Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, today I rise to tell the story of one of my constituents, Yahey Obeid. Mr. Obeid was born in Yemen and came to the United States when he was 8 years old. His childhood dream was to become a pilot, and he knew and felt that in the United States, all things are possible and his dream could come true. Mr. Obeid's dream did come true. He has been a Federal employee for 14 years, has two children, and a mortgage for his home in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx. He studied hard, got his pilot's license, and is now an air traffic controller supervisor at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. I spoke with Mr. Obeid today over the phone. He and air traffic controllers like him across the country missed their first paycheck this past week. He was telling me about how stressful his job is. Every single day, air traffic controllers have thousands of people's lives in their hands. With weather changes, flight delays, staffing complexities, and a myriad of other issues, their days almost never go exactly to plan. His job is to find solutions, analyze and adapt in real time to keep people safe in one of the busiest airspaces in the United States and the world. It is terrifying to think that almost every single air traffic controller in the United States is currently distracted at work because they don't know when their next paycheck is coming. Federal workers' jobs are stressful enough.…”