Ranking Member Clyburn Remarks at Fiscal Year 2026 Federal Aviation Administration Budget Hearing

WASHINGTON — Congressman James E. Clyburn (D-SC-06), Ranking Member of the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the subcommittee's fiscal year 2026 budget hearing for the Federal Aviation Administration:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and welcome Acting Administrator Rocheleau. I want to thank you for your service as you assume leadership of the FAA under very difficult circumstances.

The purpose of today’s hearing is to examine how the FAA is using its current resources and the proposed fiscal year 2026 funding to advance aviation safety. 

As Chair Womack just mentioned, last month we had an opportunity to discuss with Secretary Duffy some of the Administration’s proposed investments to modernize the air traffic control system. The discussion centered around the air traffic control modernization plan released last month by this Administration.

While the plan is a great conversation starter, it ignores the realities of cuts to FAA staff, fair competition, overall cost—and most importantly—how we pay for it. 

The FAA’s 2026 budget request provides nominal increases to backfill our air traffic controller workforce and sustain FAA’s aging facilities and technology, all of which I support. 

While there are proposed resources set aside for modernizing the FAA, I am concerned that they come at the expense of advancing FAA’s aviation safety research, engineering, and development programs, which are essential investments to determine the best modernization and safety solutions for the National Airspace System.

And though the 2026 budget request proposes hiring up to 2,500 new air traffic controllers, it does not consider challenges with academy success, or retention rates and early retirements among our existing controller workforce. 

Meanwhile, with the constant shifts in tariffs, America is losing the confidence of our partners to deliver an improved air traffic control system and cost-effective aviation manufacturing. 

American businesses, including manufacturers and suppliers, face uncertainty and increased costs as they are left in the dark. 

Thousands of jobs—many in high-skilled manufacturing and engineering—depend on the ability of United States aircraft manufacturers and suppliers to access global markets on fair and reliable terms. This is especially true for manufacturing in my own District and home state of South Carolina.

Our aviation supply chain system requires certainty from our global partners – and the trust that we can deliver state of the art transportation and airports. 

Administrator, I strongly support robust investments in aviation. But we need to know that the Administration’s supplemental air traffic control plan and budget request is backed by action and based on current realities. I remain concerned that we have yet to see the full potential of existing FAA resources being used to address our most immediate threats brought forward by aging technology and staffing shortfalls at the FAA. 

Mr. Chairman, it is our duty on this Subcommittee to continue helping the FAA modernize its air traffic control system. And in a year where we need to see more robust investments in FAA, my hope is that it does not come at the expense of strengthening safety for other modes of transportation or keeping our seniors and working families housed. 

I look forward to learning more about how we can all work together to support the advancement of FAA.

I look forward to hearing your testimony and yield the balance of my time.

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