Members of Congress talk flying, lawmaking at NBAA convention
Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) talked during the National Business Aviation Association's annual convention in Las Vegas about how being active general aviation pilots influences their work in Congress.
During the session "From Cockpit to Congress," which was moderated by flight school owner and aircraft broker Mindy Lindheim, Graves and Obernolte discussed how they got into aviation and the different types of flying they do today.
Obernolte was one of the earliest owners of an Embraer Phenom 100 and later upgraded to the Embraer Phenom 300 that he now flies from his home in California to Washington, D.C.
Graves, who is retiring from Congress after 26 years and has chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee since 2023, says he is proud of the section dedicated to GA in the 2024 FAA reauthorization—which had never been done before.
"For the first time ever, we put a general aviation title, which means an entire section of the bill, was devoted to general aviation, and fixing all of these problems that we see in general aviation—that's probably one of the biggest accomplishments that I have been able to do in my time in Congress," said Graves.
Obernolte, who has been in Congress since 2021, says being a pilot is the reason he started to work in public service.
"I was asked to run for a seat on the [airport] board, and I said yes only because of my desire to serve the airport community and, very much to my surprise, it suited me," said Obernolte.
After serving five years on the Big Bear City Airport Board, Obernolte served as a city council member, mayor, and a state lawmaker before being elected to Congress.
"I think the biggest thing is that we as pilots… we're always focused on the number one goal, which is our responsibility to be safe," said Obernolte. "And I think that's very helpful and useful in politics because we have a thousand different things in our world, and we're focused on a hundred different things at a time, but to be able to always have a chief goal in mind, the same way that you have as a pilot, is a really good model."
NBAA also awarded Graves with its prestigious Silk Scarf Award in recognition of his contributions to GA throughout his time in Congress.
