The following letter was sent to the Wisconsin Congressional Delegation by Mike Ryan, Chairman of the Wisconsin LECET Board of Trustees

Wisconsin LECET represents almost 750 signatory contractors and 8000 union laborers in the State of Wisconsin.

We urge you to support language in HR 1000, the aviation program reauthorization bill, that: 1) promptly invests all federal aviation user tax revenue in aviation and 2) continues the historic general fund support of Federal Aviation Administration operations that benefit military and government utilization of the airport and air traffic control systems.

HR 1000 provides for needed capital improvements to the nation's aviation system to meet the personal travel, business and military demands of the new century. We support the House version of HR 1000, which goes a long way toward meeting those capital needs that have been identified by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. General Accounting Office and other impartial public observers. The increased aviation investment authorized in the House bill is fully offset by reclaiming the portion of the on-budget surplus that is derived from unspent aviation tax revenue.

When Congress initiated federal aviation user taxes, it created a contract with the American public that those taxes would be earmarked for a pay-as-you-go aviation safety, management and capital improvement program. The federal government has broken that contract by diverting aviation user fee revenue to other federal activities. That practice need to stop now. HR 1000 is the vehicle to ensure the future integrity of the user fee concept and the Airport and Airway Trust Fund.

We urge you to do the right thing and restore truth to aviation transportation budgeting. Please support placing the House investment levels and budgetary treatment provisions in the final conference report on HR 1000.

Thank you for your consideration.