Press Releases

We certainly have a difficult balance to strike in the National Capital Region, but people shouldn't have to live under the constant thunder of helicopter noise. Helicopter noise, by all accounts, has gotten significantly worse year after year after year. Even those who are neighbors with the Pentagon have noticed it has gotten much worse.

Last year, I had an amendment to the NDAA for the Department of Defense to conduct a study on mitigating the helicopter noise. We had excellent conversations. Colonels and majors came out from the Air Force, the Army, the Marines, and the FAA came out. We had big townhall meetings. In those conversations, we moved forward with a now completed DOD noise study.

The Department of Defense has repeatedly informed me that they follow the FAA helicopter maps perfectly and that they fly at the required minimum altitudes. So as a solution, my amendment would require the FAA to simply review all the helicopter flight paths in the national capital region, including those used solely by the Department of Defense, to assess whether some of these helicopter trips could be safely flown at a higher altitude. If they can be, the amendment would also require the FAA to revise the official helicopter flight maps for this region to allow some relief for those communities that live below.

Progress has remained very slow on this issue-glacial-and I urge my colleagues to vote "yes" on this amendment so that we can move forward with a responsible way to mitigate this helicopter noise.

I reserve the balance of my time.

[Chairman Bill Shuster rebuttal]

Mr. BEYER. Mr. Chairman, with great respect to the chairman of the committee, the many conversations I have had with the general who runs the Washington Military District, with the Air Force and Army colonels, with the Marine major, and with many of the helicopter pilots, none of them have suggested for a moment that national security, homeland security, or law enforcement were at risk here. In fact, the pilots said: We would be happy to fly higher as long as we have permission from the FAA.

We are not interfering in the slightest with their ability to accomplish their mission. We understand their mission. We respect it.

No one is saying that we can't protect not only our nation's top executives, but also the military officers who need to fly in and around this region. What we are simply saying is that, in many cases, 300 feet, 500 feet, 700 feet is a more logical place to fly.

We have had testimony that people have been in apartment buildings in Crystal City, looked out their window, and seen the helicopters fly below their window. This happens in Rosslyn, also.

What we are simply asking is that the FAA responsibly look at whether-with lots of feedback from the Army, Air Force, Marines, from law enforcement, from the Secret Service-they couldn't, in fact, fly a few hundred feet higher than they fly right now. If they can't, we will accept that and do our best to move some other way. But, really, this is at the recommendation of our military leaders that the FAA examine this and find a way to move forward.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Video linked here, background here. 

Representative Beyer serves as co-Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Jobs for America Task Force, which crafts legislation to benefit hardworking Americans and middle-class families. He serves on the Joint Economic Committee, and previously ran a successful Northern Virginia business for over 40 years.