House Lawmakers Call On DOT To Shelve Plan To Disable BARR | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.01.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.16.24

Airborne-FlightTraining-04.17.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers-04.18.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.19.24

Join Us At 0900ET, Friday, 4/10, for the LIVE Morning Brief.
Watch It LIVE at
www.airborne-live.net

Thu, Jul 14, 2011

House Lawmakers Call On DOT To Shelve Plan To Disable BARR

Thirty-Three Members Of Congress Call On LaHood To Continue Program

The NBAA welcomed a letter sent by 33 lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives to Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood on Wednesday, expressing "serious concerns" with the government's proposal to severely curtail the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program.

"First and foremost, all Americans have the right to privacy and the Federal government should not broadcast the movements of individuals utilizing private aircraft against their will," reads the letter, co-sponsored by Representatives Sam Graves (R-6-MO), John Barrow (D-12-GA) and Leonard Boswell (D-3-IA). The letter goes on to point out that "American companies use the BARR program to operate free from surveillance or to explore new business opportunities without competitive interference.

"There are security concerns for business leaders and individuals that use private aircraft, and the BARR program prevents unknown parties and potential threats from tracking their movements," the letter continues, while also pointing out that the program has always allowed the Department of Homeland Security and other official entities to monitor users of the national airspace system.

The letter adds that groups outside the aviation industry, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have also expressed concerns with the FAA's plans.

"While all Americans support an open and transparent government, maintaining the BARR program is about preservation of personal citizens' right to privacy," the letter reads.

In addition to Reps. Boswell and Graves, the letter was also signed by Reps. John Barrow (D-GA), Don Young (R-AK), Randy Hultgren (R-IL), Bill Posey (R-FL), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), Mike Pompeo (R-KS), Richard Hanna (R-NY), Donald Manzullo  (R-IL), Bill Flores (R-TX), John Carter (R-TX),  Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Todd Rokita  (R-IN), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Stephen Fincher (R-TN), Tim Griffin (R-AR), Billy Long (R-MO), Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Jerry Costello (D-IL),  Gerald Connolly (D-VA), Mike Ross (D-AR), Michael Burgess (R-TX), Tom Petri (R-WI), Dan Burton (R-IN), Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Tom Marino (R-PA), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL),  James Lankford (R-OK), and Brian Bilbray (R-CA).

The House members' letter raises concerns similar to those raised by 26 senators in a letter they sent June 26, which also called on the DOT to scrap its plans for dismantling the BARR, noting that the long-standing, congressionally enabled program prevents the "cyber-stalking" of aircraft movements.

"The business aviation community thanks House and Senate policymakers who signed these letters, as well as others in congress who have said they clearly understand the need for a program that allows citizens and companies to 'opt-out' from having their aviation movements tracked by anyone, anywhere in the world, with any motive," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. "We very much appreciate their support for the BARR, as demonstrated by their calling on government officials to shelve their plans for discontinuing this important program."

House legislation for preserving the BARR program was passed in March as part of an overall House bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). That overall House measure is now being considered, along with its Senate counterpart, by a conference committee that is working to reconcile the two bills into a single FAA reauthorization bill for consideration by congressional chambers.

FMI: www.nbaa.org

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.16.24)

Aero Linx: International Business Aviation Council Ltd IBAC promotes the growth of business aviation, benefiting all sectors of the industry and all regions of the world. As a non->[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (04.16.24)

"During the annual inspection of the B-24 “Diamond Lil” this off-season, we made the determination that 'Lil' needs some new feathers. Due to weathering, the cloth-cove>[...]

Airborne 04.10.24: SnF24!, A50 Heritage Reveal, HeliCycle!, Montaer MC-01

Also: Bushcat Woes, Hummingbird 300 SL 4-Seat Heli Kit, Carbon Cub UL The newest Junkers is a faithful recreation that mates a 7-cylinder Verner radial engine to the airframe offer>[...]

Airborne 04.12.24: SnF24!, G100UL Is Here, Holy Micro, Plane Tags

Also: Seaplane Pilots Association, Rotax 916’s First Year, Gene Conrad After a decade and a half of struggling with the FAA and other aero-politics, G100UL is in production a>[...]

Airborne-Flight Training 04.17.24: Feds Need Controllers, Spirit Delay, Redbird

Also: Martha King Scholarship, Montaer Grows, Textron Updates Pistons, FlySto The FAA is hiring thousands of air traffic controllers, but the window to apply will only be open for >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC