http://kilmer.house.gov/news/press-releases/kilmer-amends-faa-bill-to-protect-rural-airports-like-fairchild-international-airport-from-funding-cuts
WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the House of Representatives passed a bill that reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration. The bill includes an amendment offered by Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) to require the FAA to consider community emergency response needs when determining the amount of funding that airport will receive under the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). Kilmer authored the amendment to protect regional airports in communities like Port Angeles, where the Fairchild International Airport is a vital emergency lifeline and economic driver.
“Regional airports like Fairchild are vital emergency and economic lifelines that keep us safe and support jobs and our economy. We need to make sure the federal government recognizes that. This amendment requires the FAA to consider our community’s emergency preparedness plans when it makes runway funding decisions.” Rep. Derek Kilmer said. “I’ll keep pushing for our region’s rural airports.”
Last year, the FAA considered cutting the AIP funding that Fairchild Airport receives to maintain the airport’s runway. Kilmer, the Washington National Guard and county and local leaders successfully worked with the FAA to prevent the cuts because it would have resulted in a shorter runway. That, in turn, would have limited the size of planes that could take off and land at the airport in an emergency such as a forest fire or earthquake. The region’s residents also rely on the current runway to quickly reach advanced medical care at hospitals in Seattle and Portland.
Kilmer’s amendment will help protect future funding for Fairchild Airport and rural airports nationwide. It requires the FAA to explicitly consider the emergency preparedness needs of the communities served by an airport when reviewing its AIP master plan.
At Fairchild, maintaining the current 5,000-foot runway will help support future economic development initiatives being considered by the Port of Port Angeles.
Kilmer, Shea-Porter, Taylor Urge Approval of Thresher Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery
Press release issued 5/ 2/ 18http://kilmer.house.gov/news/press-releases/kilmer-shea-porter-taylor-urge-approval-of-thresher-memorial-at-arlington-national-cemetery
BREMERTON, WA—Congressman Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01), and Congressman Scott Taylor (VA-02) today sent a letter to the Army National Military Cemeteries Executive Director urging approval of a memorial to recognize the victims of the USS Thresher at Arlington National Cemetery.
“The USS Thresher disaster is the largest loss of life in the history of the submarine service,” said Congressman Kilmer. “The crew’s deaths were not in vain. The disaster resulted in the SUBSAFE program, which protects our sailors every time they leave Bangor. The Thresher’s crew deserve a permanent place of honor at Arlington National Cemetery for these sacrifices.”
“The memorial at Arlington National Cemetery will recognize the brave sailors and civilians who perished aboard the USS Thresher, which was launched at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 1960,” said Congresswoman Shea-Porter. “Their sacrifice will never be forgotten. After the loss of the Thresher, the Navy started what would become one of the world’s most effective military safety programs, the SUBSAFE program, and no SUBSAFE-certified vessel has ever been lost at sea. It’s time to honor the Thresher crew and to celebrate their legacy. Though their lives were lost, so many have been saved.”
“This proposed memorial would be a fitting tribute to the brave crew of the USS Thresher who lost their lives at sea over fifty years ago,” said Congressman Taylor. “Their legacy gave birth to the SUBSAFE program, one of our military’s most vital safety programs, whose uncompromising standards have kept our Navy safe for decades. The sinking of the USS Thresher and the sacrifice of its crew has occupied a spot in our nation’s memory, but now we hope that it will be forever memorialized in our nation’s most sacred grounds at Arlington National Cemetery.”
The USS Thresher was launched at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on July 9, 1960. She departed for her final voyage on April 3, 1963 with 16 officers, 96 sailors and 17 civilians aboard. All aboard perished on April 10, 1963 approximately 300 miles off the coast of New England.
In response to the loss of the Thresher, the Navy established new safety regulations for the submarine program, leading eventually to the creation of the Submarine Safety and Quality Assurance Program (SUBSAFE), which is now one of the most comprehensive military safety programs in the world. No SUBSAFE-certified submarine has been lost at sea.
The SUBSAFE program has been so successful at preventing disasters, NASA adapted it for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs.
Full text of the letter is below:
Dear Ms. Durham-Aguilera,
This month marks the fifty-fifth anniversary of the loss of the Navy submarine USS Thresher, which sank during deep-diving tests off the coast of Massachusetts and took the lives of 129 crew and civilian shipyard personnel on April 10, 1963. Those who perished on the Thresher were some of the best and brightest in the U.S. Navy and included World War II and Korean War veterans, graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy, and participants in groundbreaking undersea Arctic missions. These patriots, who voluntarily placed themselves on the front lines of the Cold War, paid the ultimate price in service to our country.
The Thresher catastrophe was the first loss of a nuclear-powered submarine at sea and remains the greatest loss of life aboard a submarine. These sacrifices were not made in vain. Within two months of the sinking of Thresher, the Navy instituted the submarine safety program known as SUBSAFE. Whereas between 1915 and 1963, the Navy lost sixteen submarines for reasons unrelated to combat, since the creation of this rigorous program, not one SUBSAFE-certified submarine has been lost.
That means that for over fifty years, the rigorous standards and certifications implemented by the Navy in the wake of the Thresher tragedy have kept American submarines and their crews safe. The ripples of the SUBSAFE program even extend beyond the U.S. Navy. Following the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, NASA described SUBSAFE as "successful safety programs and practices that could be models for NASA." The story of Thresher is thus not one of loss, but one of security, perseverance, and safety for two generations of U.S. Navy submariners who followed in the footsteps of the crew of Thresher.
We believe it's time to recognize the sacrifice of the Thresher and advancements made within the U.S. Navy submarine fleet as a direct result from the lives lost. We believe it’s time to honor the Thresher crew and shipyard personnel lost in 1963 with a memorial worthy of their legacy. We believe it’s time to honor the memory of those lost and the price they paid for future generations of sailors and for the safety and security of our country with a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
We understand that the USS Thresher Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Project has submitted an application package for a modest memorial stone along a walkway at the cemetery. We wholeheartedly support this application and request that you favorably consider granting approval for such a memorial.
Based on our understanding of the memorial approval process at Arlington Cemetery, the casualty count of an event for which a memorial is being proposed is taken into account. In the historical narrative of American sacrifice for freedom and peace, the 129 lives lost on Thresher seems modest. In addition to those lives lost, we ask you to also consider the lives saved as a result of the catastrophe when deliberating on the memorial application. That is the true legacy of Thresher.
We appreciate your consideration of this request.
🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
WORLD NEWS HEADLINES from the UN NEWS ROOM & Other sources...
UN PRESS RELEASE: Building Sustainability, Climate Change Resilience of Cities Highlighted as Economic and Social Council Continues 2018 Integration Segment
The Economic and Social Council today heard from urban development and sustainability experts including mayors and other public officials focused on building resilient cities, as it continued its 2018 integration segment. (released on 5/ 2/ 18)
https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/ecosoc6911.doc.htm
Time to End Age of Fossil Fuels, Secretary-General Tells Sustainable Energy for All Forum, Saying ‘Let Us Invest in the Future, Not the Past’--- UN Press release issued 5/ 2/ 18
" The 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change require a transformative approach to energy. Sustainable Development Goal 7 calls for affordable and clean energy for all.
But we are not on track. One billion people still lack electricity. Far more needs to be done to advance renewable and efficient energy in all sectors. From industries to transportation, from cities to rural areas.
It is time to end the age of fossil fuels. The stone age did not end because we ran out of stones. People found a better way. Let us invest in the future, not the past. Technology is on our side."
https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/sgsm19014.doc.htm
UN chief condemns violence in Central African Republic capital Bangui
Voicing concern over inflammatory rhetoric in the wake of widespread violence in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on all actors to remain calm and to work together to bring peace to the country.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/05/1008812
Women journalists in Afghanistan defiant in the face of violence
The dangers of working as a journalist in Afghanistan have been dramatically underlined by an attack in the capital Kabul on Monday in which nine Afghan photographers and reporters were killed. They had gone to report on a suicide attack, and were targeted by a second suicide bomber when they arrived on the scene.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/05/1008802
90 per cent of the planet is breathing in polluted air – World Health Organization
Air pollution claims seven million lives a year, UN health experts said on Wednesday, amid new data showing that the problem affects nine out of ten people worldwide.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/05/1008732
From the US Mission to the UN:
Explanation of Vote for MINURSO Renewal
Amy Tachco, Political Coordinator, U.S. Mission to the United Nations
Press released on 4/ 27/ 18
MINURSO is a peacekeeping mission that should have finished its job a long time ago. This is a mission that began 27 years ago almost to the day. This was a mission designed to achieve a specific purpose. one that MINURSO has not yet been able to complete. That isn’t MINURSO’s fault. The fact is that we as a Security Council have allowed Western Sahara to lapse into a textbook example of a frozen conflict. And MINURSO is a textbook example of a peacekeeping mission that no longer serves a political purpose.
https://usun.state.gov/remarks/8413
US STATE DEPT: Remarks at Swearing-in Ceremony---Mike Pompeo Secretary of State
SECRETARY POMPEO: This is truly humbling. Thank you very much, Mr. President, for those kind words. Thank you, Mr. Vice President, for being here today to honor me by swearing me in. Thank you, Ambassador Lawler. Ambassador Glendon, thank you so much for that invocation. I used to work for her for $7.50 an hour. (Laughter.)
https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2018/05/281789.htm
Press Freedom
Secretary Pompeo (May 3): "On the 25th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, we renew our commitment to promoting and protecting a free press, which is an essential pillar of democracy."
https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2018/05/281804.htm
On the Occasion of North Korea Freedom Week
On the occasion of North Korea Freedom Week, we must not forget the millions of North Koreans who continue to suffer under one of the most repressive and abusive governments in the world. For more than 60 years the people of North Korea have faced egregious human rights violations in virtually every aspect of life. In addition to the roughly 100,000 individuals, including children and family members of the accused, who suffer in political prison camps, North Koreans face an almost complete denial of fundamental freedoms by their government. Those trying to flee this oppressive environment, if caught, are often tortured or killed.
We remain gravely concerned and deeply troubled by these abuses. In tandem with the maximum pressure campaign, we will continue to press for accountability for those responsible. We are also going to continue our efforts to increase the flow of independent information into, out of, and within this isolated state to present everyday North Koreans with a more realistic picture of the outside world.
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2018/05/281793.htm
Why Air Quality Monitoring Matters
To celebrate Air Quality Awareness Week, April 30 – May 4, the U.S. Department of State hosted a “Why Monitoring Matters” panel discussion with representatives from U.S. Government agencies and the private sector.
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2018/05/281370.htm
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