Subject: POLITICO's Morning Transportation, presented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International: For Shuster and his embattled FAA bill, now what? — TSA whistleblower: ‘Not enough at the agency has changed’ — Lawmakers double down on opposition to Norwegian Air
From: Morning Transportation <[email-masked]>
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Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2016 08:09:45 -0600

By Martine Powers | 04/28/2016 10:00 AM EDT

With help from Heather Caygle, Lauren Gardner, Jennifer Scholtes and Annie Snider

FOR SHUSTER, NOW WHAT? Now that he's clinched a narrow victory in his Pennsylvania primary, it's back to business for House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster - except nobody's quite sure how that business is going to go down. Shuster shows no sign of backing down on his controversial proposal to privatize the nation's air traffic control system - but as our Heather Caygle writes, his bill has even less momentum than it had when it passed committee two months ago. From Heather's report: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c887d53b875efb20a95ecb5cf28984fa151c57022af41d210881f3fc24d00fa5 "His dream of 'transforming' air traffic control seems no closer to being realized than when the proposal was unveiled in early February. ... All of the
 attention and money poured into the primary may exact a premium that has nothing to do with cash. With under 80 days until the FAA's current authorization expires, key lawmakers involved in the negotiations say they haven't heard from Shuster in weeks and are no closer to being convinced that his controversial plan is the way to go."

An update on progress: House T&I spokesman Jim Billimoria told Heather that Shuster has had "ongoing discussions" with members of both parties about the AIRR Act, and that the "numerous problems he's outlined have not been addressed or fixed in any other piece of legislation to date." But other lawmakers are eyeing the bill with increasing skepticism - including Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, who ushered his own bipartisan FAA bill through committee and the full Senate in the time since Shuster's bill was marked up by T&I. "I think the more likely scenario right now is that maybe they take a look at the Senate bill, maybe they call it up and amend it or pass something similar on their
 own and the process moves forward," Thune told Heather. "They're going to have to figure out a path forward."

IT'S THURSDAY: Good morning and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports.

Who knew thait so many people don't know how to pronounce Acela?! MT has watched this video four times already, and it gets funnier with each viewing: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c887d53b875efb20650e38efe48a2ff1cbe49d9773628efa81df0fbfd881d8d7 Reach out: [email-masked] or @martinepowers.

"You got a fast car/Is it fast enough so we can fly away?/We gotta make a decision/Leave tonight or live and die this way." (h/t to Stephanie Pollack, Massachusetts' secretary of transportation, who writes that she was "one of many people who heard Tracy Chapman play at transit stations before Tracy went on to fame.")

SPOKE TOO SOON? Just as the Senate seemed primed to take up the THUD appropriations bill, drama over Sen. Tom Cotton's amendment on Iran in the Energy and Water appropriations bill has thrown those plans into disarray. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell withdrew the motion to proceed on THUD, allowing the Energy and Water proceedings to continue for another day. That means THUD definitely won't be on the docket until after next week's recess - and if there's not a resolution to the Cotton amendment issue that's to Democrats' liking, continued conflict could threaten the appropriations process altogether. "If we can't get this appropriation bill done, it doesn't bode well for the future,"
 Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn told Pro Energy's Darius Dixon.

UPPING THE EXPERTISE ON WMATA BOARD: Rep. John Delaney is proposing a fix to a problem highlighted earlier this month during the House Oversight Committee's heated hearing on WMATA: The current board of directors lacks members with significant financial or engineering experience. Now, Delaney plans to introduce legislation that would require that the next three federally appointed members of the board qualify as either "(1) a certified transit expert, (2) a certified management expert, or (3) a certified financial expert." And if the Metro Board gets overhauled (as some have called for) the bill would require that the majority of new appointees - regardless of what jurisdiction they
 represent - would meet the technical requirements for expertise.

Delaney argues that it's a flexible solution: "How can we expect Metro to be run well otherwise?" he said in a statement. "This legislation doesn't remove the ability of local jurisdictions to choose their board representatives, but it does ensure a baseline level of qualifications." But he didn't mention one of the major problems facing the board of directors that was raised by Board Chairman Jack Evans at the hearing: With or without technical requirements, it's difficult to recruit people onto the board. "Sometimes they're there because nobody else would come, believe it or not," Evans said at the time.

TSA WHISTLEBLOWERS DELIVER REAL TALK: At a House Oversight Committee hearing focused on allegations of a "retaliatory culture" at TSA, agency whistleblowers said they approve of TSA chief Peter Neffenger but maintain that not enough at the agency has changed. "I can tell you Administrator Neffenger has brought a new perspective to the agency. ... The problem is he's got the same people doing the same things, doing the same problems," Mark Livingston, a TSA program manager, told the committee. "He's not going to get there with the same team."

Chairman Jason Chaffetz said his panel is still conducting its investigation, having yet to hear back from TSA about many of the allegations made public in February. "When hard-working, rank-and-file men and women are punished, yet their managers get off easy, it creates a morale problem," Chaffetz said. "And allowing such a culture to fester has a highly detrimental effect on the mission of the agency, keeping the airways safe."

SENATORS SPAR ON LEGAL RECOURSE FOR FOREIGN CRUISE WORKERS: The Maritime Administration reauthorization bill was passed by a voice vote on Wednesday, but some Democrats registered concerns about an amendment from Sen. Dan Sullivan aimed at foreign workers on foreign-owned maritime vessels - namely, cruise ships - that would limit their legal recourse in U.S. courts if they sue their employer. Sullivan said the measure would support American workers, but Sen. Richard Blumenthal argued that the amendment would have the exact opposite effect - encouraging cruise ships to hire foreign workers who would have little legal recourse in the United States if they were mistreated by their employer.
 "There would be a comparative advantage of hiring foreign workers who can't come to our courts," he said.

WRDA SETS SAIL IN THE SENATE: Sens. Jim Inhofe and Barbara Boxer's last major infrastructure package is poised to clear their Environment and Public Works Committee this morning, where few headwinds are expected. A manager's amendment will include authorizations for two big new flood control projects in California that recently received the Army Corps of Engineer's blessing, but is otherwise expected to contain only modest tweaks.

But from there, the sailing may not be so smooth. The bipartisan duo who overcame the odds to pass a five-year transportation bill in the fall is leaving it all on the field with their Water Resources Development Act, not only pushing the traditional Army Corps of Engineers projects but also proposing some of the most substantive changes to the country's clean water and drinking water programs in decades while providing a vehicle for the $220 million aid package to Flint, Mich., and other communities that fell short on the Senate's energy bill. That broader approach is already raising hackles among some of the upper chamber's conservatives, to say nothing of the battle it could face in the
 House.

** A message from the Air Line Pilots Association, International: By proposing to grant Norwegian Air International (NAI) a foreign carrier permit, Transportation Secretary Foxx is failing to enforce our Open Skies agreement with the European Union, thereby harming tens of thousands of U.S. workers. Secretary Foxx should stand up for U.S. workers and immediately deny NAI's request. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c887d53b875efb208e32c741c540adc160c9b300dc968d94e0e7ecdbed65f6aa **

DeFAZIO ET AL DOUBLE DOWN ON NORWEGIAN AIR OPPOSITION: Less than two weeks after DOT announced a tentative OK for Norwegian Air International to operate flights in the United States, Reps. Peter DeFazio, Frank LoBiondo and Rick Larsen are giving a forceful "no way" to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "Norwegian Air is 'Norwegian' in name only and relies on flags of convenience to subvert the fair labor standards of its home market," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Foxx, urging him to reverse the decision. "We urge the department, in the strongest possible terms, to set aside the flawed tentative decision on Norwegian's permit application and to deny the application. The public
 interest demands it."

Flight attendants weigh in: The Association of Flight Attendants - CWA also opposes the move, writing in an op-ed in The Hill on Wednesday that DOT's decision "establishes a dangerous precedent allowing foreign carriers to circumvent strong labor laws in favor of cheap labor from countries with few worker protections. The DOT chose to ... put the interests of corporations ahead of workers." 

BAD NEWS ON EL FARO BLACK BOX DISCOVERY: The data recorder in the El Faro shipwreck discovered Tuesday will not retrieved for a while, NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart told the agency in a memo. He said investigators need a more nimble, advanced submersible robot than what the agency has on hand - and for that, they're reaching out to the Navy and other organizations that may have the technology to rescue the recorder. Hart said in the memo that based on the external appearance of the black box, he is cautiously optimistic that the data will be able to be successfully extracted. Hart also said he spoke with Sens. Susan Collins and Bill Nelson to update them on the progress of the data
 recorder retrieval, as well as the families of the 33 victims onboard the vessel when it sank.

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):

- "The feds aren't helping on Metro safety, says DC transportation chief." Greater Greater Washington.

- Automakers, Wi-Fi advocates clash over coveted airwaves. POLITICO Pro 

- "Arianna Huffington is an Uber board member: Huh?" The Washington Post.

- "The Air-Traffic System U.S. Airlines Wish They Had." (Spoiler alert: It's about Nav Canada.) The Wall Street Journal.

- France makes last-ditch attempt to crimp Uber. POLITICO Europe.

- "Uber threatens to leave Houston." The Houston Chronicle.

- Taxi drivers spar with Newark mayor over Uber agreement. POLITICO New Jersey.

- Seriously, this isn't a good week for Uber: "Uber May Have to Reveal Financial Secrets in Driver Settlement." Bloomberg.

- Lawmakers in New York push for "Textalyzer" technology to crack down on distracted driving. The New York Times.

THE MEDIA ISSUE- POLITICO MAGAZINE ONLINE TODAY: POLITICO Magazine's MEDIA ISSUE is out just in time for WHCD festivities! Don't miss this sweeping look at the press' role in the rise of GOP front-runner Donald Trump - from NYC tabloid writers who made Trump a celebrity, to the complicity of cable news, to on-the-ground reporters riding the Trump rollercoaster. In this must-read issue featuring Jack Shafer, Campbell Brown, Michael Grunwald, Michael Crowley and Ben Schreckinger, among many others, POLITICO Magazine asks, "Just what have we done?" Read:http://politi.co/1aH8bTl or grab a copy tomorrow.

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT appropriations run out in 157 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 79 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 195 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 1,619 days.

** A message from the Air Line Pilots Association, International: The Department of Transportation's (DOT) order proposing to approve Norwegian Air International's (NAI) request ignores both the terms of our the Open Skies agreement and the will of Congress. NAI's operation as a "flag-of-convenience" carrier in Ireland would allow the airline to skirt Norway's employment laws, give NAI an unfair economic edge, and put tens of thousands of U.S. aviation jobs at risk. 

DOT's decision is at odds with the letter, spirit, and intent of the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement and is opposed by U.S. and EU labor unions, airlines and others. More than 200 members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have urged Secretary Foxx to enforce the U.S.-EU agreement and deny the NAI application.

The Obama Administration needs to stand up for fair competition and U.S. jobs and deny NAI a foreign carrier permit. Learn more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c887d53b875efb208e32c741c540adc160c9b300dc968d94e0e7ecdbed65f6aa **

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