Proposal to decrease reliance on paper documents passes House

By Alan Wooten
The Center Square

Safety is compromised, and costs are increased by outdated rules, U.S. Rep. Brad Knott tells The Center Square.

His proposal with Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., the Aviation Supply Chain Safety and Security Digitization Act, is billed as “commonsense, industry-supported legislation aims to modernize safety documents related to airplane parts, helping to ensure the entire supply chain meets Federal Aviation Administration standards.” The legislation was approved on a voice vote by the full House membership on Tuesday.

“One of my top priorities in Congress is to remove unnecessary, inefficient, and costly regulations that impede innovation and compromise safety,” Knott, a Republican from North Carolina, told The Center Square. “The aviation industry is a target-rich environment of outdated rules that increase costs and decrease safety.”

In America’s near-ubiquitous internet access age featuring mainstream of artificial intelligence and prevailing digital economy, the Federal Aviation Administration has control in a supply chain still reliant on paper documents.

Taxpayers, such as the estimated 2.6 million to 2.9 million airline passengers a day in the United States, will get their eye test in efficiencies and costs if the proposal clears the Senate and makes it to the desk of second-term Republican President Donald Trump.

“It is unconscionable that the FAA relies on paper and pen recordkeeping to ensure airplane parts are properly serviced and up to code,” Knott said. “One of the many problems with this system is our market is flooded with cheap, counterfeit parts that enrich competing nations, some of which are hostile to the United States, while endangering Americans and harming American businesses.”

The freshman congressman expressed gratitude to all supporting the bill, and to Scholten for working across the aisle.

“I’m grateful for the bipartisan support we’ve received,” Knott said. “Congresswoman Scholten has been a real partner in pushing this commonsense legislation across the finish line. I strongly urge the Senate to take up this bill quickly and send it to President Trump’s desk.”