The Senate is pushing to strengthen pilot training and hiring requirements in an effort to improve the safety of regional airlines, a problem exposed by an air crash last year that killed 50 people.

Debate began this week on a two-year, $34 billion bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration while imposing a host of safety and consumer measures.

Along the way, however, the bill ran into headwinds as senators sought to attach unrelated amendments on issues ranging from education to debt reduction. The bill is seen as a vehicle to pass measures unable to clear the Senate on their own.

The bill would require airlines to look at all of a pilot's records, including previous tests of flying skills, before the pilot is hired. Another provision would require the FAA to beef up airlines' pilot training programs.

The FAA administrator would also be required to perform surprise inspections of regional airlines at least once a year.

Over the past decade, major airlines have increasingly outsourced their short-haul flights to low-cost regional airlines, who often operate under a name similar to the major carrier. Continental Connection Flight 3407, which crashed near Buffalo, N.Y., on Feb. 12, 2009, was operated by regional carrier Colgan Air Inc. for Continental Airlines.