Secretary Anthony Foxx
Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals Gala
Washington, DC
October 7, 2015
Our public servants dedicate themselves to our goals as a country. But we rely on more than their selflessness. We rely on their intellect. We rely on their energy. And especially in moments of great adversity, we rely on them to come up with solutions. These are the times we turn to people like Adam Schildge, who found a way forward after Hurricane Sandy triggered the worst public transportation disaster in U.S. history.
Adam knew these transit systems well. When he lived in New York City, he rode these systems to get to his job in the banking sector.
Adam excelled at his banking job. But he left it to pursue federal service and work at the Federal Transit Administration, saying: “I’ve always known I wanted to work for the public good.”
We are lucky Adam made this decision. Because when Hurricane Sandy struck, FTA’s emergency relief authority had been granted just three months earlier. In very little time, and under great public scrutiny, FTA needed someone to create a mechanism to get emergency relief dollars out to transit agencies that badly needed them. Not only that, FTA needed someone who could create an entirely new grant program to disburse $3.6 billion to ensure our transit systems could withstand such storms in the future.
Adam created the policy guidelines. He coordinated with other agencies and led review teams. He even developed a new analysis tool that is a breakthrough in the efforts to strengthen the resiliency of our infrastructure across the country.
I’ll close by repeating something President Obama said earlier this year, which is that “public service is a calling.” And to those who accept the call, “there is no greater opportunity to help more people or to make a bigger difference.”
Adam is proving these words to be true. He was called upon when our country needed him. And in a moment of intense pressure, he found a way forward. In fact, Adam not only found a solution that works today; he found one that leaders in government will carry forward for decades to come.
With that, please join me in honoring the winner of the 2015 Call to Service Medal, Adam Schildge.
###