f.a.a. reauthorization. last year, the national mediation board changed the rules under which employees of airlines and railroads are able to unionize. for decades, the standard has been that a majority of employees would have to agree in an election to form a union. however, the new n.m.b. rules, national mediation board rules, changed that standard so that all it takes to unionize is a majority of employees voting. now, this means that the n.m.b. wants to count an employee who doesn't vote as voting for big labor. somehow organized labor is able to claim that it is democratic to appropriate someone else's vote without that person's input and participation, even though that's been the -- even though the rule that i'm talking about has been in place for 75 years. they just changed it in favor of the unions. and unions win, at least the nlrb proceedings, they win 60% of the unionize attempts. now, i personally have not had any communication with anyone in the industry. i'm here because i think what the n.m.b.

f.a.a. reauthorization. now, my critics will point out that both times i have previously asked consent, it has been for legislation that did not include the removal of the n.m.b.'s heavy new hand. however, i have spoken frequently on this issue and i bet my position is very well known. i was hopeful that my earlier requests for consent would stimulate discussion on a long-term reauthorization and the issues preventing a long-term reauthorization from taking place. my concern is that the white house and their allies in congress will continue to hide behind a perpetual series of short-term extensions rather than working towards an actual bill. this is why i've decided to ask unanimous consent for an amendment containing the n.m.b. language because it is clear that this is the only way to move this issue forward, by n.m.b. language, getting the law back to where it really has been for 75 years. as my critics will point out, this wasn't my first choice but as my critics have made clear, this is the only way to a

f.a.a. reauthorization bill zero thought that at the end the day the extension should have been clean should have been passed but we applaud a lot i mean secretary la hood did an outstanding job of keeping the focus on the men and women who need to get back to work maybe i misunderstand in this that i my understanding was there was one piece of legislation that came out of the house that contained the the anti-union language we've been discussing and reauthorize the f.a.a. and continued the spending that's that went to the senate no we're not going to do that and my understanding is that today harry reid said ok we will do that just until next month so i have it raw. from what i understand is that the in the end in the provision that everybody keeps talking about is not part of this yes i mean the anti-union is provision is not part of this extension it is part of the overall bill which is going to make it difficult to separate things yes these are the did the house passed its things you know they they passed and they passed the bill that had the the anti-union provision in it and they also

f.a.a. reauthorization bill. furious democrats protested leaving the f.a.a. ization in limbo with 4,000 furloughed and construction projects halted at airports across the country. one democratic congressman blames the tea party. >> it is ideological warfare that's going on here. my way and the highway and the debt limit extension so it's now it's my way and the runway. >> transportation secretary ray lahood says one of the consequences is of holding up of the f.a.a. reauthorization $1.2 billion in federal taxes on airline tickets are no longer being collected. a big loss compared to the small savings of killing the eas airport subsidy, shep? >> shepard: what's the thinking on the part of those holding this up? is it about how many people use these smaller airports? >> there are not a lot of people who use those small airports. according to the committee the eas subsidy $1,000 per ticket at some of these airports. even higher at others. >> this is the 21st extension again i think american people are tired of wasteful. they are subsidizing passenger tickets up t

f.a.a. reauthorization. so for all of those ropes, for the sake of those furloughed workers, 4,000, that are really not the -- at fault here, that are currently on furlough, that's hurting our economy, for the sake of the contractors who are depending upon the government funds in order to pay their workers many of which are small companies, for the sake of the construction work that needs to be done at our airports including my own airport at b.w.i. and for the importance to move forward with modernization of the f.a.a. itself, i would urge us to find a way to extend the f.a.a. authorization till we come back. by hope that we could get a conference committee together, a reauthorization but at a minimum we should extend the current provisions during those negotiations and senator boxer, you're absolutely right and i strongly urge the senate to allow a short-term, clean extension of the f.a.a. that's the best way to proceed. and i hope we can find a way to get this the done now so that the damage that's being

f.a.a. reauthorization bill.ate democrats, some of whom fly to the airports, protested leaving the f.a.a. reauthorization in limbo with 4,000 federal workers furloughed and construction projects halted across the country. >> we ask congress to delay their vacation, not to go on vacation until they pass a bill allowing 70,000 construction workers and 4,000 f.a.a. lows to go back to work. >>guest: he says one of the unintended consequences of holding up the f.a.a. rethunderstormation is $1.2 billion in federal taxes on purchase of airline tickets are not being collected. >>shepard: how many people use the airports? >>reporter: not many. according to the house committee on transportation and infrastructure the eas subsidy amounts to $1,000 a ticket at some airports:. >> we can no longer afford to spend hows on individual seats on subsidies for people that live 110 miles from an airport or 140 miles from an airport. >>reporter: that helps to explain why this is such a contentious issue. many of the rural airports are

f.a.a. running while congress decided how to deal with the complicated policy issues of a long-term reauthorization. unfortunately, the 21st time around, that's the time that we're in, the house decided it was no longer important to keep the f.a.a. operating, and 4,000 people are out of work while the house of representatives may head home for recess. now, i appreciate that there are some significant differences between the two long-term f.a.a. authorization bills passed by the house and the senate. the most controversial of which centered around a ruling by the national mediation board on unionization rules. but that's why chair rockefeller and ranking member hutchison appointed members to a conference committee where the house and senate could work out our policy differences. so far the house has refused to appoint conferees. instead they've decided to stop negotiating and, unfortunately, to play politics with 4,000 f.a.a. workers and their families. so right now the f.a.a. has been shut down for 11 days. and as long as that shutdown continues, the government will continue to lose $200 million a

f.a.a. employees have been out of work without pay since july 23. because congress failed to reauthorize the agency authority to oversee air travel. thousands more airport construction workers lost their jobs because all airport construction projects have been halted. airport inspectors have been working without pay and charging travel expenses to their own personal credit cards. senate democrats say they hope to offer a plan to end the faa shutdown by calling for a vote possibly today. >>> meantime, as a result of that shutdown, delta airlines now saying it will refund the taxes that were charged to passengers who bought tickets in the shutdown process. refunds will only apply to people who surface their tickets before last saturday's shutdown began but flew after that. so flying on or after july 23. delta says it is waiting to hear from the i.r.s. before telling people exactly when refunds will be given. but you can go to the website abc7news.com. we have a link to the i.r.s. claim form. i spent an hour searching for that yesterday. so, please, save yourself time. just do to our websit