Benchmark Report 2001’’ and inserting ‘‘2001 and 2004 
Airport Capacity Benchmark Reports or table 1 of the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration’s most recent airport capac-
ity benchmark report’’. 
SEC. 153. AIRPORT MASTER PLANS. 
Section 47101 is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL
GOALS
FOR
AIRPORT
MASTER 
PLANS.—In addition to the goals set forth in subsection 
(g)(2), the Secretary shall encourage airport sponsors and 
State and local officials, through Federal Aviation Admin-
istration advisory circulars, to consider customer conven-
ience, airport ground access, and access to airport facilities 
in airport master plans.’’. 
TITLE 
II—NEXT 
GENERATION 
AIR 
TRANSPORTATION 
SYS-
TEM AND AIR TRAFFIC CON-
TROL MODERNIZATION 
SEC. 201. MISSION STATEMENT; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The United States faces a great national 
challenge as the Nation’s aviation infrastructure is at 
a crossroads. 
(2) The demand for aviation services, a critical 
element of the United States economy, vital in sup-
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porting the quality of life of the people of the United 
States, and critical in support of the Nation’s defense 
and national security, is growing at an ever increas-
ing rate. At the same time, the ability of the United 
States air transportation system to expand and 
change to meet this increasing demand is limited. 
(3) The aviation industry accounts for more 
than 11,000,000 jobs in the United States and con-
tributes approximately $741,000,000,000 annually to 
the United States gross domestic product. 
(4) The United States air transportation system 
continues to drive economic growth in the United 
States and will continue to be a major economic driv-
er as air traffic triples over the next 20 years. 
(5) The Next Generation Air Transportation 
System (in this section referred to as the ‘‘NextGen 
System’’) is the system for achieving long-term trans-
formation of the United States air transportation sys-
tem that focuses on developing and implementing new 
technologies and that will set the stage for the long- 
term development of a scalable and more flexible air 
transportation system without compromising the un-
precedented safety record of United States aviation. 
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(6) The benefits of the NextGen System, in terms 
of promoting economic growth and development, are 
enormous. 
(7) The NextGen System will guide the path of 
the United States air transportation system in the 
challenging years ahead. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 
that— 
(1) modernizing the air transportation system is 
a national priority and the United States must make 
a commitment to revitalizing this essential component 
of the Nation’s transportation infrastructure; 
(2) one fundamental requirement for the success 
of the NextGen System is strong leadership and suffi-
cient resources; 
(3) the Joint Planning and Development Office 
of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Next 
Generation Air Transportation System Senior Policy 
Committee, each established by Congress in 2003, will 
lead and facilitate this important national mission to 
ensure that the programs and capabilities of the 
NextGen System are carefully integrated and aligned; 
(4) Government agencies and industry must 
work together, carefully integrating and aligning 
their work to meet the needs of the NextGen System 
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in the development of budgets, programs, planning, 
and research; 
(5) the Department of Transportation, the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration, the Department of De-
fense, the Department of Homeland Security, the De-
partment of Commerce, and the National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration must work in cooperation 
and make transformational improvements to the 
United States air transportation infrastructure a pri-
ority; and 
(6) due to the critical importance of the NextGen 
System to the economic and national security of the 
United States, partner departments and agencies 
must be provided with the resources required to com-
plete the implementation of the NextGen System. 
SEC. 202. NEXT GENERATION AIR TRANSPORTATION SYS-
TEM JOINT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 
OFFICE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE NEXT 
GENERATION AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.—Section 
709(a) of Vision 100—Century of Aviation Reauthor-
ization Act (49 U.S.C. 40101 note; 117 Stat. 2582) 
is amended— 
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(A) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), 
and (4) as paragraphs (3), (4), and (5), respec-
tively; and 
(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(2) The director of the Office shall be the Associate 
Administrator for the Next Generation Air Transportation 
System, who shall be appointed by the Administrator of the 
Federal Aviation Administration. The Associate Adminis-
trator shall report to the Administrator.’’. 
(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 709(a)(3) of 
such Act (as redesignated by paragraph (1) of this 
subsection) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (G) by striking ‘‘; 
and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 
(B) in subparagraph (H) by striking the 
period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(I) establishing specific quantitative goals 
for the safety, capacity, efficiency, performance, 
and environmental impacts of each phase of Next 
Generation Air Transportation System imple-
mentation activities and measuring actual oper-
ational experience against those goals, taking 
into account noise pollution reduction concerns 
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