Join ARSA Ask ARSA Pay ARSA

Aviation Maintenance Industry Honors Garret Graves

U.S. Rep. Garret Graves speaks at a Lectern after receiving ARSA's 2024 Legislative Leadership Award.

U.S. Rep. Garret Graves addresses event attendees after receiving ARSA’s 2024 Legislative Leadership Award.

ARSA presented its 2024 Legislative Leadership Award to U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) on March 13 at an Arlington, Virginia ceremony in conjunction with the association’s Annual Conference.

Graves has served as chairman of the House aviation subcommittee since January 2023 and was ranking member of the subcommittee in the prior two Congresses. During his time in those leadership positions, the subcommittee helped create COVID pandemic assistance programs for the aerospace industry that saved tens of thousands of jobs.

More recently, Graves was a central player in developing the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s bipartisan FAA reauthorization bill (H.R. 3935). The legislation, which passed the House by a wide margin in June 2023, contains several provisions designed to enhance FAA oversight, improve the regulatory environment for aviation companies, and help them recruit and train new technical talent.

In presenting the award, ARSA Executive Vice President Christian A. Klein lauded Graves for his commitment to safety-based aviation policy, expanding America’s aviation maintenance technician workforce, and working across the aisle to ensure an FAA bill is enacted this year.

“The men and women who work every day to keep America’s aircraft operating safely appreciate Chairman Graves’ commitment to achieving the highest level of aviation safety by the most efficient and effective means possible,” Klein said. “He deserves enormous credit for making FAA reauthorization a bipartisan process despite the high level of partisan acrimony on Capitol Hill.”

The Legislative Leadership Award is presented annually to a member of Congress who has made significant contributions to aviation safety, regulatory efficiency, and expanding the aviation workforce. Recent winners include Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) (2021) and Jim Inhofe (2018) and Reps. Rick Larsen (D-Wash) (2022), Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) (2020), and Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) (2019), and Virginia Foxx (2017).



More from ARSA

Celebrating Charlie with Fortner, AAR

Charles Taylor, the Wright Brothers’ mechanic and father of aviation maintenance, was born on May 24, 1868. Now – 158 years later – we celebrate him through continued commitment to…Read More

ARSA Alerts Congress to Designee Class Action Suit

On May 28, ARSA Executive Vice President Christian Klein informed congressional staff of an ongoing lawsuit against the FAA alleging violations of the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment…Read More

June SMS Webinar – Root Cause

On Tuesday, June 23, ARSA and the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) will co-host the next session in their webinar series explaining integration of a safety management system within the operations…Read More

Learning Aerospace Through ARSA

The recording of ARSA’s special workshop for introducing government personnel to the maintenance industry is now available for open registration and viewing. The on-demand resource is a valuable tool for…Read More

Foreign D&A Compliance Toolkit

ARSA calls for its foreign members (except those located in Canada) to utilize the association’s new Foreign Repair Station Drug & Alcohol (D&A) Compliance Toolkit by following these steps: (1)…Read More
ARSA