[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 31, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO ABBY BERNSTEIN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 31, 2017

  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Abby Bernstein, a 
passionate advocate for the rights of the aviation safety inspector and 
technician workforce of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Abby 
is retiring from the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) 
union this month after 33 years of service. I am confident that and all 
of my colleagues who have worked with her, will miss her wise advocacy 
and kind demeanor.
  Abby's career with PASS began in 1984, when she was the union's 
first, and only, employee. She remained PASS's only employee and ran 
the union's legislative and membership departments singlehandedly for 
many years thereafter. Throughout her career, Abby has fought to ensure 
safety inspectors and technicians are able to do their important work 
on behalf of the American people in keeping our aviation system running 
safely and smoothly.
  For years, Abby has fought tirelessly for increased aviation safety 
inspector staffing and improved FAA oversight of the aviation system, 
and I hope she will retire knowing that the flying public is safer as a 
result of her work. She was pivotal in joining my colleagues and me in 
key legislative efforts at various points in the 2000s to improve the 
FAA's oversight of maintenance, repair, and overhaul work performed on 
U.S. airlines' fleets at foreign repair stations. She also worked 
relentlessly to preserve the inspector workforce from unnecessary 
delegations of authority to the private sector.
  Not only has Abby worked to improve aviation safety, but she has also 
vigorously protected the rights and interests of PASS's members at 
every turn. When Congress exempted FAA employees from Federal personnel 
and procurement rules in 1996, Abby fought hard, and successfully, to 
preserve the rights of FAA employees to organize and to bargain 
collectively. From the 1990s to today, Abby has been a key ally in 
efforts to prevent the privatization of FAA air traffic control jobs. 
She has remained steadfast in her belief that the employees who 
safeguard the safety and efficiency of the aviation system must remain 
Federal employees. I would be remiss if I did not note, in particular, 
Abby's invaluable assistance in the last Congress to counteract, once 
again, ill-advised efforts to privatize the air traffic control system.
  In my own work with Abby on important issues of aviation safety and 
policy, I have come to know her as a thoughtful, inquisitive, and 
intellectually curious advocate. In fact, she has such a strong desire 
to learn and expand her horizons that, having graduated from the 
University of Maryland in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in management 
and consumer studies, she returned to her alma mater and obtained a 
second degree eight years later in computer and information sciences.
  Abby's retirement will mark the end of an era for PASS and, indeed, 
for all of us who have collaborated with her over the years in pursuit 
of a safer, better aviation system. Although we will miss her, I hope 
my colleagues will join me in helping send Abby into retirement with 
all of our very best wishes and most of all, with tremendous thanks for 
a job well done.

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