WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today announced legislation matching his bill to block the federal government from dismantling a program protecting the privacy of general aviation pilots was included in an appropriations package currently before the Senate.

“Keeping this program in place has everything to do with our Constitutional right to privacy, and I will continue to work to protect the right to travel and conduct business privately,” said Roberts. “Publishing the movements of general aviation airplanes against citizens’ will flies in the face of the government’s traditional role in protecting private information and I’ll fight against any actions by the federal government that infringe upon the rights of my fellow Americans.”

The language in the appropriations package closely mirrors Roberts’ bill, S. 1477, the BARR Preservation Act of 2011, that prevents the Department of Transportation (DOT) from ending the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program, which allows citizens and companies to “opt out” of having their noncommercial aircraft movements tracked by anyone, anywhere in the world, who has an Internet connection, other than the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies.

Today the Senate General Aviation Caucus held a roundtable discussion with Harrison Ford, actor, pilot and general aviation advocate. During the discussion, Roberts said, “It’s important to remember, that the decision by the Department of Transportation to scale back BARR took effect in August, so our nation’s owners and operators of general aviation aircraft are vulnerable at this very moment to the unwanted tracking of their movements, which is why it’s important we stay vigilant on this issue and ensure that whatever funding takes us through the remainder of 2012 includes language upholding BARR.”

Video and Audio of the meeting with Ford can be found at www.youtube.com/senpatroberts.

The BARR program went under attack earlier this year, when the federal government published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had decided to severely curtail the BARR program, which would effectively limit the program’s vital and long-standing privacy protection to only those with a known and specific security threat. But by doing so, the government would actually facilitate unwarranted intrusions into the privacy of aircraft owners and operators for the first time, creating an unprecedented threat to the competitiveness of U.S. companies and a potential security risk to those on board. 

In June, Roberts led a bipartisan group of 26 senators in sending a letter to DOT asking Secretary Ray LaHood not to end the BARR program before Congress completes its work on the pending FAA Reauthorization bill, where the BARR program is currently being considered. You can click here to read the letter.

The original bill was co-sponsored by Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo introduced a companion bill in the House, which was cosponsored by Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) and Congressman Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), among others.

Sen. Roberts is a member of the Senate General Aviation Caucus and is an outspoken advocate for General Aviation.

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