U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

The Federal Aviation Administration's mission is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world. It began with the Air Commerce Act of 1926 charging the Secretary of Commerce with fostering air commerce, issuing and enforcing air traffic rules, licensing pilots, certifying aircraft, establishing airways, and operating and maintaining aids to air navigation. Thus, a new Aeronautics Branch in the Department of Commerce assumed responsibility for avian oversight. In 1958, Senator A. S. Monroney (D-OK) introduce a bill to create an independent Federal Aviation Agency to provide for the safe and efficient use of national airspace, and was brought under Department of Transportation in 1966.