WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives narrowly rejected an aviation safety bill that was spurred by the deadly midair collision near Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, one day after the Pentagon abruptly withdrew its support for the bipartisan bill.
The ROTOR Act, as the bill is known, would require wider use of a safety system known as ADS-B in and ADS-B out which can transmit an aircraft's location to other aircraft. It would also limit exemptions for military helicopters.
The Senate approved the bill unanimously in December. It also had wide support from families of the crash victims, many of whom had traveled to Capitol Hill for the vote.
But the Pentagon has reservations.
After supporting the ROTOR Act last year, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Monday that the bill could create "unresolved budgetary burdens and operational security risks," though he did not specify what they are.
Under House rules, a two-thirds majority was required for passage. The final tally was 264 in favor and 133 opposed, with more than 130 Republicans voting against it.
The National Transportation Safety Board said ADS-B technology could have prevented the midair collision of a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet that killed 67 people last year by giving pilots more time to react and avoid the crash.
"The ROTOR Act would've saved lives," NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said on social media before the vote. "How many more people need to die before we act?"
But the bill ran into headwinds in the House from several powerful Republican committee leaders.
"This bill will undermine our national security," said Mike Rogers, R-Ala., the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in remarks Monday evening. "Requiring our fighters and bombers and highly classified assets to regularly broadcast their location puts our men and women in uniform at risk."
Sam Graves, R-Mo., the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, described the ROTOR Act as an "unworkable government mandate," and raised concerns that it would be "burdensome" to some pilots.
Graves and Rogers put their support behind their own bipartisan bill, known as the ALERT Act, setting up a possible clash between powerful GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate.
But the House bill does not have the endorsement of the NTSB, aviation industry trade unions, or the families of the crash victims. After the vote, many of those victims' families said they would continue to push for the ROTOR Act's passage.
"We are devastated. Today, a majority of the House voted to pass the ROTOR Act. It was not enough," a statement from the Families of Flight 5342 read. "We call on House leadership to bring the ROTOR Act back for a vote that lets the majority pass it."
The bill's co-author, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, also vowed to keep up the pressure.
"Only the ROTOR Act ensures that all airplanes and helicopters flying in U.S. airspace play by the same set of rules," Cruz said in a statement after the vote. "Today's result was just a temporary delay. We will succeed, and [the] ROTOR Act will become the law of the land. The families and the flying public deserve nothing less."
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