Renomination of Charles D. Snelling to Be a Member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
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S. HRG. 110–116 RENOMINATION OF CHARLES D. SNELLING TO BE A MEMBER OF THE METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON AIRPORTS AUTHORITY HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MAY 24, 2007 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 36–098 PDF WASHINGTON : 2007 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 21:23 Aug 14, 2007 Jkt 036098 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\36098.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Chairman JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia TED STEVENS, Alaska, Vice Chairman JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota TRENT LOTT, Mississippi BARBARA BOXER, California KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas BILL NELSON, Florida OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine MARIA CANTWELL, Washington GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada MARK PRYOR, Arkansas JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware JIM DEMINT, South Carolina CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri DAVID VITTER, Louisiana AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota JOHN THUNE, South Dakota MARGARET L. CUMMISKY, Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel LILA HARPER HELMS, Democratic Deputy Staff Director and Policy Director CHRISTINE D. KURTH, Republican Staff Director and General Counsel KENNETH R. NAHIGIAN, Republican Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 21:23 Aug 14, 2007 Jkt 036098 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\36098.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on May 24, 2007 ............................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Inouye .................................................................................. 1 WITNESSES Snelling, Hon. Charles Darwin, Renominated to be a Member of the Metro- politan Washington Airports Authority ............................................................. 1 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 3 Biographical information ................................................................................. 4 Specter, Hon. Arlen, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania ......................................... 10 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 21:23 Aug 14, 2007 Jkt 036098 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\36098.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE VerDate 0ct 09 2002 21:23 Aug 14, 2007 Jkt 036098 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\36098.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE RENOMINATION OF CHARLES D. SNELLING TO BE A MEMBER OF THE METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON AIRPORTS AUTHORITY THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2007 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m. in room SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Daniel K. Inouye, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DANIEL K. INOUYE, U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII The CHAIRMAN. Today we will consider the nomination of Mr. Charles D. Snelling to be a Member of the Metropolitan Wash- ington Airports Authority. Mr. Snelling has come before us previously and serves on the Au- thority today. By all accounts, Mr. Snelling has been regarded as highly competent and effective during his tenure with the Metro- politan Washington Airports Authority. I look forward to hearing about your experiences working on the Authority and any views you may have about how Congress can help ensure the success of the mission of the Authority. Mr. Snelling? Mr. SNELLING. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. It may please you to know that we have received no objection. It seems like everyone loves you, and they approve of you, or at least—— STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES DARWIN SNELLING, RENOMI- NATED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE METROPOLITAN WASH- INGTON AIRPORTS AUTHORITY Mr. SNELLING. It does please me to know that, Mr. Chairman. And I thank you very much for that warm and fine invitation. It’s—I’m coming here often enough so I’m beginning to feel com- fortable. [Laughter.] Mr. SNELLING. I am Charles Snelling, the President’s nominee to a second term as Member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board of Directors. I am delighted to appear before you again. I was here last September, in 2006, in a hearing on my nomina- tion to this same position. Although the Committee reported my (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 21:23 Aug 14, 2007 Jkt 036098 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\36098.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE 2 nomination unanimously, the Senate did not act on its report, and the President nominated me again in January. The President appoints three directors of the Airports Authority, and the three of us are proud to be amongst the most active mem- bers of this 13-member board. We each chair a Committee that meets monthly. For 2 years, I served as Chairman of the Finance Committee, and I’ve recently been named Chairman of the new Planning and Construction Committee. As I have advised this Committee before, my prior experience on the board at Lehigh Valley Hospital, a billion-dollar charity, has proved most helpful training for my service to the Airports Author- ity. Mr. Chairman, as most Senators use our airports, I think it’s useful to mention briefly the major issues which are pressing on us: First, as you may be aware, the Airports Authority is about to assume the responsibility for the construction of the Metrorail ex- tension that will connect the entire region with Dulles Airport, a project we will finance, in large part, with tolls from the Dulles Toll Road. We have been engaged in difficult negotiations over the price of the rail project, but have managed to agree on a contract that sets the price within the Federal Transit Administration efficiency standards. It now appears that we will soon be engaged in rail con- struction at the same time as airport construction. We relish the challenge. On the aviation side, our efforts are both to attract new services and to make sure our facilities are ready to handle the continuing growth. At Dulles, as you know, we’re building an underground people mover, and the project is on schedule, and the trains should start running in 2009. We will continue to build out our master plan with an extension to the existing midfield terminals and the ultimate construction of parallel midfield terminals. Those new midfield terminals are still off in the future, but I’m confident that they will be built sooner than anyone might expect. At Reagan National, we’re scrambling to build additional parking capacity to accommodate passenger growth caused by flights added over the last several years. As you may know, our garages are often full on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Traffic has been growing steadily at Reagan National, at 18.5 million for the last 12 months, up 2.4 percent over the same period last year. At Dulles, there was a little decline for the same 12- month period, reflecting the sudden demise of Independence Air. But Dulles has, in fact, fully recovered. The month of March 2007 showed a 13.7-percent growth over March in 2006. Our anticipation is that the number of Dulles passengers will continue to grow smartly. Total passengers for the 12-month period were 23.6 mil- lion. More interesting than the numbers are the new services being introduced at Dulles. Thus far in 2007, we have new daily services to Beijing, Rome, Huntsville, and additional flights to Seoul and London. As the year goes on, we will have new service to Madrid, Panama City, Doha, Dublin, Rio de Janeiro, and Oklahoma City. Flights to Addis Ababa will double to four per week. Washington’s air service is matching its significance as a world-class capital city. VerDate 0ct 09 2002 21:23 Aug 14, 2007 Jkt 036098 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\36098.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE 3 Mr. Chairman, it’s just over 20 years since Congress agreed to turn over Dulles and National, the Metropolitan Washington Air- ports, to the independent Metropolitan Washington Airports Au- thority. In my opinion, this has proved to be a most wise and bene- ficial decision. I look forward to continuing the Authority’s excel- lent record as we face the future, dealing with the ever-changing aviation world. Thank you for considering my nomination to the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. I’d be very happy to answer any questions you might have, sir. [The prepared statement and biographical information of Mr. Snelling follow:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES DARWIN SNELLING, RENOMINATED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON AIRPORTS AUTHORITY Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee: I am Charles Snelling, the President’s nominee to a second term as a Member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board of Directors. I am delighted to appear before you again. I was last here in September 2006, in a hearing on my nomination to the same position. Although the Committee reported my nomination unanimously, the Senate did not act on its report, and the President nominated me again in January. The President appoints three Directors of the Airports Authority, and the three of us are proud to be among the most active members of the 13-member Board. We each chair a Committee that meets monthly. For 2 years, I served as Chairman of the Finance Committee, and have recently been named Chairman of a new Planning and Construction Committee. As I have advised this Committee before, my prior ex- perience on the Board of the Lehigh Valley Hospital, a billion-dollar charity, has proven most helpful training for my service on the Airports Authority.