### THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON DC 20590

The Honorable Roger F. Wicker United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator**Wicker~** July 17, 2012

Thank you for your letter supporting the proposal submitted by the Tupelo Airport Authority for a grant under the U.S. Department ofTransportation's Small Community Air Service Development Program. The Small Community Air Service Development Program was established to help smaller communities address air service deficiencies, particularly issues relatedto high airfares or insufficient service. Under the statute, the Department may make a maximum of40 grant awards each year, although no more than 4 awards may be to communities in the**s~me** State.- In order to provide communitieswith latitude in developing solutions to their air service deficiencies, the statute provides flexibility inthe types ofprojects that can be funded. On May 15, the Department issued an orderrequesting thatcomrnunities Interested in receiving a grant this year file their applications by June 11. As these grant requests are pendingbefore the Department, I cannot commenton the merits ofany particular proposal. I assure you that the Department will give full and fair consideration to all proposals that have been properly filed. As is ournom1al practice, I am plac· DOT-OST-2012-0069 as a conta o this program. ofyour letter and this respon. e record ofthis matter. 1app ·



# ----flOGEfl F. WICKER**t-.~ISSI:=,StPPI** /;i1MED SERVICES GM!KING. HOUSING. AND URBAN**AFF,~IRS** t:0MMEf1CE. SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION \'ETER.llr·JS' ,1.r-Ft'.IRS



### The Honorable Ray LaHood 

# '2llnircd**~tatcs ~cnate**  WASHINGTON. DC 20510



### June 5, 2012
Secretary, U.S. Department ofTransportation 400 Seventh Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20590-0001
Dear Ray, OinKSEN SENAif**(iffl~~** BUILOING**\"VA~I1lNGTUN.** OC**~'.1'510:**



### Iwould 

### like to express my support for the Tupelo AirportAuthority's application for 

### a Small Community Air Service Development 

### Program Grant. Ftmding from the U.S. Department ofT:ransportation in the amount of$75,000 will allow the Authority to develop a new marketing campaign which will promote Silver Airways for Tupelo Regional Airport and emphasis upcoming changes to air service and customer. convenience. 

### In. addition, 

### the Authoi"ity will reach out to the community through an aggressive campaign to publicize the value offlying locally from Tupelo: It is projected that the proposed efforts 

### will allow the Tupelo Airport Authority to boost airport performance to the level that they will no longer require an Essential Air Service subsidy. I 

### hope that you will give the Tupelo AirportAuthority'sapplication every consideration. Should additional infonnation be required from my offi<;e, please contact Bevin Wilkinson ofmy stan·at (228) 604-2383. With best wishes, I 

### am

RFW/BW

. '

### .**~** .

# .~ ger F. Wicker

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