Bill Shuster Pushes Back Against Conservative Group’s Opposition to Air Traffic Control Privatization Bill

The Washington Examiner covers the American Conservative Union Foundation’s claim that the 21st Century AIRR Act would not privatize air traffic control. Read Marc Scribner’s blog on this subject here.

Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., shot back against the American Conservative Union Foundation after the group came out against the lawmaker’s plan to privatize air traffic control.

The ACUF argued the proposal would not truly privatize the agency but Shuster’s spokesman said the determination didn’t make sense and wasn’t shared by most other conservative groups.

“It’s a shame ACU doesn’t recognize the conservative merits of the 21st Century AIRR Act — which reduces the size of government, cuts taxes on the traveling public, and reduces wasteful government spending — unlike many prominent conservative and free market groups that support the bill,” said Justin Harclerode, spokesman for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which Shuster chairs. “This fully independent, private entity will not be governmental, or public-private, in any way.”

Harclerode then rattled off a long list of right-leaning groups that did back the legislation, including Heritage Action, FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Citizens Against Government Waste, National Taxpayers Union, Reason Foundation, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Alliance for Transportation Innovation, and American Legislative Exchange Council, among others.

Read the full article at the Washington Examiner.