Cindy Hyde-Smith Presses Buttigieg On FAA Grants And Expanding Opportunities In Aviation Industry

4 months ago

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) spoke about expanding employment opportunities for young Americans in the aviation industry.

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Transcript

00:00 Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank You Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, I am very

00:07 passionate about the workforce in aviation. I represent a rule state, a very

00:12 rule state, so does Senator Collins, and I just see that there's so many young

00:17 people that don't have the exposure to aviation. I tell the story of Jesse Bowie,

00:23 my friend that lived in a neighborhood that was close to the airport. Very

00:28 limited opportunities, but he could ride his bicycle to the chain-link fence to

00:33 watch these airplanes land in a little general aviation airport. So I know that

00:38 kids, he became a pilot, he owned a flight instructing school, and Jesse just he

00:45 became successful, but only because he could ride his bicycle to that chain-link

00:49 fence. But I know that kids all across Mississippi and America could thrive

00:53 with careers in aviation, including mechanics, pilots, flight attendants, and

00:59 air traffic controllers, if they were just given the opportunity. So I do have

01:04 this passion to reach out to students at a young age from elementary school to

01:09 high school so they can learn about the potential that a career in aviation has

01:14 to change their lives. The FAA has established several grant programs to

01:20 invest in the future aviation workforce by providing grants to academic

01:24 institutions and the aviation community. While I appreciate that these

01:29 investments are being made, what more can FAA do to get more children involved in

01:36 aviation careers? Because I do have a dream of developing a program that can

01:42 bring kids out to smaller airports, but what can FAA do to get more younger

01:48 people to strike that chord in them that they may not know is there? Well thank

01:54 you for that question. It's close to my own heart. The imagery that you've

01:57 described reminds me of my father taking me as a kid to look through the

02:01 chain-link fence at South Bend's Airport the day that Air Force One came to bring

02:05 President Reagan to visit the University of Notre Dame. And seeing that jumbo jet

02:09 was one of the reasons I was the kind of kid who grew up with cockpit posters in

02:13 my bedroom, only to wind up working in a very different way in aviation than what

02:17 I might have originally imagined back when I was hoping to be a pilot. We know

02:21 that sparking that early sense of creativity and passion can last a

02:25 lifetime, and we also know that the country needs to engage more of the

02:29 talent that's out there. We do have programming that that we believe is

02:33 meaningful. One that I would point to is the Science, Technology, Engineering, and

02:38 Math, Aviation, and Space Education program. It's a mouthful, goes by STEM,

02:43 ASVED. Just knowing of your interest in this issue, I pulled some numbers and

02:48 learned that the FAA's held 11 events so far just in Mississippi this fiscal year

02:52 through that program. But would absolutely welcome more ways in

02:57 partnership with you and the committee to make sure that we reach more people

03:00 who have the aptitude and may even already have the passion but may not

03:05 have the exposure or the knowledge that they could very well thrive in these

03:09 careers. And I know so much of that is on us as states, but I just want to reach

03:14 out and let you know we will need help from FAA and you know take a lot of

03:19 folks in the aviation world to make this a reality. But as I continue to work on

03:25 the program, I'd love to have USDOT and FAA involved to truly amplify the

03:31 federal government's role in aviation and the opportunities for more young

03:35 people. I just appreciate your willingness to work with me on that.

03:42 Talking about other things in Mississippi, Mr. Secretary, the extreme

03:47 drought conditions that Mississippians experienced in the summer and fall of

03:51 2023 left behind almost 13 million dead trees across our entire state. The

03:58 prolonged drought severely stressed the trees, especially the softwood varieties,

04:03 and led to major outbreaks of southern pine beetles that is wreaking havoc on

04:08 our timber harvesters, communities, and landowners. Many of these trees stand

04:14 along right-of-ways maintained by the State Department of Transportation and

04:18 driving up and down the state you just see them everywhere. It's something

04:22 like I've never seen. But dead and dying trees throughout our Pine Belt region

04:27 and the entire state have fallen onto roadways, posing serious safety hazards

04:32 and forcing Mississippi DOT to expend limited highway maintenance resources on

04:38 the cleanup. But we have the obvious risk of the traveling public, but I

04:45 understand that these activities may not be a great fit under the Federal Highway

04:50 Administration's Emergency Relief Program, in part because they're largely

04:54 preventive in nature. Still, the fact remains that this is an emergency and

04:59 Mississippi MDOT needs relief because we certainly didn't expect a drought to

05:04 cause trees to be on our highways. Are you aware of any existing U.S. DOT

05:10 programs that Mississippi DOT can utilize and can I get your commitment to

05:14 work with these to support these critical safety efforts? I certainly am

05:19 committed to working with you to find eligibilities and programs where this

05:24 may apply, including potentially discretionary grants headed to

05:27 Mississippi. I'll ask my team to follow up and see where we can be helpful there.

05:30 Thank you. I truly appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

05:34 Senator Coons. Thank you, Chair.

Cindy Hyde-Smith Presses Buttigieg On FAA Grants And Expanding Opportunities In Aviation Industry

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Transcript

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