{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221004115/http://www.vitter.senate.gov/newsroom/press/vitter-says-senate-appropriators-misstep-may-benefit-middle-east-airlines-at-us-airlines-expense-wants-correction", "Vitter Says Senate Appropriators\u2019 Misstep May Benefit Middle East Airlines at U.S. Airlines Expense, Wants Correction", "2013-12-09", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "LA", "David Vitter", "V000127", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Vitter Says Senate Appropriators\u2019 Misstep May Benefit Middle East Airlines at U.S. Airlines Expense, Wants Correction\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tVitter urges Appropriations Committee to reconsider their legislation that allows foreign entities to be involved in U.S. safety and security\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMonday, December 9, 2013\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t(Washington, D.C.) \u2013 U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) along with two Senators and 13 Representatives sent a bipartisan letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee leadership asking them to halt the use of U.S. funds to support an Abu Dhabi International Airport. The Members of Congress say there are no U.S. airlines servicing that airport and sending money to Abu Dhabi to allow for a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Preclearance facility will only benefit Middle Eastern airlines, at the expense of domestic airlines.\n\u201cThis deal concocted by the Senate appropriators could negatively impact American jobs and our economy while allowing a foreign country to finance a core national security function with U.S. taxpayer dollars,\u201d Vitter said. \u201cI\u2019ll be the first to say I don\u2019t think we should ever outsource America\u2019s safety and security. Furthermore, this just puts our domestic airlines at a competitive disadvantage against Middle Eastern airlines.\u201d\nIn 2012, ten leading U.S. airline business entities wrote to the U.S. Subcommittee on Homeland Security, chaired by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), expressing their concern on behalf of their employees asking to stop this action from moving forward. Click here to read their letter. Despite the pleas, the Homeland Security Subcommittee approved the action.\nIn April, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to permit the establishment of a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Preclearance facility at the Abu Dhabi International Airport. The Senate Appropriations Committee and the Homeland Security Subcommittee approved this action as part of the FY13 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill. The legislation permitted the (CBP) Commissioner to enter into agreements for reimbursements for any CBP service with any entity, including foreign governments that requested such a service.\nVitter is calling on Appropriations committee leadership, including Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Daniel Coats (R-Ind.), to reverse this position.\nAlong with Vitter, U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (K-Kan.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) signed the letter as well as U.S. Reps. Bill Cassidy (R- La.), Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), Tom Graves (R-Ga.), Howard Coble (R-N.C.), Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), David Joyce (R-Ohio), Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), Steve Scalise (R-La.), John Fleming (R-La.), Charles Boustany (R-La.) and Andre Carson (D-Ind.).\nBelow is the text of Vitter\u2019s letter.\n  December 9, 2013\n  The Honorable Barbara Mikulski The Honorable Richard Shelby   Chairwoman Ranking Member  U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations  503 Hart Senate Office Building 304 Russell Senate Office Building   Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510\nThe Honorable Mary Landrieu The Honorable Dan Coats  Chairwoman Ranking Member  Sub-Committee on Homeland Security Sub-Committee on Homeland Security   703 Hart Senate Office Building 439 Russell Senate Office Building  Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510\nDear Chairwoman Mikulski, Ranking Member Shelby, Chairwoman Landrieu and Ranking Member Coats:\nIn April, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to permit the establishment of a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Preclearance facility at the Abu Dhabi International Airport. As the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Appropriations Committee, we strongly urge you to concur with the position taken by the U.S. House of Representatives in its FY 2014 Homeland Security Appropriations and prevent this agreement \u2013 which will negatively impact American jobs and our economy while allowing a foreign country to finance a core national security function \u2013 from being implemented, particularly with U.S. taxpayer dollars.\nDespite bipartisan Congressional opposition and industry-wide concerns about the impact this facility would have on American jobs and global competitiveness, its implementation is moving forward. The agreement authorizing the facility is modeled on authority from Section 555 of the FY13 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill \u2013 approved by the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, but never enacted into law \u2013 which would have authorized CBP to enter into agreements for reimbursements for any CBP service with any entity, including foreign governments that requested such a service.\nCurrently, the U.S. maintains 15 CBP preclearance facilities in countries such as Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean. These facilities allow passengers to clear U.S. customs at their place of departure, allowing travelers to bypass these security measures once they cross the U.S. border. Doing so boosts tourism, travel and commerce from these locations. In contrast to the soon to be opened Abu Dhabi preclearance facility, the 15 existing preclearance facilities are served by U.S. passenger airlines and meet CBP\u2019s throughput threshold of 400,000 passengers a year.\nSince no U.S. airline currently serves Abu Dhabi, the planned preclearance facility will solely benefit a foreign airline competitor \u2013 specifically the state-owned and -supported Etihad Airways. Etihad competes with U.S. airlines not just for travel between the United States and the Middle East, but also for transit from important emerging markets, including India and Asia. It is unclear to us why the U.S. would volunteer to further tilt the playing field to the benefit of these state-owned enterprises, which use revenue earned from international flights to enhance domestic connectivity \u2013 especially to smaller airports.\nOn behalf of their American employees, ten major U.S. organizations representing the commercial aviation industry have already written to Senator Landrieu, Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee\u2019s Homeland Security Subcommittee, regarding the negative impact of this proposal and asking for its termination. In June 2012, several business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Transportation Trades Department (AFL-CIO), Airlines for America, and other U.S. aviation advocates publicly requested that this bad policy, undermining U.S. businesses, be addressed. Unfortunately, the Senate\u2019s proposal as currently written does not protect U.S. businesses.\nWe are also concerned that the financing arrangement negotiated with the UAE has the potential to threaten our national security. By allowing the UAE to reimburse CBP for most of the costs associated with this facility, this agreement appears to set the dangerous precedent of auctioning off the provision of core national security functions to the highest bidder. We cannot support outsourcing America\u2019s safety and security.\nThe U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations should match the U.S. House\u2019s efforts to stop what will ultimately cost U.S. businesses jobs and tilt the competitive balance in favor of foreign state-owned carriers. During this time of budget austerity, the U.S. taxpayer-funded assets assigned to Abu Dhabi would be much better directed to reducing wait times at the busiest and most understaffed U.S. airports.\nWe respectfully request that as Chairwoman and Ranking members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations and Chairwoman and Ranking members of the Sub-Committee on Homeland Security, you address this issue immediately and before any further U.S. Senate floor action allows these funds to go forward.\nThank you for your attention to this important matter.\nSincerely,\n  _____________________________ ______________________________  David Vitter Saxby Chambliss  United States Senator United States Senator\n  _____________________________ _____________________________  Jerry Moran Bill Cassidy  United States Senator Member of Congress\n  _____________________________ _____________________________  Patrick Meehan Frank LoBiondo  Member of Congress Member of Congress\n  _____________________________ _____________________________  Tom Graves Rick Larsen  Member of Congress Member of Congress\n  _____________________________ _____________________________  Howard Coble Larry Bucshon  Member of Congress Member of Congress\n  _____________________________ _____________________________  David Joyce John Fleming  Member of Congress Member of Congress\n  _____________________________ _____________________________  Ander Crenshaw Steve Scalise  Member of Congress Member of Congress\n  _____________________________ _____________________________  Charles Boustany, M.D. Andr\u00e9 Carson  Member of Congress Member of Congress", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221004115/http://www.vitter.senate.gov/newsroom/press/vitter-says-senate-appropriators-misstep-may-benefit-middle-east-airlines-at-us-airlines-expense-wants-correction"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7688008956611156, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}