Political Quotes

“It is far too common for Members of Congress to come to the floor of this Chamber to weave their narrative of incompetent Federal bureaucracies, lazy and unresponsive members of the unionized Federal workforce, and greedy and irresponsible Federal contractors. I rise today to tell a very different story. On September 26, 2014, commercial flights in nearly every airport around this country were delayed or canceled after the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center, also known as Chicago Center, in Aurora, Illinois, was disabled in an act of sabotage by a disturbed individual. A fire destroyed the communications equipment that processes flight plan data and enabled air traffic controllers at the facility to communicate with pilots in the 91,000 square miles of airspace for which they are responsible. This could have led to a tragic loss of life. However, due to the efforts of controllers at Chicago Center and adjacent air traffic control facilities, all planes in the air when Chicago Center lost communications were landed safely. Nearly 200 of the controllers at Chicago Center then traveled to 12 air traffic control towers and terminal radar approach controls throughout the Midwest to help direct air traffic. At the same time, technicians, mechanics, and electricians were working around the clock to replace damaged equipment and restore the Chicago Center facilities.…”