Politics & Government

Congress Approves Ending FAA Furloughs at Martin State, Nationwide

The furloughs, which recently took effect under mandated budget cuts, would have led to the closure of Martin State Airport's air traffic control tower.

Congress passed a bill Friday to end the furloughs of federal air traffic controllers, The Huffington Post reports.

The bill now goes to President Obama for his signature. Press Secretary Jay Carney indicated in the report that the president supports the measure.

The bill, which passed the House on a 361-41 vote after passing the Senate Thursday, allows the Federal Aviation Administration flexibility not available under the original sequestration legislation, allowing the agency to move millions from construction accounts to its operations. The furloughs of the agency's 15,000 air traffic controllers, which took effect this week, have been blamed for numerous flight delays nationwide.

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The air traffic control tower at Martin State Airport was one of 149 nationwide and five in Maryland slated to close in June due to the sequestration budget cuts. It is now unclear if that closure will proceed.

Other aspects of sequestration's across the board cuts remain.

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The vote was not without controversy. Republicans, including House Rep. Tom Latham of Iowa, blamed the administration for mishandling of sequestration.

"The Congress is stepping in to correct the problems created by the administration's gross mismanagement," he told The Huffington Post.

Democrats interviewed, however, claimed hypocrisy in the Republican ranks.

"This picking and choosing where the winners continue to be the haves and the losers tend to be the have-nots -- it's just a spiral down, and it's a sad day in Congress that instead of attacking the real problem that we created, we carve out an exception that's going to benefit members of Congress themselves," said Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT).


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