Rep. John Mica's Selective Memory When It Comes to FAA Projects Again Highlights His Hypocrisy

Mica Brings Home Bacon for District While Continuing To Carry Delta Air Lines’ Water On Long Term FAA Bill

WASHINGTON D.C. – The Communications Workers of America (CWA) today called out Rep. John Mica (R-FL) on his blatant hypocrisy for recently highlighting a new $6.2 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to upgrade runways and taxiways at Northeast Florida Regional Airport in St. Augustine, a facility located in his district.

Rep Mica’s statement read in part; “Projects like this are essential to spur economic development in our local community. Transportation improvements, like this project, will create jobs and will provide improved access to and from Northeast Florida.”

CWA Communications Director Candice Johnson said the problem is that while Rep. Mica is crowing about delivering FAA-related aviation and infrastructure upgrades at home, he neglects to acknowledge his key role in shutting down similar projects earlier this year all over America. Rep. Mica also fails to mention his continued unwillingness to forge a multi-year agreement on a FAA Reauthorization bill over an unrelated union busting provision sought by Delta Air Lines, she added.

“Rep. Mica willingly shuts down the FAA and halts projects just like these across the country due to his extreme ideology and now he's acknowledging how important these projects are for his local community and its economic development? That’s quite a breathtaking mix of hypocrisy and selective sharing of information,” Johnson said.

Rep. Mica’s was directly responsible for the assault on workers’ rights led to the summer shutdown of the FAA over the so-called NMB election provision. The NMB provision would count non-participating voters as “no” voters in union elections for aviation and rail workers – a standard different from every other form of democratic election in our nation and a provision that Mica insisted on including in the House version of the long-term FAA Reauthorization bill.

“Rep. Mica can crow to his constituents about FAA-related job growth and infrastructure upgrades when he recognizes the growing bi-partisan consensus for a clean FAA Reauthorization bill and removes Delta Air Lines’ union-busting provision and allows the legislation to proceed forward,” Johnson said.