Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth
[WASHGINTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today met with Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee to discuss how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal that President Biden signed into law earlier this week will help improve the customer experience at Chicago’s airports. The historic law will help Chicago’s airports improve runways, gates and taxiways, as well as make improvements to terminals, multimodal connections and air traffic control. Senator Duckworth’s TIFIA for Airports proposal, which was also included in the bipartisan bill, would also greatly improve the affordability of future airport projects. A photo from today’s meeting is available here.
“Chicago’s airports are an important economic engine for the region and the state, and I’m proud of the opportunities the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will create to ensure Illinois airports have the federal support they need to enhance the passenger experience, unclog supply chain bottlenecks and create jobs,” Duckworth said. “I had a productive discussion with Commissioner Rhee today and look forward to continuing to work with her to make sure that O’Hare and Midway have the resources to compete in the 21st Century.”
Illinois is expected to receive approximately $616 million for airport improvements over five years, increasing the Airport Improvement Grant Program and creating a new Airport Terminal Improvement Program. These programs will not only help support improvements and repairs for safety at airport, but help modernizer terminals and improve the airport experience for travelers.
On Monday, President Biden signed the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal into law with several provisions led by Duckworth that will help improve the lives of working Americans by reducing traffic congestion, encouraging the creation of good-paying local jobs across the nation, allowing infrastructure projects to implement local hiring initiatives, protecting roadside responders and improving transit accessibility, among many other benefits for workers.
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