El Toro : Panel OKs Bill Barring Civilian Use of MCAS
The House Armed Services Committee in Washington on Wednesday approved a massive defense-spending plan that among other things would bar commercial aviation at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.
Rep. C. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) sponsored an amendment to the 1990 defense authorization bill that would short-circuit efforts to ease overcrowding at John Wayne Airport by permitting commercial aviation to make joint use of the El Toro military airfield.
Commercial flights from the military base have been advocated by some in Orange County as a way to relieve overcrowding at John Wayne, and the El Toro airfield is one of several sites under consideration by the Airport Site Coalition, which is seeking an alternative airport in the county.
Passage of the authorization bill and the amendment by the full House is virtually assured, congressional sources said. The measure would also have to clear the Senate before it could become law.
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