{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-condemns-schumers-unserious-demands-shares-letters-from-nebraska-air-traffic-controllers-are-the-democrats-deaf/", "Ricketts Condemns Schumer\u2019s Unserious Demands, Shares Letters from Nebraska Air Traffic Controllers: \u201cAre the Democrats Deaf?\u201d", "2025-11-08", "2025", "2025-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Pete Ricketts", "R000618", "www.ricketts.senate.gov", "ricketts", "https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list&pagenum=", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, in a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) condemned Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and the Democrats for making unserious demands in exchange for reopening the federal government.\n\n\u201cBut why I\u2019m here today is to talk about people. Not leverage. Not power. People. Air traffic controllers,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cThese are letters that I have received from air traffic controllers. Handwritten letters that are talking about what they are going through right now because of the minority leader\u2019s shutdown.\u201d\n\nRicketts read letters from air traffic controllers in Nebraska who are suffering due to the Schumer Shutdown. The air traffic controllers described they are being forced to decide between paying their mortgage or car loan and putting food on their table for their families.\n\n\u201cAre the Democrats deaf? Do they not hear from the people that they are putting in these situations? This is their shutdown,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cWe have patriots here who are suffering. Why don\u2019t they show some of the courage that these people are and stand up to their far-left wing and vote for this bill so that least the people who are working can get paid? Is that so much to ask?\u201d\n\n\u201cA Democrat staffer was earlier quoted as saying, \u2018we\u2019re going to do this until planes start falling from the sky.\u2019 Well, folks, we already heard that the FAA is going to cut back 10% this week on the number of flights because of safety concerns,\u201d concluded Ricketts. \u201cBut it\u2019s the people that are the air traffic controllers and our law enforcement and everybody else who is working in a federal job that is not getting paid are paying the price for the Minority Leader\u2019s shutdown.\u201d\n\nWatch the video here.\n\nTRANSCRIPT:\n\nSenator Ricketts: \u201cEarlier today, we heard about an offer from the Minority Leader.\n\n\u201cIt shows just how unserious he and the Democrats are.\n\n\u201cThat offer is full of horse hockey.\n\n\u201cIt has things in it that Republicans cannot accept, and he knows it.\n\n\u201cAnd my colleague from Michigan, a Democrat from Michigan, was just talking about power, because this is what it\u2019s about.\n\n\u201cHe mentioned power.\n\n\u201cA number of other folks have talked about leverage.\n\n\u201cThey need to have this shutdown for leverage.\n\n\u201cNumber of Democrats have said this.\n\n\u201cBut why I\u2019m here today is to talk about people.\n\n\u201cNot leverage.\n\n\u201cNot power.\n\n\u201cPeople.\n\n\u201cAir traffic controllers.\n\n\u201cThese are letters that I have received from air traffic controllers.\n\n\u201cHandwritten letters that are talking about what they are going through right now because of the minority leader\u2019s shutdown.\n\n\u201cLet me just read you some of these.\n\n\u201cMy wife suffers from a chronic autoimmune disease that without her medication would cripple her.\n\n\u201cOur monthly co pay for her specialty medication is $2,800 a month.\n\n\u201cWe have less than two weeks before her next round of medication is due.\n\n\u201cOur situation is not sustainable, even with pulling money from our savings.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s from one of our aircraft controllers in Nebraska.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s another one.\n\n\u201cEach shutdown gets harder than the last.\n\n\u201cThe mental stress of the unknown gets harder each time with my growing family and medical bills for my family, it gets harder every time.\n\n\u201cBoth my children have neurological disorders that require constant monitoring and medical care.\n\nI take pride in my job and the service we provide here at Omaha approach control.\n\n\u201cAs a patriot and a veteran, I take my federal oath seriously.\n\n\u201cI will always continue to do my job and keep the sky safe and expeditious.\n\n\u201cOr here\u2019s another one.\n\n\u201cMyself and my family, to include my three-year-old daughter, are struggling to make ends meet.\n\n\u201cI now have to decide between putting food on the table, paying my mortgage, paying my car note and many other things I need to survive.\n\n\u201cAre the Democrats deaf?\n\n\u201cDo they not hear from the people that they are putting in these situations?\n\n\u201cThis is their shutdown.\n\n\u201cThis is their Biden budget.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re not voting for it, they voted for this four times over last 19 months and now they won\u2019t because they\u2019re far left wing tells them not to!\n\n\u201cWe have patriots here who are suffering.\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t they show some of the courage that these people are and stand up to their far-left wing and vote for this bill so that least the people who are working can get paid?\n\n\u201cIs that so much to ask?\n\n\u201cThat we pay the people we\u2019re actually trying to keep the skies safe?\n\n\u201cA Democrat staffer was earlier quoted as saying, \u2018we\u2019re going to do this until planes start falling from the sky.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell, folks, we already heard that the FAA is going to cut back 10% this week on the number of flights because of safety concerns.\n\n\u201cBut it\u2019s the people that are the air traffic controllers and our law enforcement and everybody else who is working in a federal job that is not getting paid are paying the price for the Minority Leader\u2019s shutdown.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-condemns-schumers-unserious-demands-shares-letters-from-nebraska-air-traffic-controllers-are-the-democrats-deaf/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5615969896316528, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}