U.S. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, voted Friday for H.R. 1765, the Reducing Flight Delays Act.

Passed by a vote of 361-41,  H.R. 1765 allows the Secretary of Transportation to transfer $253 million from the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program account to the FAA’s Operations account.

The transfer authority is necessary to prevent reduced operations and staffing at the FAA during the remainder of fiscal year 2013 and will ensure a safe and effective transportation system. This transfer will stop the furloughing of air traffic controllers.

These furloughs were imposed by the administration as the result of automatic budget cuts under sequestration, and have caused recent air traffic delays.

“LAX, our largest regional airport, and one of the busiest international airports in the country, looked to suffer significant delays under these reduced FAA operations.  This is a prime example of why sequestration is not a smart or responsible way to cut government spending,” said Congressman McKeon. “ I have fought the sequester since the day we learned that the Super Committee failed to do their job, thereby forcing our military and the American people to bear the brunt of automatic and draconian cuts.  Since the sequester took effect, President Obama has consistently thwarted all of Congress’ efforts to fix the sequester and has chosen to make irrational cuts that would have the maximum political impact instead of working with Congress to find responsible savings.  This bill will allow the Federal Aviation Administration to transfer funding from lower-priority areas to avoid personnel and operational cuts that slow our air traffic and potentially put safety at risk. I am proud to have supported this commonsense fix to an unfortunate administration-made problem.”