babbitt, and i want you tell me if you think we were too serious.talked to carriers about duty time, that's a direct quote, talk about carriers on b-about duty time and this is about this flight and pilot fatigue. the faa must become a proactive agency and nearly talking doesn't fulfill the primary mission to ensure the safety of the flying public. we can no longer afford to act after it is discovered that inspectors are overly friendly with the airlines they oversee. and we cannot continue to wait until another tragedy occurs before we implement training requirements much less simply enforcing existing regulations. so -- i mean, that's a tough charge. we are suggesting that there's too much coziness between the faa and the airlines that they regulate. could you respond to that. >> yes, senator boxer. as i mentioned, i'm not sure if you were in here. i was part of the internal review team that was set up by the department of transportation under secretary peters. and we looked into this very charge. there was a question in both the american airlines

babbitt about that because you said you commuted for five years. the one with the description of the commuting. the map. is there one with the map? thank you. that shows -- this perhaps would show the same kind of thing for virtually any commuter airline we would talk about and perhaps the same map for any major trunk carrier. what most of you agree? and i thi the question that remains in the mind of many as evidenced by the questions today from members of the committee is does this matter? does it make a difference? and if several pilots or in seattle or portland or los angeles or wherever and flight to the east coast to start their work is a fatigue something we should be concerned about and mr. babbitt, you indicated as a conscientious piling you would go early, check into a motel or wherever and get your rest, and i am stand that and applaud that. it is clear to me however that is probably not likely going to be the case with someone that is a new hire making $23,000 a year to go find a place to rent. the reason i ask the question is on a fly a

babbitt.$16, and assume it is a full year of pay is barely above minimum wage. >> i think the carrier did correct the minimum, it was about 23,000. >> okay so $7.69 it is about maybe $8.10 an hour. >> it might surprise you there are major carriers to start pilots at that number. >> that does surprise me to be frank with you. >> there are some the start considerably higher, there are some major carriers flying larger planes the start that low. this is an area i think, you know, captain skullenberger mentioned in testimony. the area i was in very badly dating myself into the 60's, but probably half of the people that were hired when i was hired as a pilot model the came out of the military, half of them came out of military academies, so we had a wonderful. of course the service of the time was training, we had 50,000 pilots flying in vietnam's we had a lot of extras and seasoned people that came disciplined and they were well trained and educated. they had other options so if you wanted a pilot

babbitt? >> no, sir. one of the issues that comes forward, it should be interesting to note for the record, that colgan was a relatively new provider, capacity sale of their seats and service. to cottonelle airlines, and enhance the reason they are committing an train commuting to newark. the same carrier could sign an agreement, you know, six months from now and be commuting to memphis. and so the pilots often don't move immediately. underline that, there are regulations. the regulations are enforced that require the look back as far as their airline duty is concerned. there is no reference the pilot has an obligation, a professional obligation to show up rested just like everyone else going to work the. >> i'm a lot less interested in what regulations are enforced versus how regulations are enforced. and i would ask this question. mr. o'brien, is it your sense that we have one level of safety as between commuters in trunk carriers these days reqs. >> it certainly is the goal. [inaudible] >> there certai

babbitt, you may proceed. [inaudible] i am sorry. chairman dorgan, senator demint and members of the full committee, thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the faa's role in the oversight of air carriers. let me start by saying that we faa more tragic loss of kuhlman air flight 3407 and as well as the families and crew members aboard the air france for 47. this is an agency that is dedicated to air safety. and the loss is felt keenly by all of us and our sympathies go out to both the families of 3407 and air france for 47. as you noted senator this is my first appearance at a hearing since i was sworn in as at the eight administrative and i want to thank this committee again for both your support and your confidence in me. we do have an ambitious agenda and i think i have discussed some of that with you at the left confirmation, and i intend to work very hard to achieve the state the goals we have set forth in the challenge of the faa. since the mid 1990's there has been a requirement for one level of safety that all regiona

babbitt? >> no sir. one of the issues that comes forward and should be interesting to know for the record that it was a new service provider, the capacity sale of their seats and service to continental airlines and hence the reason they are committing to new work. the same carrier could sign an agreement six months from now and be commuting to memphis and so the pilots often don't move immediately. underlined that there are regulations. the regulations are enforced the require the look back as far as their airline dooby is concerned. there is no reference. the pilot has an obligation, a professional obligation just like everyone else going to work. >> i am less interested in what regulations are enforced rather than how regulations are in for so i would ask this question. mr. o'brien, is it your sense that we have one level of safety as between commuters been trunk carriers these days? >> there certainly is a goal. the ability to attain this goal is still being sought after very diligently. however there

this will be the first of two hearings and our witnesses today are a babbitt randolph administrator faa's, calvin scovel inspector general at department of transportation and general brian -- john o'brien who was a member of the flight safety foundation. i will call on the ranking member for an opening statement and chairman and ranking member of the full committee then call on witnesses and a round of questions a. >> thank you mr. chairman i want to thank you for your diligence and a sense of urgency to have these hearings to have the answers to american people and all passengers. i appreciate the witness is being here today i would not give a full opening statement because i want to get to you. but the possible weaknesses on the carrier side are important and they agree with everything the chairman says but in interviewing some of the carrier's there may be things on our side that we can do such as our privacy regulations to keep carriers from having access to some other records that we no fault the carrier for not responding to. of by to hear more about that but you have met with me of

babbitt. you are newly anointed. i do not think that is the word. >> probably not anointed. [laughter] good morning. i do welcome the opportunity to testify today on the faa's implementation of the american recovery and reinvestment act. my colleagues and i share the sense of urgency and purpose for the task that the president and congress have said for us. although the faa's share for the transportation programs is relatively modest at $1.3 million, it will have lasting benefits for our nation's aviation structure. congress appropriated $1.1 billion for individual airport owners for airport development in such areas as airways, a tax hit -- taxiways, a terminal buildings, and high priority safety equipment at airports. the remaining $200 million was provided for the faa's own facilities and equipment program to upgrade power and navigation systems and to modernize the air traffic facilities. as this committee is aware, the act sets for some specific time lines for project completion. more tha

babbitt. three newly annointed-- that is not quite the word, is it? >> i don't think anointment was the term. >> pouring of holy water on the heads thereof. >> good morning chairman oberstar, ranking member mica, members of this committee. i do welcome the opportunity to testify today on the faa's implementation of the american recovery and reinvestment act which is one of our top priorities and my colleagues and i appear certainly share the sense of urgency and purpose for the task that the president and congress have said for us. although dfa a posh share of the recovery act so loved transportation programs is relatively modest at $1.3 billion this funding will have lasting benefits for nation's aviation infrastructure. congress appropriated $1.1 billion of that amount for grants to individual airport honors for airport development in such areas as runways, taxiways, airfield lighting, the terminal buildings and high party safety or security equipment at the airports. the remaining $200 mill

the faa as we said to randy babbitt the new administrator last week, we need new diligence here, a new level of interest in making certain that we have one standard that passengers can rely on one standard when they board an airplane. and i think that's going to require some effort by the faa and may require some effort by this committee. senator rockefeller and senator hutchison, myself, senator demint and others are going to be working on days where putting together along with my collies the faa reauthorization act. we are right in the middle of that. and many other things. all of which have to do with safety. and so we are going to, i would say to those that have raised the questions this morning about pilots records and so on, my first expectation is that administrator babbitt is going to move quickly to address some of those issues. but we will introduce legislation to be certain that it is done the right way as well. so, senator baggage did you wish to make any other comment on trenton on trenton? let me thank the witnesses for being here. will have one additional hearing at one

babbitt, congratulations on your confirmation. i look forward to meeting with you in the near future and working with you very closely with our faa technical center. i have a question for you, mr. babbitt. you talked about two hundred million dollars in the fnf &e account. would you be able to let us know who is on that list? i would be curious to see who would be receiving the funding of course, i have an interest in a technical center at the atlantic city airport. i am very fond of saying that it is a premier facility in the world for aviation research and development for safety and security. i am curious as to whether they might be in line for any rehabilitation funding for the lab or any other facilities there. >> first, figure for the congratulations. i look forward to working with you as well. candidly, i do not know the specific breakdown. but i certainly can get that information to you. i have recently visited one of our technical centers. we will be calling on them for some of the advance as we are making right now. we ha

i think that there is some reason to believe encouraged by what the new administrator, randy babbittas done. he called for a meeting monday this week which reflects a concern that he wants to understand these things quickly and take whatever action is necessary. it is also the case that he indicated that after two years the ntsb suggested a rulemaking on access to records for pilots, that mr. babbitt indicated to me that the next time he came to a hearing and i asked the question, have you begun a rulemaking, he indicated that he expected the answer to be affirmative rather than negative. so i think we're making some progress here, but this is very, very important. and it's something that we have to ask questions about. they are tough questions, but necessary and important questions. i want to thank the witnesses for being with us. senator demint is the ranking member of our subcommittee and i know senator demint wishes to make a comment and then i think also introduce mr. mauer formally who's a member of your state. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and i thank you again for conducting th

babbitt, about you talk about 200 million in the f.india gather that it that it was going to go to three towers in 18 different centers i believe. would you be able to if not today at some point let us know who is on that list? i'd be curious to know who is going to be receiving the funding, and very specifically of course i have an interest in our faa technical center at the atlantic city airport which mr. oberstar knows i am very fond of saying is the premier facility in the world for aviation research and development for safety and security. and i'm just curious whether they might be in line for any rehabilitation funding for the labs or any of the other facilities there. >> first, thank you for the congratulations. i look forward to working with you as well. candidly, i don't know the specific breakdown, but i surely could get that information to you. i share your view on the technical center. i have recently visited one of our technical centers. we're going to be calling on them for some of the advancements we are make in right no

babbitt, they have no use of the hand pilot or turbo flying in a i see conditions? >> it may well be but might newness and preparation for the hearing i am not aware of a requirement. >> i >> there was a direct comment by the first officer that, although she has 2,600 hours flying but had never flown in icing conditions. i believe that is correct. >> i believe -- my understanding of reading some of the transcript anyway was that she was describing. she had flown in icing conditions before. she was describing, however, that she did come in fact, have experience. she was describing that earlier. how is concerned her and she was looking to get more experience. >> my time is running out. when ntsb makes up recommendation, which they have made regarding icing conditions and turboprops, what does faa do? do you have a response procedure that you go through? to you take-it-or-leave-it? >> my in the standing of the process today -- and i will let you know. we certainly evaluate every single one. i don't think that there is an expectation on behalf of the ntsb that we should

babbitt is when to report on successes at the faa. i know they're trying. but their main problem

babbitt >> this morning a discussion on u.s. energy policy. we will hear from the chairman of the federal dot regulatory commission. live coverage on c-span2. later a conversation on the nuclear program of iran. live coverage from the heritage foundation beginning at 10 eastern also on c-span2. >> and now a discussion on north korea's recent nuclear test and missile launches and the threat they pose to the asia-pacific region. he will hear from the u.s. pacific commander admiral timo thy keating. this is about one hour. let me say a couple of words about this series. this is one of the most popular things we have introduced which is a public platform for military leaders to share their views and concerns with the washington audience. combined it has given us an opportunity for military leaders to shake the security they face in washington and beyond. since the beginning of this series, we have had the commanders from various areas and two of the most recent commanders in afghanistan along with others. of what you think so many people for the s

i was glad that administrator babbitt this money is -- this money is going to propose a new rolrule. i wanted to talk about the deicing issues, because that was clearly an issue here. the first officer told the pilot in the crash, i have never seen icing conditions. i have never the ice. i have never experienced any of that. this was clearly a factor in the crash. our regional aircraft more susceptible to problems associated with eisenger and some of the larger aircraft because of where they are flying are the levels that are flying? >> certainly, some of the airplanes that fly in the lower levels, the service to 20,000 feet are more likely to pick up more icing. certain turboprops are more susceptible to it, although most of them are more than adequate to handle those conditions. you cannot stay in it forever. the fact that the first officer, and this will sound strange, because there has been such a focus on some sterile cockpit violations. i am relieved that we knowha

the faa as we said to randy babbitt the new administrator last week, we need new diligence here. a new level of interest in making certain that we have one standard. >> is this hearing concludes we take you live now to the u.s. capitol as the senate convenes. we expect general topic speeches this afternoon and a measure to encourage foreign travelers to visit the u.s.. senators plan a vote on moving forward with an amendment to the bill at 5:30 p.m. eastern time. five senate coverage on c-span 2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, we come to you today because we need you. we can't work well without your help and blessings. guide our lawmakers. give them the wisdom to listen to your voice and follow your leading. lord, remind them that no one knows what a day might bring, so they must not put things off until a tomorrow that may never come. help them to use their lives wisely and not foolishly, generously and not selfishly. as they labor, may they remember that

absolutely and i expect there'll be more days like babbitt can i tell you that i'm so proud of what has been done already and so amazed. [applause] what are president has been willing to put himself out there on the line every single day, i believe he knows what is happening to people across america waking up and worried about how to get their kids to and from school between two or three jobs or when they lose their jobs have they will keep a roof over their kid's head and as a tent cities pop-up across america i.p. understands that. and what we need to do is to make sure that people in the capital ummah those in the house and senate and those understand what is going on in the committees, the only people that can do that is us. we can be the drumbeat for change and the tools for change, the leaders for change, we can be the movement i just you and elections but to transform our country and have a progressive agenda that really will mean the difference for all of us and a living wage for everyone in america, health care for every single person from birth, an immigration policy that work

anything, as you get out to the periphery, geographically, culturally and epidemiologist plea -- babbitt genealogy -- epidemiologically you will be surprised. after the initiative was launched we were introducing new tools. vaccine for introduced in 2005 after a 6 months development process, thanks to our friends in sanofi who took on a fifty million dose order, and you decided to help us do this. was that procedure implemented in 2006 that half the time we needed to eradicate polio. look at the application of these tools, on the left-hand side, we see the maps of pradesh and the one area of india that never stopped polio, this area of pradesh of 3 year, this area of the country, every other fires we have seen is genetically linked, this has been the key reservoir whe never stopped folio. we have gone two months without polio, we are still trying to clear it out but the research generated the solutions very late in the game to solving that problem. three other big lessons we learned along the way, the most self-evident is we need a lot of money to reach the last 20% in particular about w

babbitt, the recovery bill provided faa with a $2 million to hire additional staff to work grants and provide grant oversight. how is that going? have you spent the money? have we wrapped up in that regard? >> yes, sir. i can get you greater detail, but we have begun deploying that. we are looking at several things. one of which is, you know, they're some sophisticated ways that you can look at higher risk projects and, you know, analyze at risk for better oversight. and so that's where we have put some of the money. my understanding is we have about half of it in gaged already, and looking to the point arrest of it as these projects go forward. but i can get you very detailed information on the exact projects and the exact allocation. >> that would be hopeful. thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. boozman, your question about jobs created, and job saved, that is an accounting that we will specifically receive in the next 30 day report. we thought initially that in this second report that the berries motormen ministrations would be able to report on those job figures, but it turned out to b

babbitt one final question, you will no doubt appear before this committee many, many times. i understand that when you are asked whether you have sufficient funding at the faa, i believe most witnesses are instructed to support whatever the president's budget request is. the last person i recall who came to the congress -- one of the committee i was on, in fact, said the president's budget request is far inferior and far short for his agency was fired the next morning publicly in a great show of strength. so i understand you must say that you have all the money you need and yet a couple of the witnesses have suggested that you might well need some additional funding to implement assuming that you have the will and the agency has the will to implement the things that are necessary and to enforce what is necessary to enforce. so we'll talk when you don't have a microphone in front of you. [laughter] >> about those issues. but i do say that when you come back here i'm going to ask the same question after you've had a couple of weeks. have you begun rulemaking on that when the n

money to pay for a hotel room i think you're going to have problems so i was glad that administrative babbitt this past monday said he would propose a new role of private -- pilot rest requirement which would be helpful. i wanted to talk briefly about the deicing issues because that was clearly an issue here. i think was at the first officer told the pilot in this crash, i have never seen icing conditions, i have never deiced, i have never experienced any of that. and this was clearly a factor in the crash. our regional aircraft more susceptible to problems associated with icing as some of the larger aircraft blacks because of where they are flying are what levels they are flying? any thoughts on that? in and certainly some of the airplanes that fly in the lower levels. if you will serve as 21,820,000 feet are more likely to pick up and spent a lot of time at that altitude and pick up more ice. certain props are more susceptible even though i believe that most of them are more than adequate to handle those conditions. but you can't say in it forever and the fact that the first officer -- this