Make Your Voice Heard!
I just received good news from AMTA director and AMTSociety board member Ken MacTiernan. He shares that we are closer than ever to getting a national AMT Day resolution passed by the U.S. Congress. House Resolution #444 goes before the Transportation & Infrastructure committee on Thursday, August 2 for a vote. When passed, it will go on to the House floor for a final vote.
We still need to pull together and contact our U.S. representative and urge them to support HR 444 when it comes up for a vote. I just did. I wrote a letter to my representative Tammy Baldwin. Here is what it said:
31 August, 2007
The Honorable Tammy Baldwin
2446 Rayburn Building
Representative Baldwin,
I am writing once again to ask for your support of HR 444 — a resolution that is sponsored by Representative Bob Filner of California that will declare May 24 of each year as Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) Day.
May 24 is the birth date of Charles E. Taylor, the unsung hero in aviation who designed and built the engine for the Wright Brothers that powered the Wright Flyer into the history books. Taylor is recognized as the first aircraft mechanic.
Like Charles Taylor in his day, today’s aircraft maintenance professionals are hard working men and women who ensure the airworthiness of our civil aircraft fleet.
I had contacted you a few weeks back asking you to sign on as a co-sponsor to HR 444. I have heard that the resolution is moving forward. It is on the calendar for an August 2 vote in the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. When passed, it will be scheduled for a vote on the House floor. Even though you did not sign on as a co-sponsor the resolution, I am asking for your support when the resolution comes up for a vote on the House floor. Wisconsin has deep ties in aviation. It is home to the Experimental Aircraft Association which hosts the world’s largest fly-in at Oshkosh, WI each summer, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors and billions of dollars in revenue for our state. Wisconsin is also home to Midwest Airlines and Air Wisconsin. Aircraft Maintenance Technology, the magazine I oversee, is based in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. It is the only aircraft maintenance magazine approved by both the FAA and Transport Canada for recurrency training.
I ask you to support HR 444 by voting “Yes” when the resolution comes up for a vote on the house floor. You can help give aircraft maintenance professionals in the United States and its territories the recognition they have long deserved.
Thank you,
Joe Escobar
FAA certified Airframe & Powerplant mechanic/IA #3019874
900 Van Buren St.
Fort Atkinson, WI 53538
I encourage you to write a similar letter to your representative. Make it short and to the point. It should be personal in nature, expressing why you are asking for his or her support for the resolution. To contact your representative, or to look up who your representative is, go to www.house.gov.
Let your voice be heard! Take a few moments to write your representative and ask for his or her support of HR #444.
Thanks for reading.
Joe Escobar
After AMT day is passed we should work on correcting history books. Wilber and Orville were not alone.
Didn’t schools stop teaching George Washington’s cherry tree story? It can be done
Maybe get the Wrights removed from the mechanics certificate?
I received an e-mail from Ken MacTiernan last night that the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee approved HRES 444. Here is a copy of that note:
Hello, I have been informed that the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee approved HRES 444 by voice vote. The HRES will now be scheduled for consideration before the full Hopuse of Representatives. When that date is chosen I will inform everyone. A big step has been taken. This is the furthest a National AMT Day Resolution has gotten. By continuing to contact our Congressmen and voicing our request that they vote yes for HRES 444 when it goes for a full vote before Congress will enable our nation to be the first to pass a National AMT Day Recognition.
Many thanks go to Congressman Bob Filner for his introducing HRES 444 and his continued support for today’s AMTs as well as to Sharon Wagener for her patience and support. Also to Maryanne DeMarco for her efforts in having this become a reality. And also to Richard Dilbeck who started the entire ball rolling by having the first State AMT Day Resolution passed back in 2002. Most of all thanks to everyone who took the time to contact their Congressman and asking for their support. Sincerely, Kenneth MacTiernan Director AMTA
We must contact our representatives now and urge them to vote YES for HRES 444 when it comes up for a vote on the House floor. Thanks to all fellow aircraft maintenance professionals for your continued support in helping make this happen!
Joe Escobar