We are quite anxious. People all across Illinois are; I have heard from them, and they would like to keep the dollars in the FastLane grant program.

More than anything else, States and municipalities count on multi-year authorization to provide communities with the certainty needed to plan effectively.

Thanks to the determined bipartisan leadership of this Committee, Congress passed the FAST Act in 2015.

The sooner you can get them through, the better. As I said, this is holding up the commerce of the entire nation, not just the Chicago area or Illinois.

Under the bipartisan framework of the FAST Act, the FastLane grant program was created to advance projects of regional and national significance.

That is why I was troubled to learn that President Trump's budget blueprint does eliminate TIGER programs.

I was very interested in reviewing the findings of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam Study.

I do think it is very important to move this forward so we can have some sort of plan in place.

I believe Congress must prioritize the effective management and protection of these resources, the river system.

Will you pledge that the Corps will work closely with my office, Senator Durbin and the Illinois delegation to complete the project on schedule?

It is why I and many other Great Lakes stakeholders are deeply disappointed and surprised by the Army Corps' decision to indefinitely delay the release of this critical plan.

our Nation faces a retirement savings crisis. Too many seniors live in poverty after a lifetime of hard work, and too many people are facing retirement who have not been able to put away the adequate savings they will need. That is a…

I don't see improved training of anyone, especially your baggage handlers.

the incident aboard Flight 3411 was embarrassing and reprehensible

Individuals with disabilities are people, too, and I have seen wounded warriors on flights to Miracles on a Mountainside being manhandled off of flights.

I think in a perfect world, Congress should not have to act, and airlines would treat all travelers with dignity and respect.

I'm not asking you to come up with special--you know, extra handling systems.

Well, I think that that's the one place where he seems like he's willing to initiate military action. My concern is that he's moving forward without any real plan and that anything that he does will be much more kneejerk.

I thank my friend and mentor, a great Illinoisan, Senator Durbin for being here today. I wouldn't be here without his guidance and friendship over the years. It is truly an honor to stand at this desk, which was once held by another great…

I seriously felt like I could have gotten all that information by reading a newspaper. I did not see any new information coming out of that briefing at all. It felt more like a dog and pony show to me than anything else.

I wish the White House would actually care more about getting stuff done instead of just coming out with rhetoric and tweets.

I'm just very concerned that the White House is ratcheting up rhetoric but has not come to the House or the Senate or the members of Congress with a real plan on what they want to do.

If they really wanted to get something done, they should come to us and talk about a new authorization for use of military force. They should come to us and talk about what their next steps are.

This problem has even affected U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, whose wheelchair was damaged by the airlines several times.

I urge you to obtain testimony from directors of training or flight operations at regional airlines who are truly cognizant of your principal concern--safety.