Inhofe Working to Stop Tower Closures
Inhofe, others try to head off airport tower closures
Written by Staff
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, and nine other U.S. senators are working to head off closures of the nation’s contract air traffic control towers, including the one at Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport.
On Thursday the senators introduced an amendment to the Senate Continuing Resolution that they said will stop the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) effort targeting air traffic control towers in sequestration. Irresponsible cuts from sequestration will put the flying public at risk, impair access to rural areas, jeopardize national and civil security missions, and cost jobs, the senators said.
“The president is playing politics with public safety by closing contract air traffic control towers across the nation six in my state of Oklahoma which is why I have joined a bipartisan group of senators to stop this,” Inhofe said. “The post-sequestration FAA operations budget is still nearly $200 million more than it was when President Obama came into office. It is difficult to understand how a 5 percent cut in the FAA budget brought on by sequestration can result in the shutting of all contract towers nationwide.”