Connecticut House Members Ask LaHood to Keep State’s Air Traffic Control Towers Open

Continue To Call For Congress to Fix All of the DeeplyHarmful Sequester Cuts

NEW HAVEN, CT—Connecticut's members of the House ofRepresentatives—Rosa DeLauro, John Larson, Joe Courtney, Jim Himes andElizabeth Esty—asked Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to ensure all of thestate's air traffic control towers stay open. Congress passed legislationFriday giving Secretary LaHood authority to transfer funds for this purpose,but there is no guarantee he will. Closing Connecticut's six contract towerswould unnecessarily hurt the hundreds of workers whose jobs are associated withthem and hurt the state's economy.

The representatives also stressed their opposition to ahaphazard, piecemeal approach to dealing with the deeply harmful, automaticbudget cuts known as sequestration. They are united in calling for a fullrepeal of the cuts that "continue to hurt families across the country,from children unable to participate in Head Start to seniors losing access toMeals on Wheels." All five representatives have repeatedly asked theRepublican leadership to bring up a balanced plan that addresses our budgetaryand long-term economic challenges.

"Keeping these towers open will allow those employed bythese airports to remain on the job, help maintain local economies and ensurepublic safety," the representatives wrote. "Accordingly, we urge you to useyour authority to continue to provide the needed funding to keep the sixaforementioned towers in Connecticut open. Doing so is critical not onlyfor current and future air traffic in our state and the greater region, butalso for supporting public safety, jobs at these airports, and our localeconomies that rely on the airports for additional jobs and tax revenue."

The letter sent by the representatives is as follows:

The Honorable Ray LaHood

Secretary

U.S. Department of Transportation

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE

Washington, DC 20590

Dear Secretary LaHood:

We write to urge you to use the transfer authority recentlyprovided to you by Congress to prevent the closure of the six air trafficcontrol towers slated for closure throughout the State of Connecticut as aresult of sequestration. Keeping these towers open will allow thoseemployed by these airports to remain on the job, help maintain local economiesand ensure public safety.

We were deeply disappointed in the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) announcement in March that federal funding for Sikorsky Memorial, DanburyMunicipal, Groton-New London, Hartford-Brainard, Tweed-New Haven andWaterbury-Oxford airports in Connecticut may be terminated on April 7 as aresult of the sequester. Fortunately, the FAA announced early this monththat closure of these air traffic control towers would be delayed until June15, a decision we welcomed.

As you know, legislation recently passed by Congressprovides you with the authority to transfer up to $253 million to the FAA'soperations account during the remainder of this fiscal year. Using theauthority will allow you to end the furloughs that have resulted in thousandsof commercial flight delays throughout the country. The authority shouldalso give you the funding needed to keep air traffic control towers open.

Accordingly, we urge you to use your authority to continueto provide the needed funding to keep the six aforementioned towers inConnecticut open. Doing so is critical not only for current and futureair traffic in our state and the greater region, but also for supporting publicsafety, jobs at these airports, and our local economies that rely on theairports for additional jobs and tax revenue.

We appreciate that, even with this transfer authority, theDepartment of Transportation faces other difficult challenges as a result ofsequestration and that these indiscriminate across the board cuts continue tohurt families across the country, from children unable to participate in HeadStart to seniors losing access to Meals on Wheels. We therefore remaincommitted to passing a responsible budget that ends sequestration this year andin future years.

We thank you for your prompt consideration of this importantrequest.

Sincerely,

Rosa DeLauro

John Larson

Joe Courtney

Jim Himes

Elizabeth Esty