LaHood Demands Congress Return To Washington, Reauthorize FAA

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called on Congress Wednesday to return from its summer recess to reauthorize funding for the Federal Aviation Administration.

LaHood told reporters at the start of today’s White House briefing that failing to reauthorize the FAA leaves 4,000 federal employees on furlough and puts 70,000 other contractors out of work for the month of August, effectively withholding about $1 billion in taxes from the U.S. Treasury.

“Congress needs to come back, resolve their differences, compromise and put our friends back to work,” LaHood said. “They should not leave 74,000 people hanging out their without jobs, without a paycheck until September.”

LaHood, a one-time Republican Congressman from Illinois, blasted Congress for leaving for a month-long vacation after giving, what he described as, “hollow” speeches on creating jobs and putting America back to work.

“They talk the talk but they have not walked the walk,” he said. “Their speeches ring very hollow to 4,000 FAA employees who are furloughed.”

The Transportation Secretary said he had approached Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) chief of staff, Barry Jackson, with a request to call members to return from their summer vacations to take up this bill.

Since Congress is currently in a pro-forma session, each chamber could reconvene to pass a “clean” bill unanimously without having every member return to Capitol Hill.