Beyer Floor Remarks on ALERT Act

Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), who represents a Northern Virginia district that includes National Airport (DCA), today delivered remarks on the House floor during debate on H.R. 7613, the ALERT Act, aviation safety reform legislation that would implement the 50 recommendations issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in its final report on the January 29, 2025, midair collision between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342.

The House vote on the ALERT Act is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. today, with a threshold of two thirds required for passage because of the procedural measure that brought it to the floor.

Beyer's remarks, as delivered (video here):

"Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7613, the ALERT Act, and I thank the committees of jurisdiction for your tireless work on this bill and for adopting significant feedback from the stakeholders, including the Families of Flight 5342 and the National Transportation Safety Board.

And a personal thank you to Ranking Member Larsen for your collaboration and support. You and your team have been wonderful to work with through a difficult process.

This bill provides a meaningful and comprehensive response to last year's January 29th collision at National Airport, which tragically took 67 lives.

We must do everything we can to keep this tragedy from happening again.

This bill would implement all 50 recommendations from the NTSB's final report on the collision.

It would reevaluate the arrival rate at National Airport, which is too high.

It would establish a time-based flow management system to make our air traffic controllers' workload more manageable.

It would reevaluate our air traffic control [tower's] facility level to hopefully bring more resources and staffing to the tower.

And, this bill would improve our helicopter route charts. It aims to put guardrails on military helicopter flights in this very congested region.

This bill is an incredible step forward for National Airport, for our region, and for our country - and I hope to see it pass this evening.

However, the ALERT Act is not perfect.

It includes ADS-B carveouts for some general aviation aircraft, and there are still concerns about military helicopter flights in the region not being adequately addressed.

The Families of Flight 5342 still have legitimate concerns, and put out a statement today on their hopes for improvements to the bill in the Senate before it becomes law, which I support.

I was disappointed to see the ROTOR Act, which had strong ADS-B requirements, fail on the House Floor earlier this year.

But, Madam Speaker, our goal is to adopt the strongest aviation safety requirements possible, and I firmly believe that the ALERT Act accomplishes much of this goal, but that we can and should make this bill stronger.

I look forward to voting and supporting the ALERT Act today, as I did with the ROTOR Act earlier this year, with the understanding that more work is needed.

As this bill advances, I urge my colleagues in the committees of jurisdiction to make improvements, to close any loopholes, and to prioritize safety for all over the convenience of a few.

And thank you again to our committee leaders for their work on this bill.

I yield back."

Congressman Beyer has consistently championed aviation safety and long advocated for measures to alleviate congested air traffic in Northern Virginia skies. After the tragic collision between PSA Airlines Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army helicopter, Beyer urged for a safety review and an extended halt of military helicopter training in the airspace around DCA. Beyer also helped secure language requiring the Department of Transportation to conduct an independent safety review of DCA's airspace, civil-military coordination, and operational safety in the National Capital Region as part of the FY26 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Act, which was recently passed into law on February 3, 2026. Beyer was among the first voices to urge the Trump Administration to adopt the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary recommendations following its investigation of the incident.