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Filing Flight Plan
Over the weekend I attended a packed forum at Oshkosh put on by Sen. Jim Inhofe, Rep. Sam Graves, EAA president Jack Pelton and folks from the AOPA advocacy team. The subject was the effort to reform the broken 3rd Class Medical process. Much of the forum dealt with a letter sent by the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) to every senator, urging them to vote against the Pilot's Bill of Rights 2, which includes the reform. The folks on stage urged that we fight back immediately:
The senate is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a critical highway bill. A senator from West Virginia has proposed an amendment that attaches the Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 to this bill. We currently have 55 senators who are signed on as co-sponsors of the bill. We need at least 5 more senators to ensure that it passes. EAA and AOPA both suggest that we all call our senators TODAY and urge them to support this important legislation.
A list of senators who have not yet signed on is available at the bottom of this article: http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/...eeded-on-medical-reform-legislation?CMP=ADV:1
To call your senators, dial the senate switchboard at: (202) 224-3121. The operator will connect you with the appropriate offices. When you get somebody on the line:
If you get diverted to voicemail, be sure to ask for a callback today. Explain that this is urgent as the vote on the amendment is tomorrow.
Please take this text and email it to friends who are not on PoA. Cross-post it to other forums. Please do it today since the vote is tomorrow!
Best Regards,
Steve
The senate is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a critical highway bill. A senator from West Virginia has proposed an amendment that attaches the Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 to this bill. We currently have 55 senators who are signed on as co-sponsors of the bill. We need at least 5 more senators to ensure that it passes. EAA and AOPA both suggest that we all call our senators TODAY and urge them to support this important legislation.
A list of senators who have not yet signed on is available at the bottom of this article: http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/...eeded-on-medical-reform-legislation?CMP=ADV:1
To call your senators, dial the senate switchboard at: (202) 224-3121. The operator will connect you with the appropriate offices. When you get somebody on the line:
- Explain that you're a constituent and a pilot and that this issue is very important to you
- Explain that it is also important to the future of aviation in America and in your state
- Explain that the Pilot's Bill of Rights fixes many broken FAA policies, effectively giving pilots an "innocent until proven guilty" presumption when facing FAA actions.
- Explain that the aeromedical reform will reduce the cost of flying, making it more approachable
- Explain that the current 3rd class process does nothing to improve safety and that thousands of Sport and Glider pilots have been flying for the past decade without medicals, and that there have been no negative results
- Explain that this is a bipartisan issue: it has support from 55 other senators on both sides of the aisle. The amendment was actually proposed by a Democrat.
- Explain that the language of the Pilot's Bill of Rights has been attached to the surface transportation bill through the Manchin-Boozman amendment
- Ask that the senator vote for the amendment and the final amended version of the transportation bill
If you get diverted to voicemail, be sure to ask for a callback today. Explain that this is urgent as the vote on the amendment is tomorrow.
Please take this text and email it to friends who are not on PoA. Cross-post it to other forums. Please do it today since the vote is tomorrow!
Best Regards,
Steve