FAA Furloughs Don’t Sit Very Well With OK Delegation
Oklahoma lawmakers criticize FAA over furloughs
By Chris Casteel
WASHINGTON — Oklahoma lawmakers criticized the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday for furloughing air traffic controllers and said other actions could have been taken to save money under mandated budget cuts.
“Anytime a bureaucracy is forced to cut, they will find the one thing people want most, and there’s no better example of this than the FAA,” Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, said in a speech on the Senate floor.
Meantime, the Obama administration signaled Wednesday it might accept legislation that would eliminate Federal Aviation Administration furloughs blamed for lengthy delays affecting airline passengers, while leaving the rest of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts in place.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said he hoped for a resolution before the Senate begins a scheduled weeklong vacation at week’s end.