Lawmakers form new congressional caucus for ‘Quiet Skies’

Four New York Democrats have established a new congressional caucus for lawmakers with constituents affected by loud noises from airplanes and helicopters.

“Airports can never be perfect neighbors, but we can take steps to make them better neighbors,” one of the founders, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), said in a statement. “I look forward to working with my fellow caucus members to continue pressuring the Federal Aviation Administration, airport authorities and others to address the concerns of residents who are impacted by aircraft noise.”

{mosads}The other three founders of the caucus are fellow New York Democratic Reps. Steve Israel, Grace Meng and Carolyn McCarthy.

The lawmakers expressed hope that forming the caucus would help advance legislation in Congress to address the issue of aircraft noise.

“It is imperative that we continue to work on solutions to this problem, and raising it to the national level through this new caucus is a very sensible way to do that,” Meng said. 

Nine other members have joined the caucus so far, all Democrats: Henry Waxman, Adam Schiff and Anna Eshoo, all of California, Mike Quigley (Ill.), Alan Grayson (Fla.), Keith Ellison (Minn.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Mike Capuano (Mass.) and Katherine Clark (Mass.). 

Members have formed hundreds of congressional caucuses over the years. According to the Congressional Research Service, there were nearly 700 caucuses in the previous session of Congress.

Current member groups range from the influential Congressional Black Caucus and Republican Study Committee, to the specialized, low-profile ones like the Congressional Bourbon Caucus, Congressional Caucus on Shellfish and Congressional Contaminated Drywall Caucus. A full list can be found here.