Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Congress may be deeply divided along partisan lines on most important national issues, but it turns out there is one thing Republicans and Democrats do agree on: restricting cellphone calls on planes.

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved a bill on Tuesday that would ban phone calls on all domestic flights, with exceptions for flight crew, attendants and on-duty law enforcement officials. Sponsored by Rep. Bill Shuster, a Republican from Pennsylvania, the measure was approved by a voice vote and will now go to the full House.



Mr. Shuster introduced his bill after the Federal Communications Commission recently proposed removing its ban on cellphone calls on domestic flights, a suggestion that inflamed many Americans, including flight attendants and travelers. The House measure appears to be designed to capitalize on that outrage by ordering the Department of Transportation to issue regulations “to prohibit an individual on an aircraft from engaging in voice communications using a mobile communications device during a flight,” something the department has said it is working on.

There are many good reasons to restrict phone calls on planes, as I’ve written before. And it’s nice to see the two parties getting together to advance legislation that’s popular with the public.

Now if only Republicans would work with Democrats on other important policies that are supported by a majority of Americans, like raising the minimum wage or extending unemployment benefits.