Political Quotes

“if you put me on the spot and ask me how many times I have flown from O'Hare to Washington during the course of my congressional career, I couldn't guess. I am going to take a wild guess and say 2,000--2,000 flights in and out of O'Hare. This morning, I had a press conference there, and it was important for those who count on that great airfield to know what I learned. I met with the air traffic controllers. Turns out that O'Hare, at this point, is the busiest airport in the world if you combine both passenger and cargo air traffic. It is also the case that, for more than 10 years, they have been understaffed when it comes to air traffic control. They don't have enough air traffic controllers. They have been working 6 days a week, 10-hour days, for at least 10 years and in the foreseeable future. They are concerned about it. I am as well. They are doing their job and doing a great job in the process, but they are under pressure unlike anything most of us can imagine. They literally have the lives of ourselves and our families in their hands when they are directing air traffic around O'Hare.”