Mike Quigley: “Let's not complicate things. There is nothing in the transportation bill or the housing budget that has anything to do…”

“Let's not complicate things. There is nothing in the transportation bill or the housing budget that has anything to do with the border wall. Instead, these agencies keep us safe when we fly and keep the planes, trains, and buses running on time. They keep Americans housed and warm on frigid January days like today in Chicago. They provide the support necessary to invest in our communities and ensure that our citizens can get to work and school, and can rebuild after natural disasters. Shuttering the Departments of Transportation and of Housing and Urban Development over an unrelated fight about a wall on the southern border is the height of administrative malpractice and the reason I am proud to support this bill to reopen these vital agencies immediately. This shutdown is endangering the well-being of the American public. For example, at air traffic control facilities all over the country, including Chicago Center, one of the busiest control centers in the Nation, staff ID badges, which are needed to get into the control rooms and operate equipment, expire during the month of January. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a problem, but the person in charge of issuing new ID badges for the 58 controllers at Chicago Center is furloughed, leaving the people responsible for ensuring that our air system runs safely and effectively in limbo and possibly preventing them from monitoring the skies as they should.…”