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 Com-
mittee 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Responsive Employees 
Support Productive Educated Congressional Talk Act’’ or 
the ‘‘RESPECT Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FAA RESPONSIVENESS TO CONGRESS. 
(a) PURPOSE.—This section is enacted pursuant to 
the legislative oversight responsibilities of Congress and 
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to enable a Member of Congress to effectively represent 
their constituents and respond to constituent inquiries. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—If a Member of Congress sub-
mits to the FAA a written request for information on pro-
posed, previous, or current flight procedures or other data 
or information relating to the District of such Member, 
the following conditions apply: 
(1) DATA REQUEST.—Not later than 90 days 
after receipt of such request, the Administrator of 
the FAA shall substantively respond in writing with 
the requested data or information in the format re-
quested by the Member of Congress, if— 
(A) the data is within the control of the 
FAA; and 
(B) the data would be otherwise appro-
priate to provide if requested— 
(i) by an airline, an airport, a flight 
procedure proponent, an Aviation Round-
table, or anyone not employed by the FAA; 
or 
(ii) via a Freedom of Information re-
quest from any individual or any entity. 
(2) NOTIFICATION.—If the Administrator does 
not provide the requested information pursuant to 
paragraph (1), the Administrator shall notify the re-
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questing Member of Congress, Congress, and the 
Chairman and Ranking Member of the Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure Committee of the House of 
Representatives. 
(c) STAFFING OF MEETINGS.—If a Member of Con-
gress submits to the FAA a written request for the FAA 
to provide staff at a private or public meeting with the 
Member, the Administrator shall provide such staff if— 
(1) the request is made in writing at least 30 
days before the meeting date; and 
(2) the request is made on the same terms and 
conditions as specified by FAA appearances at Avia-
tion Roundtable meetings. 
(d) NOTIFICATION.—If the Administrator does not 
comply with a request made by a Member of Congress (as 
described in subsection (c)), the Administrator shall pro-
vide the requesting Member of Congress, Congress, and 
the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Transportation 
and Infrastructure Committee of the House of Represent-
atives with an explanation why the request will not be ful-
filled. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) FLIGHT
PROCEDURE.—The term ‘‘flight 
procedure’’ means a preplanned Instrument Flight 
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Rules (IFR) procedure published for pilot use, in 
graphic or textual format, that provides obstruction 
clearance from the terminal area to the en route 
structure (departure) or from the en route structure 
to the terminal area (arrival). 
(2) PROCEDURE PROPONENT.—The term ‘‘pro-
cedure proponent’’ means a person or entity pro-
posing a new or modified flight procedure. 
(3) AVIATION ROUNDTABLE.—The term ‘‘Avia-
tion Roundtable’’ means an organization designed to 
address community concerns over a sustained period 
of time regarding aircraft operations often associ-
ated with a nearby airport. 
Æ 
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