Senators did vote on two aviation amendments Thursday, however. They adopted 96-1 an amendment offered by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, to provide penalties for aiming laser pointers at airplanes. They also voted 55-42 to table an amendment offered by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, to limit the application of the Davis-Bacon Act for aviation projects funded by the federal government. The Davis-Bacon Act requires contractors or their subcontractors to pay workers employed on federally funded projects no less than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits paid on projects of a similar character.

Several other amendments regarding aviation matters were filed this week. These include a proposal by Paul to reduce aviation funding and rescind unobligated airport infrastructure funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Other amendments would cut the Essential Air Service program that subsidizes flights into rural airports and authorize more airports to replace the Transportation Security Administration with privatized airport security screening.

The aviation measure, S 223, has attracted numerous nongermane amendments because it is the first major piece of legislation on the Senate floor this Congress. Senate rules permit nongermane amendments unless cloture is invoked, a procedure to shut off debate that requires a 60-vote supermajority.

Democrats, who control the chamber, have expressed frustration that Republicans have offered a number of healthcare amendments and others that have no relation to aviation. The FAA has not received a reauthorization since the last one expired Sept. 30, 2007. Congress has temporarily extended the old measure 17 times, most recently through March 31. While both chambers passed FAA measures in the last Congress, differences between the two versions were not resolved in a conference committee.

Other nonaviation amendments filed deal with U.S. Department of the Treasury actions if the debt ceiling is not increased, Social Security benefits, explosives used for pest control, and damages allowed under lawsuits regarding lost access to oil, BNA reported.

Debate on S 223 is expected to continue next week.