[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 143 (Thursday, November 20, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H8136]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      AURORA STAFF WENT ABOVE CALL OF DUTY DURING EMERGENCY OUTAGE

  (Mr. HULTGREN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HULTGREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to praise the air traffic 
controllers and FAA safety and technical employees who went above and 
beyond the call of duty surrounding the recent emergency situation in 
Aurora, Illinois.
  Following unprecedented circumstances, the Chicago center staff kept 
the surrounding air space operational, safe, and efficient during the 
17-day outage. On several different days during the outage, Chicago 
O'Hare, which serves my constituents in the 14th District, was the 
Nation's busiest airport.
  Controllers from two dozen facilities around the Midwest and also the 
FAA Command Center worked together to keep the flying public safe and 
the system operating at close to capacity.
  The air traffic controllers, technical operations personnel, and 
management at Chicago center and in all facilities throughout the 
Midwest and the National Airspace System have proven why the United 
States has the safest, busiest, and most efficient system in the world.
  The public should be proud of the teamwork and professionalism that 
they demonstrated as they met a difficult challenge and kept America 
safe.

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