WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) today joined U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in announcing his support for legislation to protect Connecticut airports and the thousands of jobs they support from reckless cuts imposed by budget sequestration. A bipartisan amendment to the Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government, the measure would block 95 percent of sequestration’s automatic cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration for air traffic control towers run by contractors.

“Budget sequestration’s reckless cuts are already being felt by individuals and businesses across the country, and without action, nearly all of Connecticut’s airports will lose their air traffic controllers. That would make airport shutdowns very likely and set off a chain reaction of job losses in cities and town across the state,”said Murphy. “This bipartisan amendment would help save those jobs and allow airports to remain open for business. I’m hopeful that this amendment will pass and I applaud my colleagues for coming together to fight these devastating and ridiculous cuts.”

Nearly every airport in Connecticut, excluding Bradley International Airport, is scheduled to lose federal funding for their air traffic controllers on April 7th. The amendment , introduced by U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), would allow airports to continue operations as normal.