Recognizing Chief Master Sergeant John Jones

Floor Speech

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Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Chief Master Sergeant John Jones of Utica, New York, who retired in October of this year after nearly 30 years of full-time service in the Air National Guard.

Chief Master Sergeant John A. Jones entered the Air Force in August of 1993, serving in ever-increasing positions of responsibility over the next 29 years, culminating in his most recent position as superintendent of the 174th Maintenance Operations Flight at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York.

Chief Jones started his career at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as an airlift aircraft maintenance specialist, where he maintained the C-5 Galaxy. He accumulated hundreds of flying hours in both peacetime and combat missions.

He transitioned to the 174th Fighter Wing of the New York Air National Guard in 1997, serving 9 years as an attack controls systems specialist and electronic integrated systems specialist. In those roles, he maintained critical electronic systems of the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

In 2006, Chief Jones moved to the Maintenance Group Quality Assurance office as the avionics inspector, eventually serving as the chief inspector and superintendent.

Chief Jones deployed multiple times to the European and Middle Eastern theaters of operation in service of our country to support Operations Deliberate Force, Southern Watch, Noble Eagle, and Enduring Freedom.

Chief Jones was also instrumental in the modernization of New York's Air National Guard fleet, including playing a pivotal role overseeing the aircraft conversion from the F-16 Fighting Falcon to the MQ-9 Reaper.

I have come to personally know Chief Jones through his dedicated work as the New York Wing commander of the Civil Air Patrol, a program I care deeply about and have consistently supported as a Member of Congress and also as a member of the New York State Assembly. My son, Trey, who is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a Marine officer, was once a young man in the Civil Air Patrol's cadet program.

I saw firsthand how Civil Air Patrol's educational program and leadership training lit a spark within him that played a role in propelling him to serve our Nation. CAP continues to do the same for young men and women across our country.

I had the opportunity recently to explore just how the Civil Air Patrol's New York Wing conducts disaster relief missions when I joined Chief Jones and his cadets for a training session in Rome, New York. I saw young cadets experience their first flights and was able to ride in a Civil Air Patrol plane myself.

Thank you to Chief Jones for his experience as well as decades of service to our community and our Nation. I wish him the very best in retirement, and I am confident he will continue to find ways to give back to our region and continue to empower and inspire leaders of the next generation. Supporting Delphi Salaried Retirees

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Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call upon the Senate to quickly pass the Susan Muffley Act, which you may remember passed this body earlier this year with strong bipartisan support.

Under the Obama administration, the Delphi salaried retirees had their pension benefits slashed, while unionized hourly workers received their full benefits. This was an injustice to the Delphi salaried retirees that must be remedied, and it was the fault of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a Federal program.

The Susan Muffley Act, led by Congressman Dan Kildee and Congressman Mike Turner, would fully restore the Delphi salaried retirees' full pension benefits with backpay.

I was honored to support this legislation when it passed the House of Representatives in July. Thank you to all of my colleagues across the aisle and everyone who recognized this grave injustice and supported these hardworking people who deserve these benefits restored.

Now, the Senate must pass this legislation before it expires at the end of this year. The Delphi group has been fighting for almost 15 years to correct this wrong, and it would be a travesty if they lost this battle.

That is why I am calling on Senate leadership and all the Senators to bring the Susan Muffley Act to the floor, to support it, and to include it in their end-of-year work this legislative session. Together, we can make the Delphi employees whole and can right this wrong and this terrible injustice to these hardworking Americans who just did their job and paid into their own pension system and were not able to receive the benefits that were the fruits of their labor.

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