Local Air Traffic Controller To Attend State of The Union

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. -- A Middletown woman will be joining Congressman David Cicilline at Tuesday evening's State of the Union address in Washington, DC. Jamie Green, an air traffic controller at T.F. Green Airport, was forced to work without pay for 35 days during the partial government shutdown.

“Either the President didn’t know, or he didn’t care, that shutting down the government hurt hundreds of thousands of working families like Jamie’s,” Rep. Cicilline said in a statement. “Now he’s threatening another shutdown in one week. This cannot happen. Working men and women should never be used as bargaining chips by the President. I’m hoping that Jamie’s attendance will remind the President that his reckless governing style comes with a human toll attached.”

Both Green and her husband Gordon are air traffic controllers at T.F. Green, and were required to work throughout the more than month-long partial government shutdown. Green served five years in the U.S. Navy and has worked for the FAA since 2006.

The couple lives in Middletown with their two children.

“I’m honored to be attending the State of the Union with Congressman Cicilline this week,” Green said. “After missing two paychecks as a result of the federal government shutdown, I hope that this is something no other working man or woman ever has to go through.”

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