Senators push to tighten airspace rules near Reagan National after deadly crash

WASHINGTON - Senators on both sides of the aisle are pushing to make changes to a bill that they believe will protect air safety near Reagan National Airport.

What we know:

At a press conference Monday, the families of the victims killed in the tragic plane crash earlier this year at Reagan National Airport are asking Congress to help prevent another tragedy like this from happening.

Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell led a conference asking Congress to do two things:

• Get rid of an amendment that allows military aircrafts to fly with minimal restrictions.
• Pass a new one that would replace it with stricter guidelines.

The senators were also joined by some family members of the victims who lost their lives on that American Airlines flight.

In the bipartisan effort led by Senators Cruz and Cantwell, they want to get rid of Section 373 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which currently allows military aircraft to operate with minimal restrictions near commercial air traffic. They want to replace it with the ROTOR Act — which they say "establishes clear, common-sense safety standards for airspace."

"As Senator Cruz mentioned, this section does not belong in any bill. There is no reason to have this language — unless you want to continue letting the military do what they want to do in a congested airspace," said Cantwell. 

What's next:

The ROTOR Act has already passed in committee — and the senators are hoping that Congress will pass it, remove Section 373 from the defense bill, and pass the replacement sometime this week.