Big Win for South Jersey: Congressman Van Drew Announces the Defeat of FAA's Reorganization Plan

Press Release

Today, Congressman Van Drew announced a huge win for South Jersey - the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reorganization request was rejected by Congress. This reorganization plan would have moved major parts of the FAA out of South Jersey and would have given the Washington, D.C. bureaucracy control over the FAA, costing hundreds of local jobs.

Since August of 2021, Congressman Van Drew has worked with various entities to develop a strategy to defeat the FAA's reorganization proposal and sent multiple letters to the FAA urging the withdrawal of the reorganization request. The proposal would put South Jersey jobs at risk and adversely affect the William J. Hughes Technical Center. Congressman Van Drew questioned and spoke with FAA Administrator Steve Dickson on multiple occasions expressing the serious concerns he had with the proposal. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which Congressman Van Drew serves on, sent a letter to the FAA echoing Congressman Van Drew's position that the FAA should not move forward with the proposal.

After working diligently to save South Jersey jobs and maintain the integrity of the facility, Congressman Van Drew is pleased to announce that Congress has rejected the FAA's proposal.

"I am proud to announce that South Jersey jobs have been saved and through our due diligence, the FAA's reorganization request was rejected by Congress," said Congressman Van Drew. "I have relentlessly been working with Administrator Dickson with the support of multiple organizations to voice the concerns of the FAA workers whose jobs were threatened by this proposal."

"This is a huge win for South Jersey, and through the rejection of this D.C. land grab, we can now move forward to advance the Technical Center while keeping jobs intact and do not inadvertently diminish the facility through bad proposals," added Congressman Van Drew. "Moving forward, I am focused on improving infrastructure at the Atlantic City International Airport and am currently working on legislation to improve FAA policies and expand the Technical Center's role in being up to speed with emerging technologies."

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