## THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, DC 20590



### The Honorable Blake Farenthold 

### U.S. House ofRepresentatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Congressman Farenthold: September 19, 2014 '
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### Thank you foryour letter supporting the application submitted by the 

### county ofVictoria, Texas, 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, pa1ticularly issues related to high airfares and insufficient service. Underthe 

### statute, the Department may make a maximum of40 grant awards each year, although no more than four may be to commw1ities in the same State. To provide communities with latitude 

### ill developing solutionsto their air service deficiencies, the statuteprovides flexibility in the types ofair service development projects 

### that canbe funded. On June 

### 30, the Department issued 

### an ordersetting

### a deadline ofJuly 

### 31 for applications. As these grant requests arepending before the Department, 

### I cannot comment onthe merits ofany particularproposal. 

### I assure you, however, that the Departmentwill give 

### full and fair considerationto all proposals that have been properly filed. . '**~ ~**  " -!_**~ i_.~:**  i



### As is ourstandard practice, I am placing a copy ofyour Jetter and this response in Docket DOT-OST-2014-0113 as a contact outside the record 

### ofthis matter. 

### I appreciate your interest 

### in this program.

Anthony R. 

### FoxxJuly 25, 2014

The Honorable Anthony R. Foxx SecretaryofTransportation U.S. DepartmentofTransportation 1200 NewJersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590-0001 DearSecretary Foxx: I am \\Titing to express my support in the application submitted by the County of Victoria, Texas for the Department'sSmall Community Air Service DevelopmentProgram (SCASD) grant. As a fiscal conservative, I have general concerns regarding the SC/\SD program overall. However, I believe that the Victoria Regional Airport (VCT) is an excellent candidate to receive SCJ\SD funding which 

### will enable them to undertake an aggressive advertising campaign in order to recapture an air service markel that has been severely damaged in recentyears. The Victoria Regional Airport serves a significant portion of south central Texas between Houston and Corpus Christi. Itis particularly important to majoroil and manufacturing indusb·ies located in the region. It is my understanding that air service to the Victoria community was very robust until the bankruptcy of Pinnacle f\irlines in 2012 which involuntarily forced a change of air service providers after a 3-month blackoutofall air service. Since then, the number of passengers using the airport has diminished substantially to a point where the County has opted to participate in the Alternate Essential Air Service program to leverage funding for improving ils air service. Itis hoped that this 1\lternate EAS program will prm'ide many importantincentives for improving the quality ofair service to the region. Should it be awarded, the County would use this grant to help fund a sustained advertising campaign in order to heighten awareness of the improved air service available the airport and especially lo recover the patronage "lost" over the past few years. The ultimate goal of this marketing campaign \vould be to reduce oreliminate the County's current need for Essential AirService Program subsidies. Thank you for your consideration of this application. information, please do not hesitate to contact Blakc.Adami@mail.house.gov. Sincerely,

# ;8/-rf~**fovc~Jkd/** BLAKE FARENTHOLD MemberofCongress If.my office can provide you with any further Blake Adami (202) 225-7742 or email at