was re-elected as the Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus for a second term. He is one of President Trump's top allies in Congress, fiercely defending the President on cable news networks and within Congress. At the same time, Meadows has led the passage of several bipartisan pieces of legislation and works collaboratively with his colleagues across the aisle, including the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Congressman Elijah Cummings. In the past few years, Meadows has worked extensively with North Carolina NATCA members and NATCA's Government Affairs staff to pass critical legislation that improves the livelihoods of controllers and aviation safety professionals. Most notably, Meadows has played an instrumental role in improving the hiring and staffing of air traffic controllers, including his support for reinstating the Retired Military Controller Program and H.R. 5292, the Air Traffic Controller Hiring Improvement Act of 2016, which NATCA strongly supported. REP. PETER DEFAZIO, D-Ore. Congressman DeFazio was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986 and is now the longest-serving House member in Oregon's history. In January 2019, DeFazio was elected as Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, which has jurisdiction over aviation, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, highways and transit, water resources, railroads, and economic development. DeFazio has previously served as the Chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee where he still exerts his passion and expertise. DeFazio has been as a strong friend to NATCA while in Congress. He stood with NATCA and its membership during the White Book fight, and he was also one of the leads on legislation to amend Title 49 of the U.S. Code that ultimately provided a fair collective bargaining process for FAA employees. For these and many other reasons, NATCA presented DeFazio with the James L. Oberstar Sentinel of Safety Award in 2008 for his steadfast dedication and commitment to the aviation industry. Most recently, Chairman DeFazio introduced H.R. 1108, the Aviation Funding Stability Act of 2019, following the 35-day government shutdown that adversely affected the National Airspace System and our workforce. NATCA strongly supports this important piece of legislation which, if enacted, would address one of NATCA's long- standing priorities and ensure that the aviation system continues to fully operate, without interruption, in the event of a future government shutdown.

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