The government needs to investigate whether military training exercises should be conducted near commercial air travel, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., told Newsmax on Friday.
Lawler appeared on "Wake Up America" and discussed the Wednesday night collision of an American Airlines jet and Army Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan National Airport that left 67 people dead.
Host Sharla McBride asked Lawler, a member of the House Aviation Safety Caucus, what needs to be done to assure accidents like that are avoided going forward.
"Well, you know, I fly in and out of that airport on a plane very similar in size every week at a Westchester County airport, and so certainly I was horrified to see that incident occur," Lawler said. "And obviously, it's a great tragedy with the number of lives lost.
"I think, obviously, there's a lot of investigation that needs to occur with respect to the air traffic controllers and the process there. I think also, one of the things that I'm concerned about, while I understand training exercises, etc., a helicopter frankly does not need to be in that airspace. And I think that's something that really needs to be evaluated as we move forward."
Lawler questioned why military "aircraft is even within the airspace of an airport to begin with."
"I think obviously, unless you're landing at the airport, it's frankly unnecessary to be anywhere within the vicinity of the airport," he said. "So, you know, that's something that I fundamentally believe should be evaluated as we move forward, among other things.
"But certainly, the investigation is going to play itself out. [Transportation] Secretary [Sean] Duffy is already off to a strong start in terms of, you know, mobilizing all of the efforts necessary to get answers as expeditiously as possible."
Lawler also praised President Donald Trump for signing an executive order instructing all federal agencies to identify civil and criminal authorities available to combat antisemitism. The order said that aliens, including students with visas, who broke laws as part of on-campus anti-Israel protests are subject to deportation.
"I think we finally have a president who's taking it [antisemitism] seriously," Lawler said. "And the fact is, back in 2019, President Trump created an executive order ensuring that Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was enforced and that the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] working definition of antisemitism was used. That was the basis for the antisemitism Awareness Act that we passed through the House last year. And [Senate Democrat Leader] Chuck Schumer sat on for eight months and refused to pass through the Senate. We are going to be reintroducing that bill in short order.
"But I think President Trump is taking a very important step in putting the students who are here on visas on notice that we are not going to tolerate this type of antisemitic, violent behavior on our universities and in our streets. And I think as we move forward, we need to look at a number of other things, inclusive of the foreign dollars that are flowing into these universities, how these university endowments are taxed, etc."
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Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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