“Congress makes the following findings:“(1) A healthy small aircraft industry is integral to economic growth and to maintaining an effective transportation infrastructure for communities and countries around the world.
“(2) Small airplanes comprise nearly 90 percent of general aviation aircraft certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“(3) General aviation provides for the cultivation of a workforce of engineers, manufacturing and maintenance professionals, and pilots who secure the economic success and defense of the United States.
“(4) General aviation contributes to well-paying jobs in the manufacturing and technology sectors in the United States and products produced by those sectors are exported in great numbers.
“(5) Technology developed and proven in general aviation aids in the success and safety of all sectors of aviation and scientific competence.
“(6) The average small airplane in the United States is now 40 years old and the regulatory barriers to bringing new designs to the market are resulting in a lack of innovation and investment in small airplane design.
“(7) Since 2003, the United States lost 10,000 active private pilots per year on average, partially due to a lack of cost-effective, new small airplanes.
“(8) General aviation safety can be improved by modernizing and revamping the regulations relating to small airplanes to clear the path for technology adoption and cost-effective means to retrofit the existing fleet with new safety technologies.
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