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Whereas, due to the highly stressful and demanding nature 
of the job and the total concentration required, air traffic 
controllers are required to take regular 30-minute breaks, 
work in shifts, and retire at the age of 56; 
Whereas air traffic controllers perform courageous acts every 
day; 
Whereas, on January 1, 2009, air traffic controller Kristin 
Danninger at the Madison, Wisconsin, Tower and Ter-
minal Radar Approach Control (‘‘TRACON’’) facilities 
directed a new pilot back on course and above minimum 
altitude who had been stuck in the clouds in a small air-
craft with zero visibility, successfully using her knowledge 
of area geography to point out a highway that led the 
pilot to the appropriate runway; 
Whereas, on March 29, 2009, air traffic controller Troy 
Decker at the Salt Lake Center facility guided a Piper 
Aztec aircraft with engine trouble to a safe landing in 
Butte, Montana, providing detailed weather reports for 
several possible landing options; 
Whereas, on April 12, 2009, air traffic controllers Jessica 
Anaya, Lisa Grimm, Nathan Henkels, Dan Favio, Brian 
Norton, and Carey Meadows at the Miami Center facility 
and the Fort Myers Tower and TRACON facilities guid-
ed to safety a two-engine King Air aircraft after the pilot 
died in-flight, assisting Doug White, an individual with 
limited private pilot experience in smaller aircraft, to lo-
cate the positions of controls and switches on the aircraft 
and to navigate the high-traffic area of southern Florida; 
Whereas, on June 28, 2009, air traffic controller Ron Chap-
pell at the Southern California TRACON facility issued 
a traffic advisory to a jet aircraft landing at Los Angeles 
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•HRES 1401 IH 
after viewing another target on his radar screen that was 
at an unknown altitude and approaching the jet, cir-
cumstances that bore a similarity to a 1986 mid-air colli-
sion over Cerritos, California; 
Whereas, on July 5, 2009, air traffic controller Louis Ridley 
at the Potomac TRACON facility assisted a Velocity air-
craft stuck above a cloud layer to navigate through per-
ilous mountain terrain with limited fuel remaining and, 
while doing so, reassured the pilot, gave detailed flight 
and weather information, determined the best airport for 
a safe approach and landing, and even had his wife, 
Carolyn, greet the pilot after the pilot landed in Cul-
pepper, Virginia; 
Whereas, on October 9, 2009, air traffic controllers Kevin 
Plante and Christopher Presley in Portland, Maine, 
helped guide an aircraft that had become stuck in rapidly 
deteriorating weather conditions by employing, with day-
light waning and the aircraft near mountainous terrain, 
a road map to guide the pilot to Portland using several 
highways, lakes, and towns as guides; 
Whereas, on November 14, 2009, air traffic controller Jessica 
Hermsdorfer at the Kansas City Tower and TRACON fa-
cilities calmly helped guide back to the airport an Airbus 
319 aircraft that had hit multiple birds and experienced 
engine trouble, directing other aircraft out of the way 
and assisting the stricken flight to land safely; 
Whereas, on December 7, 2009, air traffic controllers 
Natasha Hodge and Douglas Wynkoop at the Dallas 
TRACON facility worked as a team to assist a confused 
and disoriented pilot of an experimental aircraft, re-
directing other aircraft in the area and suggesting an ap-
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proach into Navy Fort Worth for the pilot, which re-
sulted in a successful landing; 
Whereas, on December 20, 2009, air traffic controllers Todd 
Lamb at the Anchorage Center facility and Michael 
Evans at the Fairbanks Flight Service Station ensured a 
safe landing for a Cessna aircraft that was experiencing 
smoke in the cockpit, as Mr. Evans was able to assist the 
pilot in locating a narrow dirt trail which was the only 
safe landing spot in the area and Mr. Lamb helped a sec-
ond aircraft locate the downed plane’s position; 
Whereas approximately 15,770 Federal air traffic controllers, 
in airport traffic control towers, terminal radar approach 
control facilities, and air route traffic control centers, 
guide planes through the airspace of the United States; 
Whereas an additional 1,250 civilian contract controllers and 
more than 9,000 military controllers also provide air traf-
fic services; 
Whereas, since 2001, according to the Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration (‘‘FAA’’) there have been 93,000,000 suc-
cessful flights of United States commercial aircraft safely 
carrying more than 6,500,000,000 passengers; 
Whereas air traffic controllers provide separation services 
over the entire airspace of the United States and 
24,600,000 square miles of international oceanic air-
space; 
Whereas, as of October 1, 2009, the FAA operated 316 air 
traffic control facilities and the Air Traffic Control Sys-
tem Command Center in the United States; 
Whereas, in the past four years, the FAA has hired more 
than 5,500 air traffic controllers in order to meet con-
tinuously changing traffic volumes and workload; and 
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Whereas air traffic controllers are facing staffing challenges, 
with an aging workforce and a wave of retirements: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) expresses gratitude for the contributions 
that the air traffic controllers of the United States 
make to keep the traveling public safe and the air-
space of the United States running efficiently; 
(2) commends air traffic controllers for the 
calm and professional manner in which they handle 
air traffic, day and night, all year along; 
(3) acknowledges the heroic actions, dedication, 
and quick and skilled decisionmaking that air traffic 
controllers employ to help avert many accidents and 
tragedies; and 
(4) encourages greater investment in the mod-
ernization of the air traffic control system of the 
United States so that air traffic controllers have the 
resources and technology needed to better carry out 
their mission, both in the air and on the ground, as 
air travel continues to grow. 
Æ 
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