Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, every day nearly 2,500 flights land and take off at O'Hare International Airport at the western edge of the Fifth Congressional District. More than 66 million passengers boarded or deplaned at O'Hare in 2012. On a recent morning, FAA traffic controllers kept tabs on 7,300 flights in the immediate area. By any measure, O'Hare is integral to the Nation's commercial air traffic network; and just as it shapes the Nation's air traffic system, O'Hare plays a major role in the local and regional economies. O'Hare currently generates 450,000 jobs and $38 billion in economic activity for Chicago and the State of Illinois. And when the $9 billion effort to modernize O'Hare is completed in 2020, it will mean the creation of 195,000 more jobs and an additional $18 billion in annual economic activity. In my district alone, more than 12,000 constituents have jobs tied to the airport, but O'Hare's success comes at a price. Since the October 17 opening of a new runway at O'Hare, many constituents have experienced a dramatic rise in flights--and noise--over their homes. Some residents are now dealing with hundreds more flights over their homes--all day, every day. It is not just the new runway that is causing the increase in noise pollution. Because of a dramatic reconfiguration of airspace over O'Hare, a majority of flights, either arriving or departing O'Hare, now traverse the skies of the Fifth District. I understand and support the need to modernize O'Hare.…”