I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6561 

To provide for certain requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration 

in response to requests for information by Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 1, 2023 

Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. MULLIN, and Mr. 

SHERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To provide for certain requirements of the Federal Aviation 

Administration in response to requests for information 

by Congress, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Responsive Employees 

5 Support Productive Educated Congressional Talk Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘RESPECT Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FAA RESPONSIVENESS TO CONGRESS. 

8 (a) PURPOSE.—This section is enacted pursuant to 

9 the legislative oversight responsibilities of Congress and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 6561 IH

1 to enable a Member of Congress to effectively represent 

2 their constituents and respond to constituent inquiries. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—If a Member of Congress sub4 mits to the FAA a written request for information on pro5 posed, previous, or current flight procedures or other data 

6 or information relating to the District of such Member, 

7 the following conditions apply: 

8 (1) DATA REQUEST.—Not later than 90 days 

9 after receipt of such request, the Administrator of 

10 the FAA shall substantively respond in writing with 

11 the requested data or information in the format re12 quested by the Member of Congress, if— 

13 (A) the data is within the control of the 

14 FAA; and 

15 (B) the data would be otherwise appro16 priate to provide if requested— 

17 (i) by an airline, an airport, a flight 

18 procedure proponent, an Aviation Round19 table, or anyone not employed by the FAA; 

20 or 

21 (ii) via a Freedom of Information re22 quest from any individual or any entity. 

23 (2) NOTIFICATION.—If the Administrator does 

24 not provide the requested information pursuant to 

25 paragraph (1), the Administrator shall notify the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Dec 08, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6561.IH H6561

kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 6561 IH

1 questing Member of Congress, Congress, and the 

2 Chairman and Ranking Member of the Transpor3 tation and Infrastructure Committee of the House of 

4 Representatives. 

5 (c) STAFFING OF MEETINGS.—If a Member of Con6 gress submits to the FAA a written request for the FAA 

7 to provide staff at a private or public meeting with the 

8 Member, the Administrator shall provide such staff if— 

9 (1) the request is made in writing at least 30 

10 days before the meeting date; and 

11 (2) the request is made on the same terms and 

12 conditions as specified by FAA appearances at Avia13 tion Roundtable meetings. 

14 (d) NOTIFICATION.—If the Administrator does not 

15 comply with a request made by a Member of Congress (as 

16 described in subsection (c)), the Administrator shall pro17 vide the requesting Member of Congress, Congress, and 

18 the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Transportation 

19 and Infrastructure Committee of the House of Represent20 atives with an explanation why the request will not be ful21 filled. 

22 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi23 nitions apply: 

24 (1) FLIGHT PROCEDURE.—The term ‘‘flight 

25 procedure’’ means a preplanned Instrument Flight 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 6561 IH

1 Rules (IFR) procedure published for pilot use, in 

2 graphic or textual format, that provides obstruction 

3 clearance from the terminal area to the en route 

4 structure (departure) or from the en route structure 

5 to the terminal area (arrival). 

6 (2) PROCEDURE PROPONENT.—The term ‘‘pro7 cedure proponent’’ means a person or entity pro8 posing a new or modified flight procedure. 

9 (3) AVIATION ROUNDTABLE.—The term ‘‘Avia10 tion Roundtable’’ means an organization designed to 

11 address community concerns over a sustained period 

12 of time regarding aircraft operations often associ13 ated with a nearby airport. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB