News
On-Air Summit to Feature Members of United States Senate and House General Aviation Caucuses
November 18, 2013 10:42am
On Monday, December 16, 2013, the Wichita Aero Club will hold its annual On-Air Summit at the Doubletree Hilton Wichita Airport. This year, the audience will have the unique opportunity to hear from four members of the United States Senate and Congress, along with GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce. Daniel McCoy of THE WICHITA BUSINESS JOURNAL will moderate the summit.
“In a year when Congress is occupied with everything from immigration to health care, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the aerospace industry—and especially the general aviation segment—still face major challenges and a host of regulatory issues,” said Dave Franson, president of the Wichita Aero Club. “It’s a rare opportunity to have members of both the Senate and House General Aviation Caucuses all in one place at one time to address the state of GA. We’re looking forward to welcoming Senator Roberts and Congressman Pompeo back to the Aero Club and hosting Senator Klobuchar, who represents Minnesota where Cirrus is headquartered, and Congressman Graves from Missouri who chairs the House Caucus. It should be a lively discussion, with our own Wichita Business Journal’s Daniel McCoy acting as the moderator. Pete Bunce, president of GAMA, will offer the industry perspective and will obviously help drive the discussion. This promises to be an extremely timely and interesting panel.”
The 2013 On-Air Summit panelists:
Pat Roberts (invited) was elected to Congress in 1980. For 16 years, he represented the Big First District, including his home of Dodge City, in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1996, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He is currently serving his third term. Roberts has built a reputation as a national leader in agriculture, health care and defense. He is an advocate of a strong education system, free and fair trade policies, increased investment in science and technology, a focused foreign policy and a strong military — all of which are necessary to keep Kansas competitive in today’s rapidly evolving global marketplace.
In 2006, Amy Klobuchar (invited) became the first woman elected to represent the State of Minnesota in the United States Senate. As Senate Chair of the Joint Economic Committee and a member of the President’s Export Council and the Senate Commerce Committee, Amy has been a leader in working to implement a competitive agenda to ensure businesses have the tools they need to grow and create good jobs in their communities. Amy also chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer rights, where she has worked to advance policies that protect consumers from anti-competitive behavior and make sure businesses are able to compete on a level playing field.
Congressman Sam Graves chairs the House General Aviation Caucus. He is a life long resident of Missouri’s Sixth Congressional District. Elected in 2000, Sam serves as the Chairman of the Small Business Committee. Sam also serves on the Transportation Committee where he continues to fight for Missouri roads, rivers, bridges, rail lines and airports.
Congressman Mike Pompeo is a second term congressman from the 4th District of Kansas. In Congress, Mike has focused on freeing private enterprise to succeed as well as defending our individual Constitutional rights. Mike has been at the center of debates regarding fiscal responsibility and halting regulatory overreach, particularly with respect to production agriculture, and reducing the imposition of burdens on entrepreneurs and small businesses. Mike serves on two major committees: Energy and Commerce, which oversees energy, health care, manufacturing, and telecommunications, and the House Intelligence Committee, which oversees America’s intelligence-gathering efforts.
In April 2005, Pete Bunce became President and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), which is headquartered in Washington, D.C. with additional offices in Brussels, Belgium. He and the GAMA staff travel worldwide engaging regulators, policymakers and elected officials to promote general aviation and advance the interests of GAMA’s international membership of more than 80 airframe, avionics, engine and component manufacturers, as well as the world’s leading business aviation maintenance, repair and overall companies.
Daniel McCoy covers aviation, manufacturing and automotive for the Wichita Business Journal. A graduate of Wichita State University, he joined the Wichita Eagle as a correspondent in 2006 and moved to the Wichita Business Journal in 2008. He will moderate the ON-AIR SUMMIT panel.
The Wichita Aero Club is now accepting reservations for the luncheon. The luncheon will be held, as usual, in the Emerald Ballroom of the Doubletree Hilton Wichita Airport and will begin at 11:45 a.m. and end at 1:30 p.m. Reservations can be made on-line www.wichitaaeroclub.org, by calling 681-4471, or by emailing [protected email address]. The cost to attend the summit is $30 for members and $40 for non-members.
