Wondering if the 108th Congress has been busy? By early last month, the Senate saw 2,505 bills introduced and the House of Representatives, 4,520. Those figures are impressive and would indicate positive legislative activity. However, Washington realists tend to look at the number of bills that have been enacted into legislation and come up with figures that indicate that the good intentions of legislators do not necessarily translate into results.
For example, and more specifically, bills of interest to aviation have not fared well. In the Senate, 15 aviation-related bills were introduced dealing, in some instances, with expanding aviation capacity in the Chicago area; the arming of cargo pilots; liability protection to nonprofit volunteer organizations flying for public benefit; improving training requirements for and requiring the certification of cabin crewmembers; and providing customs services after hours. The only bill to make it into law was S.829, introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and subsequently merged into H.R.2115, the “Flight 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act of 2003,” introduced by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), a bill that reauthorized the FAA.
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