My Commitment to Serve U.S. Pilots
By Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN)
In May 1988, I was on a bus on my way to the White House along with my teammates from the Lake Superior State University hockey team. We had just won the NCAA men’s hockey championship and earned the opportunity to meet the president of the United States. At the time, I never imagined I would lead a life of service. It wasn’t until I met President Ronald Reagan—arguably one of the greatest presidents this nation has ever seen—that I began to wonder what I could do for my country.
After graduating from college and a brief stint playing professional hockey for the Detroit Red Wings, I began to serve my community and the state of Minnesota as a law enforcement officer. Upon retiring from the police force, my desire to help others was still there so I began working as a city councilor in Hermantown, Minn., and later became a St. Louis County commissioner.
As a city councilor and St. Louis county commissioner, a large aspect of my job was overseeing local infrastructure projects. During that time, it became clear that Minnesota’s weather-worn network of roads, bridges, highways, and airports was in desperate need of improvement and modernization. These issues were a big part of what motivated my run for Congress.
Almost immediately after taking the oath of office, I requested to serve on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as I knew great bipartisan work could be accomplished. Republicans and Democrats alike can agree that investment in our infrastructure is beneficial to our daily lives. My predecessor, and titan of infrastructure, former Congressman Jim Oberstar said it best, frequently remarking, “I never met a Republican road or a Democratic bridge.”
In my short time on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I’ve had the opportunity to hear from many remarkable Americans, including our hardworking and dedicated pilots. While the American people entrust our pilots with their lives, our pilots entrust members of this committee to serve in a bipartisan manner and enact legislation that will help them continue to successfully perform their jobs. It’s the responsibility of Congress to have our pilots’ backs, and it’s one that I take very seriously.
Modern aviation is incredibly safe, in large part thanks the professionalism of our pilots. While aviation is one of the safest forms of transportation, to keep it that way we must constantly work to maintain and improve upon safety protocols. I recently heard testimony from a pilot who outlined concerns he had with the efficiency of the notice to airmen system, which alerts pilots to potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the safety of the flight.
To address this concern, I introduced my Notice to Airmen Improvement Act of 2019 (H.R. 1775). This bipartisan legislation would establish an FAA task force to determine what improvements should be made to the notice to airmen system. This legislation recently passed out of the committee, making me the first freshman from either party to move legislation out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee during this session of Congress.
It’s been decades since my meeting with President Reagan at the White House, and in that time, my commitment to serve has taken many forms. However, as a Member of Congress, working with U.S. pilots on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I’m serving in one of my favorite roles to date. In fact, our pilots have inspired me so much that I’m now 43 hours into my training to earn a private pilot’s license. I remain committed to reaching across the aisle and enacting legislation that allows our pilots to continue to safely deliver Americans to their destinations.
