The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said Thursday that U.S. airspace remains safe but warned that air-traffic controllers are frustrated about pay and financial uncertainty and urged Congress to pass a "clean" continuing resolution.

"Our skies are safe. They are very safe for folks to travel," the chairman said, praising controllers for "showing up for work" and ensuring safety. He added that many controllers have expressed "extreme frustration" about worries over being paid and meeting household expenses such as mortgages and car payments.

The chairman also commended the secretary and the president for filling open seats at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) academy in Oklahoma City, saying the academy "hit their quota of 2,000 new air traffic control students" and that increasing pay for academy students was "needed" to attract "the best and the brightest." He framed the broader funding dispute as partisan, saying Senator Chuck Schumer was engaging in "political gamesmanship" and "weaponizing the air traffic controllers and ... families" ahead of the holidays.

"This is political games," the chairman said. "All we need to do is pass the clean CR so we can move forward and then talk about these things that ... need to be talked about." The chairman linked the resolution of those funding and pay concerns to congressional action on the continuing resolution.

The remarks in the transcript were limited to praise for controllers, the academy's recruitment and pay changes for trainees, expressions of concern about controllers' financial stress, and a call to pass a clean continuing resolution. The transcript did not record any formal motion, vote, or further committee action on those items.

The committee chairman's comments occurred during committee proceedings; the transcript did not include the chairman's name, floor-time for other members, or any formal committee votes related to the funding status or personnel actions discussed.