Sean Duffy Confirmation Hearing

Mr. Cruz (00:00):

… chairman and ranking member on this committee and I'm looking forward to the next two years serving as chairman, and to members on both sides of the committee, we will continue to move together in a bipartisan manner. This will be an energetic committee, this will be an active committee. We will have hearings, we will have markups, we will move legislation. We'll have disagreements and at times even vigorous disagreements, but at the same time, the Commerce Committee has a great tradition of working and being effective and productive and we are going to continue that for the next two years. I also want to take a moment to welcome the newest members of this committee and there are actually quite a few. We have Senator Curtis, Moreno, Sheehy, Fetterman, Kim and Blunt Rochester. And so welcome. You're going to enjoy this committee. It has a wonderful jurisdiction. It touches on damn near everything under the planet and it's a good group.

(01:03)
I joked just a minute ago, Senator Klobuchar and I were chatting about judiciary and I have joked about how judiciary and commerce are very different places. That judiciary is kind of the room in Coliseum and you strap on your armor and you grab a battleax and you just beat the living daylights out of everyone else. And then you come over to Commerce and you put on robes and you put daisies in your hair and you sing Kumbaya. And half the time it's the same people that an hour earlier you were in one context and you're in the next. And so we're going to have fun and we're going to be busy and we're starting with the very first hearing is for the confirmation of President Trump's nomination of former Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy to be Secretary of Transportation. Welcome Mr. Duffy.

(01:54)
Congress established the Department of Transportation in 1966 to ensure " the provision of fast, safe, efficient, and convenient transportation." Consider what has happened since. In 1966, man had yet to set foot on the moon. Now we are using drones in everyday life, riding in driverless cars and sending private missions to space. Now Elon Musk has launched his car into space. A new era in transportation and infrastructure is here. Congressman Duffy is a dedicated public servant who is well qualified to lead this important department.

(02:38)
In addition to nearly a decade of service as Northwest Wisconsin representative to Congress, he is a former prosecutor, a family man, and someone who cares deeply about the future of this country. As the father of nine, and I have to say he was well suited to serve in Congress as the father of nine. He was used to a lot of crying, screaming, and otherwise unruly behavior. Congressman Duffy knows firsthand the truth of President Trump's comment on "how important it is for families to be able to travel safely and with peace of mind."

(03:18)
In the House, Congressman Duffy partnered with members across the aisle to improve transportation in his state. That includes members of this very committee with whom he worked to fund the St. Croix Crossing, replacing a decades-old structurally deficient bridge between Wisconsin and Minnesota. He also advanced port infrastructure improvements as co-chair of the Great Lakes Task Force. Congressman Duffy will promote a leaner, more efficient department of transportation, eliminating onerous regulations while responsibly investing in the nation's infrastructure and ensuring safety. I support his nomination and I look forward in this hearing to hearing more about his qualifications and his vision for the Department of Transportation. And with that, I will turn to Ranking Member Cantwell for her opening remarks.

Ms. Cantwell (04:05):

Well, thank you Mr. Chairman. Congratulations on your chairmanship. I understand it's the first time a Texas senator has chaired this particular committee, the Commerce Committee, which is a very important committee in the United States of America, but a critically important committee for the state of Washington and had a long history of Washingtonians being involved in the chairmanship. So, the fact that that gavel is passing to you and passing to Texas is congratulations. I do too want to welcome our new members, Senators Fetterman, Kim, Blunt Rochester, Moreno, Curtis and Sheehy to the committee. We look forward to working with all of you and the returning members. I do believe Mr. Chairman, we did accomplish a lot working together and with our colleagues: a Shipping Reform Act, an Infrastructure Bill, a CHIPS and Science Act, an FAA reform. I'll put something in the record expanding on those accomplishments later, but I don't care whether we are in this chair or this chair.

(05:07)
It is about the commonty of getting things done for the American people. And while I think that those bills led to economic opportunity and manufacturing resurgence in the United States, the infrastructure investment we're going to talk about today was critical to that. I believe there's more to do in driving down costs, particularly as it relates to supply chains, making sure that transportation infrastructure get those people to work that need to get to work on public transportation systems. So I look forward to talking to the nominee about that. I hope that as we continue to work together in commonty, we can work out the rules of the committee. We haven't done that yet. I do think that getting paperwork in before nominees come before the committee, I think we got yours in at 6:30 Monday night. And I looked with interest this morning, the New York Times coverage of all of that, but literally it's about processing people so that everybody feels confident that we have done our review. So I hope that we will keep that.

(06:05)
And on the rules of the committee, I hope we can work out something because I believe that the American people don't have enough confidence that we do work together. So I tried to operate working together because I want to show people that we can accomplish things that way and very prideful that I think after our markup on the CHIPS and Science Act, you came over to me and you said that was a good markup. I remember that because I think we processed over a hundred amendments. A lot of people would've done things differently today, try to come up with a deal and stick it in DAA. So let's continue to grow the muscle of the Commerce Committee under your leadership and I'll look forward to working with you on that.

(06:48)
To this nominee, again, congratulations to you and your family on that. There's one thing that Northwest also appreciates besides the Commerce Committee. We definitely like lumberjacks and so you'll go down as a storied DOT secretary in the eyes of Washingtonians, particularly if you run up a couple of polls or do a little log rolling while you're out there in Longview, Washington. So we definitely appreciate that.

(07:16)
Mr. Duffy, you know how important transportation is across many sectors, obviously the aviation sector being one of those. And making sure that as we continue to focus on aviation safety following the FAA bill and ANCSA, we need to make sure that we hold the FAA accountable and build a strong oversight culture so the investments that we've made. I appreciate you saying that you would meet with the families of the Max crashes and I know that Michael Stumo was here in the audience today. I also want to talk about the bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and those projects that are so important to us growing our economy and I think anybody here on the committee who represents a coastal state knows, or actually for that matter doesn't matter. If you represent a Midwestern state, it is all about getting product to where it's being exported. So this infrastructure investment is critically important and we'll look forward to asking you questions about that.

(08:15)
I also want to make sure that we're continuing to make the investments that the Congress is already appropriated and assigned because obviously building resilient systems that can't be disrupted help us drive an even bigger economy in the United States of America. That's why programs like INFRA, Mega, At-Grade Crossing elimination are some of those you and I had a chance to discuss in my office and I look forward to asking some questions about that. I also just want to mention that as people continue to discuss other appointees to the Department of Transportation, Mr. Bradbury has been nominated as one of the chief architects of the 2025 project and we will want to know from you what you believe we should continue to move forward on in investments in transportation.

(09:10)
I know that you have a background here and understand this even looking at some of those issues as it relates to how do we bolster US competition in the international air space, which I very much appreciate actually, but we have to make the investments and we have to give forward. I want to hear your views on a Surface Transportation Act and that is something that needs to be authorized by 2026. So making sure that we continue to make these investments will be critical to America's opportunity. So look forward and again, congratulations to you. Welcome to your family. Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Cruz (09:47):

Thank you Senator Cantwell. A bit of housekeeping, also, yesterday in the Senate Armed Services Committee we had several protesters, so as a reminder to all of our guests here disrupting the committee's proceedings is against the law and any manifestation of approval or disapproval of the proceedings such as standing, displaying signs or speaking or shouting is prohibited. So any transportation lobbyists who get unduly disruptive, our kind friends from the Capitol police will remove you. With that, I'm pleased to welcome my friend, the senior senator from Wisconsin, Senator Ron Johnson for his remarks initially introducing Congressman Duffy.

Sen. Johnson (10:24):

Thank you Mr. Chairman. Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, members of the committee, it's my honor and privilege to be here today to introduce Wisconsin's own Sean Duffy as President Trump's nominee as Secretary of the Department of Transportation. I believe you've all met Sean and had the chance to speak with him about his vision for the department. I first met Sean in is wonderful and slightly smaller at the time family in 2010 when we were both running for Congress. As his family grew, so did Sean's experience, knowledge and accomplishments. Sean is above all else a family man, devoted to his wife Rachel and his nine beautiful children, eight of whom are with us here today. Sean began serving the public as District Attorney of Ashland, Wisconsin where he worked to keep Wisconsin's community safe. Nine years later he was elected to five terms as the member of Congress to Wisconsin's 8th District that is largely rural and encompasses the northern one-third of our state.

(11:28)
In 2019, Sean and Rachel found out their now youngest child would be born with Down syndrome and other health challenges requiring open heart surgery. Sean made the very difficult but correct decision to resign from Congress to devote himself to his family and soon to be born daughter. Valentina, now five years old and beautiful, is sitting right behind me here today on floor. Not log rolling, which all of his children I think can do as well. Now President Trump has asked him to serve the country once again and Sean accepted without hesitation. As a great late state, lakes waterways and the infrastructure that surround them are vital to Wisconsin. They also provided Sean great opportunities to work across party and state lines on issues affecting his constituents frequently involving the area of transportation. In Congress, Sean co-chaired the Great Lakes Task Force which broadened his expertise beyond his service on the Financial Services Committee.

(12:31)
Many of you are familiar with the icebreakers issue he worked on for several years. Sean worked on a bipartisan and bicameral basis with me, Senators Cole, Senators Klobuchar and Franken to help construct a bridge across the St. Croix, which required an exemption from the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. He also worked on the Sioux Locks in support of the essential air services communities. Sean passed a bill into law to increase weight limits on our federal highways to accommodate logging trucks in line with the standards of our state roads, and he worked to address the shortage of commercial truckers and introduce legislation to prevent trains blocking grade crossings. He's passionate about safety in our aviation, rail and highway systems. He can't wait to help harness American innovation to change transportation for the better. Sean will be a strong and dedicated leader of the Department of Transportation, prioritizing safety and ensuring we are investing in infrastructure projects that connect our communities. We are fortunate he's willing to serve the public again and I recommend him to you without reservation. I am proud to introduce my friend Sean Duffy to the members of this committee. Thank you.

Mr. Cruz (13:43):

Thank you Senator Johnson and welcome and it is a strong display of bipartisan support. We also have the other senator from Wisconsin, a Republican and Democrat both supporting you and a longtime member of this committee as well. And so Senator Tammy Baldwin, I recognize you to introduce Mr. Duffy.

Senator Tammy Baldwin (13:59):

Thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you ranking member. It is my pleasure to introduce Sean Duffy as we consider his nomination to serve as the next Secretary of Transportation. Sean and I have known each other for many years and have worked together in the Wisconsin delegation during our time in the House of Representatives together. As a Wisconsin native from Hayward, Mr. Duffy is a former congressman who represented Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District from 2011 to 2019. In that time, we partnered on shared priorities for our constituents including a bridge you've already heard about, the St. Croix Bridge in Western Wisconsin. Now it usually does not take an act of Congress to build a bridge, but it was needed in this particular instance for a new bridge over the St. Croix River connecting Wisconsin with Minnesota. And with the help from Senator Klobuchar, Senator Cole, Senator Johnson, Sean Duffy and I, without hesitation, whipped our respective caucuses and brought to together a house majority necessary to pass legislation to replace an eighty-year-old `.

(15:15)
As Sean can attest, this was a decades-long battle which resulted in a significant bipartisan win for our state. It was not a matter of right or left, just what was good for our constituents, our economy, and our state. Today, the St. Croix Crossing, which opened in 2017 has shortened travel times, reduced traffic congestion, and most importantly, improved safety. This type of bipartisan work for the American people is what I expect to see from Sean should he be confirmed. Our efforts show that when we work together, we get important things done and we haven't always agreed and I'm sure that will continue to be true, but as my colleagues on this committee know, I'll be the first to call out any efforts to roll back are by America rules or weaken safety or increase costs or cut funding for critical projects like the Blatnik Bridge in our state.

(16:15)
But at the end of the day, I am confident that Sean is the right person for this job in this upcoming administration. I believe he will help deliver for Wisconsin families, businesses, and workers, and I expect that he will work with this committee and both sides of the aisle to improve our infrastructure and address the challenges that arise in the years ahead. I am proud to join you today to introduce Sean Duffy to this committee.

Mr. Cruz (16:50):

Thank you, Senator Johnson, Senator Baldwin and Senator Johnson, you have other committees to attend to and Senator Baldwin, you're welcome to return to join us up here. And with that welcome Congressman Duffy for your opening remarks and I'm certain it is going to include introducing your beautiful family behind you.

Sean Duffy (17:10):

I hope I do that, otherwise I will be in trouble. Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, members of the committee, it is a privilege to be before all of you today. I'm grateful for Senator Johnson and Senator Baldwin for the very kind introduction. They come from the great state or I know you guys all want to object, the greatest state in the country, Wisconsin, so I appreciate that Senator and I also appreciate your friendship and bipartisanship as well. It's an honor to be before this committee today and I'm humbled by the fact that President Trump would've nominated me to this very important position. If confirmed, it'll be a privilege of a lifetime to serve the American people as the Secretary of Transportation. I look forward to closely working with this committee as you provide oversight and guidance to the Department of Transportation. If I could take a moment, I'd like to introduce my family, my wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy and our nine children.

(18:10)
Rachel and I met on a reality TV show, kind of unique and not most people have that. We've been married for 25 years. Rachel is the love of my life. She's my best friend and she is a wonderful, incredible mother to our nine children. Eight of them are here today with us. If I could introduce them to the committee, my oldest is Evita. She's right here. Her husband Michael, my daughter Lucia-Belen, John-Paul, Paloma, Maria Victoria. She also goes by Mud. Her choice. Margarita, Patrick, and Valentina. Now my youngest is Valentina. She was born with Down syndrome and she no doubt is our family's favorite. She was hugging Senator Baldwin on the way in, showing great bipartisan love. Hopefully she'll be behaved for the hearing today. My oldest son, Jack and his wife Kaylinn couldn't be here today. They just had a baby, Lourdes. They also are residents of Southern California.

(19:18)
They've had to evacuate their home and I know that the committee and America's hearts go out to all the families being impacted by the fires. We're dealing with that in our own family, so prayers to them. I'd also like to acknowledge my mother and father-in-law, Pilar and Miguel. They're here to show their support. I'm grateful they took a leap of faith allowing me to marry their daughter 25 years ago and it was a leap of faith, no doubt. So, as a father of nine kids, I think about transportation quite a bit and about transportation safety a lot. My son John-Paul, who I introduced, drives his younger siblings to school every day. And for us, that is precious cargo. Whether driving, flying or traveling by train, no federal agency impacts Americans' daily lives and loved ones more than the Department of Transportation. I'm honored to have the trust of President Trump and hopefully this body to lead such an important segment of our economy. Transportation influences how long it takes to get home to our loved ones and improving its safety and efficiency directly enhances every single American's life.

(20:38)
President Trump, he's a builder. He wants to invest in rebuilding our nation's crumbling infrastructure. He asked me to focus and I told I think all of you this on the big, the durable projects that connect our country and connect our people. If confirmed, I will work to reduce the red tape that slows critical infrastructure projects, ensuring funds are spent efficiently. We use the tax dollar well. Safety, always paramount. Every year 40,000 Americans lose their lives in roadway accidents. This hits close to home for me because my wife survived a deadly head-on car crash, which has profoundly reshaped her life. If confirmed, I'll prioritize road safety and ensuring lives and families aren't forever changed by preventable accidents. In aviation, safety will remain its top priority. America needs more air traffic controllers. Many of you have talked about that with me. We want the best and the brightest air traffic controllers.

(21:45)
We must modernize our systems with cutting-edge technologies. I'll work with Congress and the FAA to restore global confidence in Boeing and to ensure that our skies are safe. Transportation is an extraordinary new era we're entering it. From eVTOLs, drones, autonomous vehicles to space travel, we're in a global race to out-innovate and out-compete the rest of the world. If confirmed we'll craft clear regulations which balance safety and innovation and cutting-edge technology, but always focused on safety.

(22:26)
Transportation impacts every aspect of life from efficiently and securely moving products through our ports to the ease of commuting from work to school, but also to church on Sunday. Together with President Trump in this committee and the entire DOT team, I would hope to usher in a golden age of transportation and travel. This is America. Americans dream big and lead the world in innovation. If confirmed as Secretary of Transportation, I will work tirelessly to make travel in America more efficient, more comfortable and safer. Americans deserve to have travel experiences that make all of us proud. So I want to get to work with all of you and the staff at the DOT. I want to thank you all for welcoming my big family and me to the committee room today and I look forward to, I think, taking your questions I yield back.

Mr. Cruz (23:26):

Thank you Congressman Duffy. Welcome and welcome to your wife and your beautiful children. Thank you for being here and joining us today and congratulations on your husband's and your father's appointment to this major position serving the people of the United States of America. We'll now move to questions, Congressman Duffy. Let's just start with a broad question. If confirmed as Secretary of Transportation, what would you want you and your administration's legacy to be when it comes to transportation and infrastructure?

Sean Duffy (23:59):

I appreciate the question, Senator. I had a legacy of improving safety. I had a legacy of working with this committee, but specifically Senator Cantwell to make sure we get Boeing back on track, producing great airplanes that are safe airplanes and also as President Trump has charged building the big infrastructure projects that connect this country without forgetting by the way rural America that uses that incredibly important infrastructure. But those three things, I would like to be a legacy from a tenure as the Secretary of Transportation.

Mr. Cruz (24:38):

Terrific. Last year, one of the things this committee did working with the House was passing the FAA reauthorization bill. In the Senate that's a bill that included over 200 amendments from both sides of the aisle. Every member of this committee had amendments that were included in that bill. In addition to the majority of members of the Senate had amendments from both sides of the aisle that were included in that bill. That was one of the reasons we saw such overwhelming bipartisan support for that legislation when it moved.

(25:09)
One of the elements of that bill was a provision that I authored to establish a Center for Advanced Aviation Technologies. The center is designed to accelerate integration of advanced air mobility and other emerging aviation technologies such as air taxis into the National Airspace System. I drafted that provision to establish the center in Dallas, Texas because of Dallas's central role as a hub of aviation experience from the private sector, the world of the pandemics and government, particularly on power lift vehicles. It is now incumbent on the Department of Transportation to stand up the Center for Advanced Air Mobility. Will you commit to work with me to ensure that the department establishes this center consistent with congressional intent?

Sean Duffy (25:56):

I absolutely will. I'll work with you, Senator. And by the way, my daughter lives in Dallas, goes to the University of Dallas and loves the city, so-

Mr. Cruz (26:04):

Well, fantastic.

Sean Duffy (26:05):

… look forward to working with you.

Mr. Cruz (26:06):

And I do want to say you also have the prayers of all of us for your son and his wife in Los Angeles. What's happening there is truly horrifying and unspeakable and so we pray that they're safe and their family's safe.

Sean Duffy (26:19):

Thank you.

Mr. Cruz (26:22):

The Surface Transportation Project Delivery Program allows the Federal Highway Administration to assign responsibilities for complying with the National Environmental Policy Act to Estate. The Texas Department of Transportation has exercised this authority since 2014, but it is up for renewal. The federal environmental protections still apply, but TxDOT is much more efficient. On average, Texas completes an environmental assessment in less than 17 months, which is roughly half the time it takes the Federal Highway Administration. If confirmed, will you prioritize the renewal of TxDOT's NEPA assignment authority from the Federal Highway Administration on reasonable terms before its expiration in March of 2025?

Sean Duffy (27:07):

Senator, I look forward to taking a look at the designation of Texas. Obviously the state has done very well with this designation speeding up the process, and so yes, I commit to you that I will look at that and hope to reauthorize that designation.

Mr. Cruz (27:23):

Excellent. There are currently five applications for licenses to allow deepwater ports to operate and transfer oil and gas on ships at sea pending before the United States Maritime Administration or MARAD. These applications have been pending for the entirety of the Biden Administration, nearly quadruple the maximum time limit for review under the statute. In addition, the Biden Administration thoughtlessly and needlessly forced one company, the Texas-based Delfin LNG Deepwater Port to start its application from scratch after slow walking it for more than five years. President-Elect Trump has promised to jump-start American Energy independence when he takes office. Will you commit to this committee that if confirmed, one of the first things you will do is direct MARAD to issue these five licenses consistent with the statute?

Sean Duffy (28:25):

I commit to you to following the law, and I understand from you and from the President how important American Energy Independence is and how important these applications and permits are to making sure that happens.

Mr. Cruz (28:36):

And I would also ask you in particular to expedite review of Delfin's reapplication in Texas. The way they've been treated, it just hasn't been right.

Sean Duffy (28:43):

Absolutely.

Mr. Cruz (28:45):

Under the Biden Administration, financial obstacles have only grown for the California High-Speed Rail project. It currently has an unfunded gap of roughly a hundred billion dollars, and yet the Biden Administration doubled down by awarding more than $4 billion in taxpayer dollars to this ill-fated project. DOT career staff reviewed the various applications related to those awards, but the Biden Administration refused to share those ratings with this committee, likely because those ratings do not support the Biden Administration's decision to continue funding the project. If confirmed, do you commit to sharing with this committee the DOT staff ratings for all applications of discretionary funding over the last four years in which the California High-Speed Rail project received an award?

Sean Duffy (29:32):

Senator, I believe in transparency and so I would commit to sharing those ratings with the committee.

Mr. Cruz (29:37):

Terrific. Thank you. And with that, I recognize the ranking member, Senator Cantwell.

Ms. Cantwell (29:40):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I could go at least 20 minutes with questions in a first round, so I'm going to try to see if we can get short answers to things that make sense. First of all, are you a supporter of the Jones Act?

Sean Duffy (29:57):

Yes.

Ms. Cantwell (29:58):

Thank you. Are you a supporter

Ms. Cantwell (30:00):

… supporter of the mega and freight and at-grade crossing programs that we established under the recent service transportation bill.

Sean Duffy (30:09):

Yes, and I think this fits in with kind of the vision that President Trump has for those big projects that are so meaningful to communities that I think you mentioned in your office that oftentimes don't get done because they're really expensive. So yes, that's important.

Ms. Cantwell (30:22):

Yes, and we worked with Senator Wicker, so that states that may not have an economy, but yet there's still a mega project within that region also get funded because it doesn't matter the size of the population, you could still have a mega project because it has mega economic consequences and dwarfs the budget. What about culverts, supporting continued support for culverts?

Sean Duffy (30:43):

We're talking about the ones so we can have the salmon run and spawn?

Ms. Cantwell (30:47):

Yes.

Sean Duffy (30:47):

Yeah. Listen, I love salmon and I love salmon spawning and we've talked a lot about that. And again, we want to make sure that we are cognizant of the construction projects and what impacts they have on the environment, especially with… Yes. So yes, I would answer yes.

Ms. Cantwell (31:04):

Okay. So aviation safety, you will meet with the families of the Max crash victims?

Sean Duffy (31:10):

Absolutely.

Ms. Cantwell (31:10):

Thank you. You believe that the FAA should have a robust oversight of aviation manufacturing, including listening to whistleblowers on the ground?

Sean Duffy (31:19):

I 100% do.

Ms. Cantwell (31:21):

I think that that's… Part of my concern is that what our committee has been able to understand and confirm through our efforts and starting with Senator Wicker's efforts prior to ANCSA, that according to a most recent article in The Seattle Times, 90% of complaints submitted by airline and manufacturing employees through the FAA's whistleblower program resulted in no violations. This underscores the concerns about how do we get a strong FAA oversight and listening to the people that are on the ground, the machinists and engineers? Do you think that there should be a mandatory safety management system at our manufacturers?

Sean Duffy (32:14):

One more time?

Ms. Cantwell (32:15):

You can take this for the record. Safety management systems are a redundant circle of continued safety improvements that the expert panel has suggested that we do. The expert aviation panel has suggested that's really what is missing and I think in the prior administrations, people didn't really push for a strong safety management culture and I think that's what we're still pushing to make sure that that is exactly… The FAA is saying that that's what Boeing should do, but we have to continue to push.

Sean Duffy (32:48):

Obviously there's been a missing link. Obviously there's a lot more work to do and so if this is part of the missing link to make sure we get a better safety record at Boeing, I'm on board.

Ms. Cantwell (32:59):

Great. And the issue about projects that… I mentioned the I-V bridge when we spoke, the infrastructure investment that's already been planned, that the money has been out the door and it's on its way to doing the work. Will you commit to helping complete these projects and continue the funding?

Sean Duffy (33:28):

That are underway, yes. And again, one of the complaints I've heard from the committee is oftentimes the money's not moving fast enough. There's been questions about why it's taking so long. So yes, I'd love to work with you and make sure that the money gets out the door to the projects that are underway.

Ms. Cantwell (33:43):

Great. And we have a very strong economy in the Northwest, but I expect, just like my colleagues, we have a lot of people who have to travel a long way to get to work. Why? Well, we haven't been built enough housing, but public transit becomes a very key cornerstone of the investments and so for us, that's the sound transit system. All in all, according to AAA, car ownership cost an average of a thousand… Ownership costs on average over a thousand a month. Meanwhile, a sound transit pass costs a hundred dollars a month. So making sure that we're going to keep our investment in public transportation. Are you committed to working with this committee on public transit investment?

Sean Duffy (34:31):

I am.

Ms. Cantwell (34:32):

Yes. Thank you. And then I too want to give my condolences as it relates to the fires in California. My state knows these issues well and how devastating they can be. And to your son and his family, I hope the best for them.

Sean Duffy (34:51):

Thank you.

Ms. Cantwell (34:53):

In the very near future, the World Cup and the Olympics will be coming to places like Seattle and Kansas and LA. Will you work with this committee on making sure that we have infrastructure investment to be the host for those kinds of events?

Sean Duffy (35:10):

Senator, I commit to working with you, yes, and the committee.

Ms. Cantwell (35:13):

Great. And I think that's all I'm going to do this round and we'll go back onto some of these other issues, but thank you for your brevity and commitment on those issues.

Sean Duffy (35:22):

Thank you.

Senator Ted Cruz (35:24):

Thank you. Senator Fischer.

Senator Deb Fischer (35:26):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome, Mr. Duffy and welcome to your family. We're very excited you're here and congratulations on your nomination. Regardless of anybody's opinions that we may have on EVs, the fact remains that we now have more electric vehicles on the roads of this country. They are 30% heavier on average than gas-powered cars and because of that, they crash with up to 50% more impact on the vehicle and the roadway infrastructure. Despite this wear and tear that we're seeing on our infrastructure, EVs do not pay into the highway trust fund. The trust fund, as you know, is already woefully inadequate. It's facing a shortfall and last Congress, I introduced a bill to remedy this by requiring EVs to pay a fair share. Do you think that…? And if so, do you think that EVs should be paying into the highway trust fund and would you work to figure out a way to make this feasible?

Sean Duffy (36:37):

Absolutely. Senator, I think you brought that up in the office in our conversation. They should pay for use of our roads. How to do that I think is a little more challenging, but I'd love to work with you and the committee to make that happen.

Senator Deb Fischer (36:53):

As you look long-term, how would you as the Secretary of Transportation be able to ensure that the revenues are going to be there so that we can continue to manage a highway trust fund that has been so vital in the growth of commerce across this country so that we can continue to have a road system that works?

Sean Duffy (37:24):

I think there's been three scenarios talked about. You can increase the gas tax. I am not going to join you in that effort, but there's the gas tax. We could increase tolling or there's a mile driven formula that could be used as well. My concern with that though is the privacy around the American citizens. So I think that's a conversation that'll fall within the purview of this committee, but I'd be happy to work with you. I do think, and I think Senator Cantwell brought this up, we could be far more efficient with our dollars. If we could streamline the approach and get dollars into projects quicker, I think we would go a long way to shoring up the trust fund, not all the way, but a long way to making sure there's more available dollars, not for studies and consultants, but more for turn and dirt.

Senator Deb Fischer (38:22):

I would agree with you on that. When we look at the length of projects, what it takes from planning to be able to be shovel- ready takes years in some cases and every single year the cost increases for those projects. So if we can shorten that time period, I'd be thrilled to work with you on that. As we look at the FHWA, they have struggled to provide, I think, clear, consistent guidance across their division offices. For example, I've heard from State Department of Transportation that there's a lack of consistent guidance from the USDOT regarding the requirements needed for states to justify building back better after a disaster. If confirmed, how do you think you would be able to work across the Federal Highway Administration to ensure that division offices in regions all across this country that they're consistent, that they are clear in their guidance to our state departments?

Sean Duffy (39:30):

I think that's a great question. So I would work with the divisional heads in each state, get their feedback, hear their complaints, and take the best advice about how we can actually be clear and streamline the process. I think one of the many complaints is often the rules and regulations that come from the department and if we cannot diminish safety but also improve efficiency, I would like to work with you and the committee on that.

Senator Deb Fischer (40:04):

Okay. I recently introduced the She Drives Act, which is bipartisan legislation that would require NHTSA to update its testing devices for female and male crash test dummies, and this legislation was necessary because the agency has taken over 10 years to move the rulemaking forward. If confirmed, how will you ensure that NHTSA is going to see some progress on rulemaking and safety priorities that we as a Congress have directed them to implement in a timely manner?

Sean Duffy (40:39):

Senator, I didn't know this was an issue until you brought it up in your office. I think there's only male crash test dummies. Obviously men and women are different and there's not crash test dummies for females. So I would like to work with you. I will have conversation with NHTSA and loop you into that conversation and see what we can do to move that forward.

Senator Deb Fischer (41:03):

And move just the rulemaking forward.

Sean Duffy (41:06):

Right.

Senator Deb Fischer (41:06):

Yes. Thank you.

Senator Ted Cruz (41:10):

Thank you. Senator Schatz.

Senator Brian Schatz (41:12):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Duffy, for being here and for visiting with me. I want to sort of zoom out before we get into some details. The tradition of the position of Secretary of Transportation is kind of unique. You had President Bush nominate a Democrat, Norm Mineta, President Obama nominate a Republican, Ray LaHood and then a number of secretaries who had their clear partisan affiliations, Chao, Buttigieg, Fox, others, but once they got into the position, they just treated transportation like transportation. And so just in the big picture, I'd like for you to offer clarity to the whole committee and to your staff, your future staff, that you're going to continue in that long tradition of bipartisanship and really non-partisanship as it relates to transportation policy.

Sean Duffy (42:06):

I appreciate that question giving me a chance to talk about that. I don't think safety is a partisan issue. The projects that we talk about in your offices and we'll talk about today, those aren't partisan projects. Infrastructure is not partisan, and so I'm committed to working in a bipartisan fashion to make sure we are looking at the best projects and the safest record. I look forward to doing that. I think you mandated that I go to Hawaii to see you. We can do that together in Hawaii. It's the only state I haven't been to and I think you said I should-

Senator Ted Cruz (42:40):

It seems to me the entire committee needs to join on that trip.

Senator Brian Schatz (42:43):

I'll issue my demand letter shortly. Yes.

Sean Duffy (42:46):

I think you said in February or a March timeframe was what you wanted.

Senator Brian Schatz (42:53):

On IIJA, just to be very clear, it's a federal law, it was a bipartisan law and I just want your assurance that in terms of releasing funds, that this will all be done on the level and not be intermediated by any political concerns.

Sean Duffy (43:10):

Absolutely. You have my commitment.

Senator Brian Schatz (43:11):

Thank you.

Sean Duffy (43:12):

It will be on the level.

Senator Brian Schatz (43:12):

I want to talk to you about tribal transportation. We've made actually a lot of progress on tribal transportation. That's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is that we've basically abandoned this area of responsibility for the federal government for literally generations. There are 157,000 miles of road in the National Tribal Transportation facility inventory. 60% of these roads are unpaved. 60% of these American roads are unpaved through many of the states of people on both sides of the aisle.

(43:46)
What specific steps do you think the department can take to ensure that tribes have access to infrastructure investments, technical assistance, and decision-making process that are on par with state and local governments? Because the problem is that we establish this new policy to try to make inroads here, but if the requirements are as if you're interacting with a state Department of Transportation, some of these tribes are small. Some of these tribes don't have a shop to do transportation and then a compliance piece and all the rest of it. So they really do need TA and not to be treated as if they are sort of interlopers into this transportation space.

Sean Duffy (44:29):

Senator, Senator Boulder and I have a lot of tribes in the state of Wisconsin. I have five in my congressional district. More than 60% of our roads are paved in our communities' on tribal land. I was speaking to Senator Lujan on this issue and he voiced the same concern you do. So many of these roads aren't paved, and so I think you're right. Providing assistance, simplifying the process to make sure that our tribes can access money that's available to them to make sure they can build their tribal infrastructure and roads, it's an important part of the way I think about transportation and would welcome the chance to work with you on that.

Senator Brian Schatz (45:08):

We've done this over the last couple of years, both with the bills that were passed on a bipartisan basis, some of the Covid relief, IIJA in particular, but even the bills that were passed on a partisan basis, we sort of changed our policy to put tribes at the table, native people at the table, including native Hawaiians and Alaska Natives. But the problem is at the department, the program manager, the grant committee has never interacted with the tribes and so their criteria ends up being the barrier to entry. And so I think you've got to kind of get into that thicket and start to clear some of the underbrush to make it… It's one thing for us to pass the bill. It's another thing for it to manifest itself in terms of getting this… 60% of 150,000 miles of road are gravel. It's just unacceptable.

Sean Duffy (45:53):

In the organizational chart, we do have a position here and I've already thought about that, again, because it is a priority for me.

Senator Brian Schatz (46:00):

One final question, and this is something I've been working on a bipartisan basis for a long time. You are going to be the secretary of the Department of Transportation, not just the Department of Cars. And there's this kind of ridiculous fight sometimes in this committee, but certainly in Congress about pedestrians versus cyclists versus public transportation. Everybody is everything depending on what the situation is. You're in New York City, you're suddenly a public transportation user. Most people are also using sidewalks. Some people use bikes and cars and all the rest of it. And yet we fight as if these things are zero-sum and we just have a skyrocketing rate of pedestrian fatalities.

(46:42)
And we have gotten into a place where… She agrees. We've gotten to a place where just fighting for the safety of pedestrians is somehow interpreted as like, "I don't like cars." And I just would like for us to create a context in which we can all agree that pedestrian fatalities going up is a bad thing and we should all work on that problem. It has nothing to do with your view about EV or public transportation or smart growth or climate. I just don't want people to get knocked over when they're trying to walk to the supermarket.

Sean Duffy (47:17):

I agree with you. Pedestrians dying is a bad thing, and I would love to work with you on figuring out ways that we can make sure our roads are built safer, keeping our pedestrians, our bikers, maybe even the scooterers safe as well.

Senator Brian Schatz (47:32):

Thank you. Thanks for the extra time.

Senator Ted Cruz (47:35):

And I think we're all agreed now that death is bad. With that, Senator Moran.

Senator Jerry Moran (47:40):

Chairman, thank you. Thank you to you and Senator Cantwell for your leadership now and in the past and what will continue. And Mr. Duffy, thank you for joining us today and your willingness serve. Senator Cantwell mentioned Boeing. I want to highlight for you the importance of Boeing's recovery to all of the country. Boeing is important to us certainly in commercial travel, but a hugely important component of our national security and defense, our capability of being able to do things and do them well. I also would highlight that Spirit AeroSystems, Kansas' largest private employer, is a supplier to Boeing. And so Boeing's success is important to the jobs and incomes that many Kansans earn. Wichita, the air capital of the world, is a significant component of the supply chain for Boeing and others. And I would love to hear you with your suggestions or thoughts about what the next step is in getting Boeing back in business.

Sean Duffy (48:45):

I appreciate the question, Senator. I agree with you. It's a national security issue. Boeing is the largest exporter of American product, incredibly important. In one of my meetings, someone said though they need tough love, which is what they do need. I think we have to make sure they're implementing their safety plan. We have to push the FAA to make sure they're implementing their safety plan. But I would like to talk to the safety experts at the FAA to see where we're at and where we need to go to make sure we continue to advance safe airplanes being built at Boeing and exported around the world.

Senator Jerry Moran (49:25):

Well, let me highlight the importance of that to places that you may not think about other than Seattle and Washington state. It's true in Kansas and Texas and many places across the country where the supply chain is damaged because Boeing is incapable of purchasing. And I've said this every time I've talked about Boeing, none of us… It's the usual disclaimer. Safety comes first. And I would highlight what you said, there is no future for aviation and air travel in this country unless people are safe to fly and unless they know and feel they're safe to fly. So there's no shortcuts to be had, but it is not something that can linger forever without getting us back… We would not avoid the circumstances our country faces in the absence of that capability disappearing. So I encourage you to work with speed and accuracy and efficiency with safety at the forefront of your mind but knowing this is an important task that the Department of Transportation and particularly FAA has.

(50:25)
I want to highlight for you the federal Contract Tower Program. So this is a component of air traffic control. It's a public-private partnership in which communities that are rural and small can have access to air service and have access to the ability to guide those planes in and out of the airport safely and securely. And I just would encourage you to continue to prioritize this program. I wanted to make sure you knew of its existence and it gets awfully high marks from the DOT Inspector General.

Sean Duffy (50:58):

I know how important it is to this committee. And so yes, I understand the importance of federal Contract Towers.

Senator Jerry Moran (51:06):

You may take note, I don't know about all of our new members, but this is a highly rural committee with-

Sean Duffy (51:12):

Which I appreciate by the way. That's great.

Senator Jerry Moran (51:14):

In these and other topics. Long distance perhaps along the same path. Kansas is the home to the Southwest Chief, travels from Chicago to Los Angeles. My experience with the past administration and certainly from time to time with the board of directors of Amtrak is very little interest or care and concern for anything other than the Northeast Corridor. And I would highlight for you the importance of passenger rail service through many places across the country.

Sean Duffy (51:48):

You mentioned this in the office, how important the Chief is, and I think a few other members mentioned it as well. So that point has been made in. I understand it.

Senator Jerry Moran (51:58):

There's also-

Sean Duffy (51:59):

And I agree with you. We can't forget rural communities.

Senator Jerry Moran (52:02):

Public-private effort for an extension of the flyer, which would go from Newton, Kansas to Oklahoma City, which then connects with Dallas. So it's one of those circumstances in which the states are putting in dollars to partner to get additional rail service. Finally, short line rail service, again, another rural issue. The short line rail industry is hugely important to Kansas and to rural places across the country. It's how we get grain to market. In many instances, years ago there was lots of abandoned tracks and they were sold off for their steel. There have been short line rail companies who, rather than make the immediate profit of selling steel, have created railroads that actually provide service to rural communities across our state. And it is hugely important.

(52:55)
I am an author of a tax code provision 45G that helped upgrade the short line rail industry from the tracks to compete and to connect is a better word with the long distance carriers. And again, my purpose in raising this topic is to make sure that it's something that you're aware of. I, of course, look for your support as we continue to try to make sure that rail services are available in this case in a freight way across the nation.

Sean Duffy (53:26):

In my community, this was an issue. If you can't move your product from rural America and connect it, it creates huge problems for small businesses that employ the families that live in rural America. So I'd love to work with you on that.

Senator Jerry Moran (53:38):

Thank you, sir.

Senator Ted Cruz (53:41):

Thank you. Senator Baldwin.

Senator Tammy Baldwin (53:43):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When we had a chance to meet earlier, we talked a lot about Buy America Rules. I consider myself a huge champion of Buy America Rules, the straightforward idea that when you're using taxpayer dollars to build infrastructure, we should be employing American products and American workers and supporting American businesses. Four years ago when we had Pete Buttigieg sitting before this panel, I asked him about Buy America Rules and particularly his commitment to work to discontinue a waiver that had been in place for 40 years that allowed federal highway projects to sidestep Buy America Rules.

(54:30)
Well, earlier this week, the Department of Transportation finalized a rule to discontinue that long-term waiver, and it's been a long time coming and I am proud to say that it will ensure stronger Buy America standards for highway construction. So I ask you today… This rule will be rolled out in two phases over the next two years. Are you committed to seeing this final rule through as written and speak generally about your commitment to Buy America Rules?

Sean Duffy (55:02):

First, I appreciate you and your work for Buy America. It's an issue that I share with you, and I think you've been a leader in the Congress on this issue, and I commend you for that. It matters for Wisconsin, but also matters for the country as a whole. And so again, in broad sense, I agree with you and you made wonderful points about how many waivers are issued to get around the rules. And I made a commitment to you in your office that I would work on that and look at it. In regards specifically to this rule, I think it just came out. I haven't had a chance to review it, so to commit to a rule I haven't seen or read would be difficult for me. But the concepts that we have discussed, I am committed to. And so I would like to look at it and circle back with you if you would accept.

Senator Tammy Baldwin (55:53):

We will talk further about it without question.

Sean Duffy (55:55):

Okay.

Senator Tammy Baldwin (55:55):

And on this same vein, when we passed the bipartisan infrastructure law in November of 2021, it included my Build America, Buy America provision to strengthen Buy America preferences for iron and steel products, construction materials, and manufactured products on all federal aid awards used for public works' infrastructure construction. The law includes requirements to impose strong Buy America standards on programs that are deemed deficient, meaning that they are not covered at all or the existing coverage is outdated or undermined by loopholes as we've discussed. Do you commit to enforcing our Buy America laws, particularly for DOT programs that are deficient?

Sean Duffy (56:44):

Yes, I commit to following the law as passed by Congress and especially in regard to these issues.

Senator Tammy Baldwin (56:48):

Okay, thank you. Last Congress, the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act was signed into law. And this law included a provision from my Air Carrier Access Amendments Act to ensure that airplanes are designed to accommodate people with disabilities and airlines meet accessibility standards, including for individuals who use wheelchairs. How will the department under your leadership work to improve access to air travel for those with disabilities, including our nation's veterans with disabilities?

Sean Duffy (57:24):

And I appreciate you bringing that up. And I know Senator Duckworth and I talked about this as well. And I would just note that disabilities come in all forms, shapes, and sizes. My daughter, who you've all met, she has Down syndrome. We'll deal with our own set of challenges with her, but making sure that people who have disabilities have access to all modes of transportation, I think, is critically important. And I would work with you and Senator Duckworth and the Department of Transportation to see what additional steps we can and should be taking one to follow the law, but two, to make sure that everyone has access.

Senator Tammy Baldwin (58:03):

Thank you. In this next Congress, this committee will be working to reauthorize the surface transportation bill. In 2022, we tragically lost Sarah Debbink Langenkamp, who was riding her bicycle home on a road in Bethesda, Maryland. Sarah was raised in Wisconsin. She was a US diplomat and a mother of two boys who had been evacuated from Ukraine in the summer of 2022 only to be killed two weeks later. Last Congress working with Sarah's family, Senators Cardin and Van Hollen, I introduced legislation that would make it easier for states and local governments to use highway safety improvement program funding as a local match to build safe infrastructure for bike riders and pedestrians. Senator Schatz brought this issue up also. What will the department's plan be to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries under your leadership?

Sean Duffy (59:07):

My heart goes out to Sarah's family. And again, I'm well aware of when these tragedies hit, how they absolutely destroy families. And so I will take a look at the bill that you all authored and I would commit to working with you to figure out what steps we can take to make sure our roadways are safer for everybody.

Senator Ted Cruz (59:36):

Thank you. Senator Sullivan.

Senator Dan Sullivan (59:38):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Mr. Duffy, congratulations to you and your beautiful family. I also want to congratulate our chairman. His opening remarks… I didn't know my good friend and firebrand from Texas ever sang Kumbaya to anybody, anytime. I'm learning a lot here.

Senator Dan Sullivan (01:00:02):

There you go. Mr. Duffy, I believe you are very highly qualified to be the secretary. I certainly plan on supporting you. You are certainly as qualified as the current Secretary of Transportation who I supported four years ago, so I'm hoping all of my colleagues on this committee, everybody will support Mr. Duffy. I think your vision of a golden age for transportation is a great, great vision. I appreciate our meeting. As I mentioned, my state has a lot of unique challenges on infrastructure. We're resource-rich, infrastructure poor. Alaska is 120 times bigger than Connecticut, and we have less road miles in Connecticut. No offense to Wisconsin, we're over 10 times bigger than you guys and we have less than one-seventh the amount of roads that Wisconsin has. Much of the discussion on infrastructure and transportation in DC talks about rebuilding infrastructure or paving roads, but it doesn't often focus on the fact that in some places, we don't even have infrastructure. Alaska wasn't even a state when the Eisenhower administration launched the big federal highway building program. So I'm going to ask you the easiest question of the day. Will you commit to coming to Alaska in the summer? You can bring your family, you can do salmon fishing with me after we hit some infrastructure-

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):

And this is an easy one.

Senator Dan Sullivan (01:01:44):

Maybe you go after your trip to Hawaii. But will you come to my state and see these challenges? Because they're real challenges. You can hear about them, but unless you're on the ground, it's tough.

Sean Duffy (01:01:57):

I would love to come to Alaska, and I promise you I will not sing any Hobo Jim for you.

Senator Dan Sullivan (01:02:01):

Oh, you're right.

Sean Duffy (01:02:02):

I sang to him in the office.

Senator Dan Sullivan (01:02:04):

That was very good.

Sean Duffy (01:02:04):

It was very good.

Senator Dan Sullivan (01:02:06):

Thank you. Let me talk about another one that you and I talked about. I just want to get your commitment on. We have 251 communities in Alaska that are not connected by roads. Most people in America think, "Wait. Every community is connected by roads." Well, not in our state. So air service is essential. Essential air service is essential. Dozens of communities in Alaska are covered by the Essential Air Service program, and would have no other way or means to get food or get people out of their communities. Will you commit to supporting ample funding for the Essential Air Service-

Sean Duffy (01:02:47):

Yes.

Senator Dan Sullivan (01:02:48):

… program in the DOT budget?

Sean Duffy (01:02:49):

Senator, I was surprised. I think you indicated you have more than 60 Essential Air Service airports in Alaska, which it's a big number. I have several in my old congressional district. I know how important it is to my communities, which probably have closer access to airports than your community. So yes, I have been a supporter and will continue to support essential air service.

Senator Dan Sullivan (01:03:12):

Great. I'm really glad you highlighted aviation safety. Given our lack of roads and our isolated communities, we have more pilots per capita than any state in the country. But unfortunately, we have the highest rates of accidents, including fatalities on aviation. The NTSB in February 2020 put out a big report dealing with Alaska aviation and listed these numbers which are very troubling. Can you continue to work with me on the Alaska Safety Initiative? It was in the FAA bill this year. It's focused on better available weather data reporting, infrastructure for some of these small rural airports. This year's FAA bill authorizes up to 25 million annually for this safety initiative for Alaska, which is desperately needed, given our very high rates of crashes and fatalities.

Sean Duffy (01:04:21):

Yes, sir. I wasn't aware until you pointed out how many fatalities you have in Alaska. I would welcome the opportunity to work with you on that issue.

Senator Dan Sullivan (01:04:29):

Thank you. I'm a big fan of the air traffic controllers as well. They do incredible work in my state and so I'm glad you did a shout-out to them at the beginning. Let me ask one final question. It's a long, big topic, but it's so important. We talked about it. It's permitting reform. We need it. A lot of people say we need it, and then when we try to get anything done, we can't get anything done. A lot of the… My view… Lower 48 radical environmental groups use NEPA to block projects, not help projects. We're kind of the parade of horribles in Alaska. Secretary Chao helped break a NEPA log jam in the Cooper Landing Bypass on the Sterling Highway on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. It took almost 40 years to get that EIS. This is madness. It took 20 years to permit a gold mine in Alaska. Senator Cantwell had this issue of a new runway at Sea-Tac Airport. Took 15 years to get the permits just to build a new runway. So what are your ideas on NEPA reform, and will you commit to making that a top priority? I've talked to President Trump about it. I know it's a really big focus of his. We have a great opportunity, but we need it. Enough talk on this. We got to do something.

Sean Duffy (01:06:00):

We do. So again, the length of time it takes to do projects, way too long. The NEPA process is complicated and time-consuming. We don't have to trade in making sure we protect the environment to do projects. And so I would like to work with this committee, which obviously has a very large role in permitting reform, but I commit to do what I can at the department to speeding up the process.

Senator Dan Sullivan (01:06:25):

Great. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Cruz (01:06:27):

Thank you. Senator Klobuchar.

Senator Klobuchar (01:06:29):

Thank you very much, Chairman Cruz. Thank you to our nominee and the many Duffys behind him. So I hear we've already talked about the Stillwater Bridge. I have a painting of our bridge on my office wall, and we had to, along with others here, had to actually take a lot of grief from people in both our parties, I would say. And now the way I look at it, it's the most beautiful bridge in our state. And I always tell people it's not a bridge to nowhere, it's a bridge to Wisconsin. I appreciated your work on that, and I know you've already been committed to and said you were committed to continuing bipartisan work and supporting the work that needs to be done on the bipartisan infrastructure law. Do you want to add just briefly to that?

Sean Duffy (01:07:19):

If I could. I appreciate the partnership and friendship that we all built together with Senator Baldwin and yourself, and it was a bipartisan group. Again, we needed an act of Congress to build this bridge. When we walked on the old Stillwater Bridge, which is, I think Senator Baldwin mentioned, 80 years old, there's bolts falling off the bridge, and so I think that was a great project. When I fly into Minneapolis and drive up to Hayward where I was born and raised, I go across that bridge and I'm proud every single time for the bipartisan work that we did together. And I would like to continue that kind of work, should I be confirmed.

Senator Klobuchar (01:07:57):

Thank you. One example, different than bridges, aviation towers. Duluth, not too far from Wisconsin, is one of the oldest ones in the nation. I think the third-oldest. Representative Stauber, who I know you know, and I and Senator Smith have been working on this. And just, will you commit to support federal funding to upgrade our airports, air traffic control towers?

Sean Duffy (01:08:20):

I do commit to that, and I'd welcome the opportunity to see the tower in Duluth. And you have one… What is flying in Duluth? Is that the one that's flying?

Senator Klobuchar (01:08:31):

We have a tower in Duluth that's important for the airport, but also, we have Cirrus jets, as you know, with Superior, and then we also have a guard reserve unit up there. So it's pretty important. Distracted driving. It takes five seconds to drive across a football field at 55 miles per hour. We have a 19-year-old from our state who died tragically in an accident involving a distracted driver. Nine people in the US are killed every day in accidents that are reported to involve people looking at their phones, distracted. If confirmed, you commit to continue the work actually started under Ray LaHood when he was the transportation secretary to combat distracted driving?

Sean Duffy (01:09:20):

I do. I commit to that. And for someone who has young drivers himself… And again, it's not just young drivers who get distracted, but oftentimes it seems like they're the ones that are more prone. I would love to work with you and the committee to make sure we figure out a pathway forward to make sure these youngsters and every American is making sure they're paying attention to the roadway and not their phones or something else in their vehicle.

Senator Klobuchar (01:09:46):

Very good. We're proud of the Borealis line with Amtrak. Many more riders than were predicted, reaching 100,000 riders in the first five months involving Wisconsin and Minnesota. Will you commit to working to improve and maintain passenger rail?

Sean Duffy (01:10:05):

Yes.

Senator Klobuchar (01:10:06):

Okay. Very good. Recreation and trails. Did anyone else ask you about-

Sean Duffy (01:10:09):

Not yet.

Senator Klobuchar (01:10:10):

… snowmobiles or ATVs? And I know you've just been waiting for that, given our two states. So the Recreational Trails Program provides funding to states to develop and maintain outdoor recreational trails through taxes paid on gasoline, used to fuel snowmobiles, ATVs, and other recreational vehicles that do not use highways. This has been highly popular. We've been able to forge a coalition with bicycles, bike riders and with the ATV snowmobiles. It used to be kind of a divide on this recreational trails. And I've led that legislation. Do you agree that programs like this one are important for tourism and for just the quality of life of the citizens of our country?

Sean Duffy (01:10:55):

I know the benefit in northern Wisconsin to these trails, what it does to bring people in from Minnesota who love to ride on our wonderful trails. I'm sorry about that, senator. But no, I would commit to working with the committee, and I understand the importance of these trails for the quality of life.

Senator Klobuchar (01:11:12):

Okay. And last, blocked rail crossings not only inconvenience drivers but also delay emergency vehicles and threaten public safety. We've had a number of accidents, some tragic, and we recently got some grants throughout Minnesota to continue working on these blocked rail intersections. Are you committed to addressing blocked rail crossings?

Sean Duffy (01:11:39):

100%. This was an issue that came up when I was in Congress. Incredibly frustrating to deal with the railroads that are blocking these crossings. And again, in small communities it's really challenging if someone's having an emergency to get across the tracks and make sure they get necessary care if they have to drive 40 or 50 miles in around about way. So yes, I'd love to work with you on that.

Senator Klobuchar (01:12:05):

Okay, thank you. Thank you, chairman.

Chairman Cruz (01:12:08):

Thank you. Senator Blackburn.

Senator Blackburn (01:12:10):

Thank you. Mr. Chairman and Mr. Duffy, welcome.

Sean Duffy (01:12:12):

Hello, senator.

Senator Blackburn (01:12:13):

We are delighted to see you here. A few quick things that I have for you. Number one, Tennessee is an auto manufacturing state. And with research that's being done on the AV's what we are finding out is that the Chinese automakers are trying to partner up with Mexico and then bring their automobiles into our marketplace. And of course, that allows them to collect sensitive US data. It allows them to threaten our critical infrastructure. And as we are looking at this AV technology, we want to make certain that the US remains competitive and the leader here. So talk with me for 30 seconds about your thoughts on AV's, the innovation, the safety, and keeping China out of the marketplace.

Sean Duffy (01:13:08):

Yeah. So I think we need clear rules that are going to allow our innovators to stay in America and develop products that are going to advance the autonomous vehicles that they envision. And without clear rules or a patchwork of rules state by state, I think we put ourselves behind those countries that allow for innovators to expand and grow. And so I would commit to the committee and to the Congress that if I'm confirmed, I want to work on rules that make sure there's clarity for those innovators. Again, if we don't do this, this is going to be technology-

Senator Blackburn (01:13:48):

And safety on streets as we look at the AV's. Let me ask you about raising the pilot age. This is something that the chairman and I have worked on. Senator Graham has joined us in this effort. We have a pilot shortage. And by raising the pilot retirement age, we could put some experience back in the cockpit and solve this. Now, the US ambassador to ICAO has refused to participate in the process globally of looking at this. So will you work with me and the chairman as we work to raise the pilot retirement age?

Sean Duffy (01:14:27):

I would welcome the opportunity to work with you.

Senator Blackburn (01:14:30):

Thank you. Let's talk Memphis. Not only are we good for blues and jazz and a lot of good barbecue, but we are the logistics hub of America. It is home to all class one railroads. And FedEx, the world's largest express carrier is headquartered there. And of course, we've got the port there on the Mississippi River. We know a couple of things about keeping America moving now. Now, there's been a lot of talk and many articles written about how people are leaving some of these blue states and coming to places like Tennessee. And this means that we need to look at where those federal highway dollars are spent and placing them in areas with growing needs rather than areas that are losing population. It also means we need to cut that red tape, as you were talking about with Senator Sullivan. So how can you cut that red tape at DOT and work with us for areas where we have growing transportation needs?

Sean Duffy (01:15:49):

Listen, senator, I appreciate the question. Obviously, Tennessee is expanding. Florida is expanding. States that have infrastructure that was never set up to have this many people come in. And so I would look forward to working on where we can cut red tape. And this is a space that I have to actually get into the department, should it be confirmed. Because I think, depending on the program, depending on whether it's rail or roads, the answer is different. But I would like to partner with you and make sure that we bring efficiency to the Department of Transportation so we can have great build outs in places like Tennessee.

Senator Blackburn (01:16:30):

That would be very helpful, because many times getting that permission is what slows us down. If you spend two minutes with Senator Hagerty, or me, or Senator Tillis, or Senator Budd, who's down here, you're going to hear us talk about Hurricane Helene and I-40 and the way that road has just been demolished right there on the North Carolina-Tennessee border. We are continuing to try to work through this process to get that rebuilt, but we need to know that this is going to be front and center with you so that we can get that interstate rebuilt and reopened.

Sean Duffy (01:17:14):

Both you and Senator Budd have brought this up to me. I talked to Congresswoman Virginia Foxx as well. If I'm confirmed, the first trip I would like to make is with the both of you to see the devastation, destruction, and the needs to rebuild your states.

Senator Blackburn (01:17:30):

Thank you so much. I know from your time in the House, you are a strong consensus builder. The Department of Transportation needs that. We look forward to confirming you and we expect great things.

Sean Duffy (01:17:43):

Thank you, senator.

Senator Blackburn (01:17:46):

Thank you.

Chairman Cruz (01:17:47):

Thank you. And Senator Kim, welcome to the committee, and you're recognized.

Senator Kim (01:17:50):

Thank you, chairman. I'm glad to be part of the committee. I'm really excited about these Hawaii and Alaska trips that we'll be doing. I invite people to come to New Jersey. Maybe we can time it for the FIFA World Cup final. But Mr. Duffy, thank you so much for coming before us. It was really hard to hear what you said in your opening remarks that the President-elect is talking to you about the need for big, durable projects that connect our nation. One such project is the Gateway Tunnel Project. Incredibly important, not just for my state and my neighboring state, New York, but for our entire nation and our economy. Something that would be a major disaster for our nation economically if something were to happen. In response to the ranking member, Senator Cantwell's question, you said that you would support keeping funding going for projects that are already underway. I just want to see if we can get a commitment from you that that would also apply to the Gateway.

Sean Duffy (01:18:47):

Yeah. In our conversation, you brought up the Gateway, among other things. And again, I want to look at what funding has gone out, but I imagine those good projects that are underway, we would continue.

Senator Kim (01:19:06):

Okay. Well, I appreciate that. And look, I will continue to work with you to have the knowledge about this because it is so incredibly vital for our nation. It's something that I hope we can all have bipartisan agreement on those types of projects. A couple other things. We talked about this. We have had a lot of problems over this last year in New Jersey when it comes to public transit, delays on NJ Transit. I got stuck at Penn Station, uncertain when I'd be able to get back to my family. It's caused such delay. I guarantee you we cannot have another summer like that again. We've got to figure this out. So I guess what I just want from you is a commitment that we can work together with urgency here. Because it's not just about NJ Transit, the state side. Because of the primacy of the rails for Amtrak, this is something that we need,, to make sure we have a federal partner that is willing to work and I want to see if you're going to be that federal partner for us.

Sean Duffy (01:19:58):

Yes, senator. I would welcome the opportunity to continue to work with you and learn more about the issues that you have with New Jersey Transit.

Senator Kim (01:20:06):

Yeah. Look, and it's not just NJ Transit. You and I, we take the Amtrak to and fro DC. A lot there that we need to make sure we're dealing with the Northeast Corridor. Look, I'll be very honest here. I've watched and seen some of the debates that we have when it comes to Amtrak funding here in Congress. You've had to take some votes on this. We've seen how the majority's in the House, and we'll see how the republican majority and Senate moves on this, but I've been concerned by some of these efforts to try to slash Amtrak funding in the past. I'd like your thoughts on this and whether or not you understand the importance of keeping Amtrak funding going.

Sean Duffy (01:20:43):

Yeah. And some of you on the committee have brought up my votes where I didn't vote for Amtrak funding. I would just note I did represent northern Wisconsin. We don't have any Amtrak. My old constituents would bring that up in my town halls. But again, this committee has spoken loudly about Amtrak and rail in their home communities. And so I'm going to continue to work with the committee and abide by the law, enforce the law, and implement the law as passed by this body.

Senator Kim (01:21:15):

Because you're looking to represent everyone in this country when it comes to this work.

Sean Duffy (01:21:20):

It's more than just northern Wisconsin right now.

Senator Kim (01:21:22):

That's right.

Sean Duffy (01:21:22):

If I'm confirmed.

Senator Kim (01:21:24):

One other thing. This was a bit of an issue that's come up just over the last couple months, but I just figured I'd raise it with you. We've had some issues in New Jersey when it comes to drones, whether or not these are causing significant issues, issues over flight space, and frankly, just a lot of problems of, is it a drone? Is it an aircraft? Especially at nighttime. I think FAA can play a critical role in helping us delineate this. FAA is the entity that allowed for night flying drones. I think there's a lot more we can do to help distinguish this to make sure that we have a sense of what is a legitimate use as well as what might be a problem. And I think that there's a greater ability. Do you agree with that? Is that something we can do together?

Sean Duffy (01:22:08):

I 100% agree with you, senator. And my kids' faces lit up when they realized that you're the senator from New Jersey because they did see the drones coming over the House long before it was even a story. I was getting videos. And so some who said these were airplanes or something else, or a DJI drone… I appreciate your bringing that topic up. I think we need smart rules.

Senator Kim (01:22:36):

Yeah. I mean look, some of what I saw we were able to delineate as aircraft, but no doubt there is drone usage. Over 100,000,000 drones registered in this country. And I think when it comes to night flying, when it comes to flying over people's personal homes, certainly, when it comes to sensitive, critical infrastructure, military installations, others, I think there just needs to be a tightening up here. And I think that that's something we can do in a bipartisan way.

Sean Duffy (01:23:00):

And we need transparency.

Senator Kim (01:23:01):

That'd be great.

Sean Duffy (01:23:03):

What's happening? Who's flying? But again, I think there's a lot of work to do on the rulemaking front here and I would welcome partnering with you to do that.

Senator Kim (01:23:10):

Okay, great. Thank you. I yield back.

Speaker 2 (01:23:13):

Hello.

Sean Duffy (01:23:15):

Hello, Senator [inaudible 01:23:16].

Speaker 2 (01:23:15):

Senator Budd.

Senator Budd (01:23:16):

Thank you, chair. Mr. Duffy, great to see you. Enjoyed our time in the office a couple of weeks ago. Rachel, great to see you and your beautiful family here. Congratulations on your nomination.

Sean Duffy (01:23:26):

Thank you.

Senator Budd (01:23:27):

I have great memories, fond memories of our time together on financial services. Only Maxine could say, "Reclaiming my time." All right. So talking again about western North Carolina. The roads were devastated by Helene. Returning roads, bridges, and highways to working condition and restoring full access to mountain communities is going to take billions of dollars and months of hard work. Senator Blackburn mentioned it. The big problem right now seems to be delays. So what can we do? First of all, thank you for your commitment, just a moment ago, to work on that. But what are some things we can do to overcome the delays that we're seeing on this road building?

Sean Duffy (01:24:04):

So first off, senator, I appreciate you bringing that up. Again, I think when people from rural America feel like they're forgotten because they're from rural America, I think it's shameful. I want to make sure that they're not forgotten, at least should I be confirmed from the Department of Transportation, which is why I've committed in your office and to Senator Blackburn as well, to make sure that I go there first and foremost. I think it's going to take some work to streamline the process, but this is an emergency. Again, when we have communities that don't have connection because their roads have been washed away, I'll commit to you that I'll do everything in the power of the Department of Transportation to move the process forward as quickly as possible so these communities get access and roads that are functional again.

Senator Budd (01:24:56):

I appreciate you bringing that up. As I talk with all these 25 western counties that were most affected, their greatest fears are being forgotten. So thank you for bringing that up and letting them know that they're not forgotten. In North Carolina, we're at the forefront of developing and reintroducing commercial supersonic flight. Like so many others in other fields, China has invested heavily in supersonic flight, threatening not only American jobs but our national security as well. So given the importance of maintaining US leadership in this space, how will you help us or ensure that DOT and FAA will work to streamline regulations so that American companies can take the lead, and not China?

Sean Duffy (01:25:37):

Yeah. Senator, I would work with you… Obviously, you know the airspace and aviation space very well. But again, making sure we have those corridors where supersonic flights can fly and test, making sure we have rules in place that allow for the continued innovation in this space. Again, we can't let the weight of government hold down innovation at a time when China is leaping forward, nipping at our heels. We have to make sure that those innovators, again, in supersonic flight and many other spaces continue to have a home in America where they can experiment, again, with the backdrop of safety, but make sure that innovation and creativity is happening here.

Senator Budd (01:26:18):

Thank you. The FAA… And again, bringing up drones. It was directed by Congress to provide a draft rule for BVLOS, or beyond visual line of sight. And that was supposed to be September of last year. But again, they failed to meet this deadline. Without clear guidance from FAA, commercial drone companies are forced to operate on a patchwork of waivers and exemptions. It stifles innovation, it puts the US further behind China. Again, another issue there. So again, what can we do on that specific issue to streamline and to make sure that the FAA actually meets these deadlines?

Sean Duffy (01:26:54):

Senator, I think even worse than the point you bring up, they'll pack up and they'll go to a different country where they have clarity of rules, where they can test their products and continue to innovate as opposed to the patchwork that you reference. I want to look at where we're at in the rulemaking, but we can't have a patchwork approach. We have to have clear rules to beyond visual line of sight and make sure that this innovation continues to happen here. I want to offer clarity to this space. It has a potential of revolutionizing so many different things in the way our economy works. Let's make sure it happens here.

Senator Budd (01:27:33):

Thank you. So I'm hearing a lot about the pilot shortage, as we talked about a few moments ago. But starting with student pilots, who are going to help us solve this, a lot of them are telling me they're waiting months to either get a flight test, or those who are seeking additional ratings, they're waiting more than three months to schedule their practical test. So what can we do to shorten that, or will you commit to work with me to shorten that? I think we need a lot more oversight of the DPE, or the Designated Pilot Examiner program. Any thoughts on that?

Sean Duffy (01:28:08):

Yeah. Senator, I would welcome the opportunity to work with you and consult with you on what we can do to shorten that timeframe for these young pilots.

Senator Budd (01:28:17):

I appreciate that. Thank you, and good luck.

Speaker 2 (01:28:20):

Thank you. Senator Peters.

Senator Peters (01:28:22):

Thank you, Madam Chair. Carson Duffy, good to see you here.

Sean Duffy (01:28:25):

You too, senator.

Senator Peters (01:28:26):

Congratulations on your… Let's just say impending nomination. We still have to wait a few days for that. But congratulations on that. Certainly appreciated the opportunity to spend the time that we did in my office prior to this. Going to go in depth on a number of topics and concerns that I have. And it was good to hear that you share those concerns as well. At the top of that list, as a senator from Michigan, you know that making the future of the American auto industry in America is a matter of both economic as well as national security, especially when it comes to out-competing the Chinese government-backed automobile companies that we're competing with. It also means supporting union workers and American companies that are making the vehicles of the future, including both gas-powered cars as well as electric vehicles that are both made in my home state. We want to make sure consumers have a choice between vehicles as they're making those decisions. So really, the only question I have for you on this topic is, if confirmed, will you work with me to support policies that ensure the future of the auto industry in the United States? I'll be focused particularly on Michigan, but this is again, all about the country.

Sean Duffy (01:29:43):

I would expect that to be the first question. Senator, yes, I would love to work with you. Obviously, it is important to Detroit, to Michigan. But to your point, it's incredibly important to America as a whole. Obviously, China is innovating. They're trying to come into our market, trying to undercut us on prices and to make sure that

Sean Duffy (01:30:00):

We continue to build great vehicles here in America at the heart of Detroit and elsewhere. I will partner with you.

Senator Peters (01:30:06):

Wonderful. I also want to revisit a topic that we talked about in our meeting when you're in my office, and that's line five, oil pipeline and gas pipeline that's 70 years old and runs under the Great Lakes, particularly under the Straits of Mackinac, a particularly precarious place if there were to ever be a leak there. And given your previous role as Co- Chair of the House, Great Lakes Task Force, I know you certainly understand and are passionate about the Great Lakes as a source of drinking water for more than 40 million people. And it's an economic driver and a lifeline in the region. And certainly it should go without saying an oil spill in the Great Lakes would be absolutely devastating.

(01:30:48)
So given DOT's purview over the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, PHMSA, can I count on you to work with me to do everything in our power to make sure there never ever is an oil spill in the Great Lakes

Sean Duffy (01:31:00):

Largest body of freshwater, huge part of our economy through shipping. And I was not aware that this line wasn't buried. It actually comes through my old congressional district in northern Wisconsin as well. I would welcome the chance to work with you. We do not want to have a spill in the Great Lakes.

Senator Peters (01:31:16):

Great, thank you. And sticking with the topic of our Great Lakes, I want to talk about the importance of investing in our ports, which ensures that our manufacturers can stay competitive and the goods are delivered to consumers all across the Midwest as well as the entire Nation. DOT's Port Infrastructure development program supports much needed developments and improvements in safety, efficiency and reliability. The program has gone to our Great Lakes ports and has certainly provided a boost, but I will be frank, funding is very hard to come by with the Great Lakes ports receiving just as little as sometimes as 2% of the funds in the past years. There are a lot of ports in this country, but as you know, great deal of commerce goes through our ports, whether in Wisconsin and all of the Great Lakes states. That's unacceptable.

(01:32:05)
So if confirmed to lead DOT, will you support robust funding for our ports. And on top of that, will you work to ensure that funding is actually distributed fairly so that Great Lakes ports are not left at a competitive Disadvantage as we have been for far too many years?

Sean Duffy (01:32:22):

Senator, that's almost as easy of a question as am I going to go to Hawaii with Senator Schatz? Of course. And Senator Baldwin was shaking her head. I understand the importance economically to our ports in the Great Lakes and I will work with you and the committee to make sure we have adequate funding and fair funding for the Great Lake ports.

Senator Peters (01:32:42):

Right. And also, I know Senator Sullivan, we talked about Senator Schatz. Senator Sullivan brought up an issue that he mentioned the importance of Essential Air Service and I know he certainly boasted that he has the most in the country. Well, I'm going to boast we're number two. Michigan is number two in terms of the number of EAS airports. And as you well know, these airports are critical for economic development. If you don't have access to an airport to connect you to the broader world, it's pretty difficult to have development in rural places all across our country. And I know you're used to one that you're constituents use regularly in Iron Mountain, Michigan. A lot of folks from Wisconsin fly through there and absolutely critical.

(01:33:23)
So I'm going to ask you as you've already answered this question, but not everybody's asked the question yet. If confirmed, will you commit to not cutting Essential Air Service programs and supporting that critical service and lifeline to many of our communities?

Sean Duffy (01:33:37):

I do hope everyone asks me that question and I'm going to reiterate. Yes, in my old congressional district in Rhinelander, we have an Essential Air Service airport. Oakland, Wisconsin is one as well. So again, I'm well aware of individuals who live in areas that aren't close to these larger airports. And so I fully understand that and am going to work with this committee in the support of Essential Air Service.

Senator Peters (01:34:02):

Great. Well thank you Congressman Duffy. And again, it's wonderful to see your wonderful family here behind you supporting you and certainly wish you the best of luck. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Shelly Moore Capito (01:34:10):

Thank you. Thank you. Senator Curtis.

Speaker 3 (01:34:13):

Thank you, Madam Chair. Well, Representative Duffy, I had the honor of serving with you in the house and from that experience we didn't serve on the same committees, but I certainly know of your reputation and I'm pleased for your nomination here today. And if you handled your work in transportation like you did in the house, we're in good hands. But I must tell you as a father of six, I'm even more impressed by what's on display today. I don't think I could take my six kids anywhere and have them sit anywhere for over an hour as well as these kids have. And I'm willing to give the bulk of the credit to your wife. But no doubt you had-

Sean Duffy (01:34:53):

Very smart.

Speaker 3 (01:34:53):

… something to do with these kids. So very impressive. And I will tell you though, all of that said, I did note in your remarks, you read their names as you were introducing them. And I get it. If I were to introduce my six kids in a setting like this, I would read their names too. But when you and I travel Utah on your way to these other states, I'm going to grill you a little bit and see if you can give me their birthdays and if you can give me your birthdays, I have an even harder question and that is their teacher's names.

Sean Duffy (01:35:27):

Senator. I do know their names, but I was fearful that I could be so stressed out. I didn't want to forget that-

Speaker 3 (01:35:34):

Yeah, listen, I would've done the same thing.

Sean Duffy (01:35:35):

And I knew I was going to read them as well and I might have someone point that out. So I thank you for that.

Speaker 3 (01:35:39):

I would just say so impressive. I mean, you can judge a person by a lot of things, but I've always felt like you can judge them by their family and their kids and congratulations. Very, very impressive.

Sean Duffy (01:35:51):

Thank you, Senator.

Speaker 3 (01:35:52):

So I appreciate our meeting that we had and your vision for the Department of Transportation. Enjoyed sharing Utah's priorities with you. And if you have any takeaways from my few minutes with you today, it's the growth rate in Utah. By a lot of measures, we're the number one are certainly a way up there in the size of growth in our state. We're expecting half a million new people in the next few years. Like some states that's not a big deal. Utah with 3 million people, that's a big deal. So clearly the infrastructure is a very important part of what we're doing, managing that growth. There is both a state role and a federal role and I'm really proud of my state. I think we do things very well and realize the state responsibility, but I look forward to partnering with you on the federal responsibility to deal with that growth.

(01:36:44)
And as you know in the past, we talked in our office about some of the things Utah has observed with the Department of Transportation is that sometimes they're more responsive to the states that didn't plan well and have a crisis than the states that plan well and want help with long-term preparation. And it feels like sometimes the dollars go to those folks and not to the people who've done the long term preparation. And I just like to invite you and your administration to join me in Utah in rewarding good behavior by planning and helping those projects get funded as well as high a priority as those that seem to be a little bit more in crisis.

Sean Duffy (01:37:23):

Yes, Senator and I think in meeting as well, the passenger rail between Salt Lake City and Provo and one other city…

Speaker 3 (01:37:33):

Ogden.

Sean Duffy (01:37:33):

Ogden, how important that has been, what kind of passengers actually ride that rail and how effective that's been of reducing congestion and moving people efficiently and rapidly between the cities. I think those are the kind of projects that I would look at as the success stories that again, probably because your communities have planned are now being implemented incredibly effective in population centers that truly need and use the infrastructure.

Speaker 3 (01:38:04):

And thank you for bringing that up. That was on my list. As we mentioned in my office, that the vast majority of that runs on a single track, one track, meaning that when as two trains come together, one of them has to wait someplace. And you can see the inefficiencies in that. And Utah spent a lot of money, but we'll need some federal help getting that dual track going. And 80% of our population lives within those three cities, which is less than a hundred miles. We'd love to have your help working on that.

Sean Duffy (01:38:33):

I'd love to work with you on that. I think you said something about skiing at Ulta or something when it came out…

Speaker 3 (01:38:36):

Yes. That is a part of the package deal as we entice you to the… I feel like these other states have to get a commitment from you to go and Utah, everybody just wants to go.

Sean Duffy (01:38:45):

Right. Exactly. Hawaii though too is pretty good.

Speaker 3 (01:38:48):

In just a few minutes… Well, let me bring up the Olympics. We talked about that. Utah had the opportunity of hosting the Olympics previously, and this will be our second Olympics. I think we were a model for how Olympics can be hosted, but once again, a real federal role and a real state role and would like to invite you and ask as you go into this new role that we can brainstorm on how to make Utah a showcase to the world on transportation.

Sean Duffy (01:39:14):

I would welcome that opportunity, Senator. Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:39:16):

Yeah. And then just finally out of time, the one thing I mentioned, we did a project near my home as a state. We expanded our interstate there. Our federal interstate state spent $1.7 billion of their own money, didn't take a dollar from the federal government because it increases the cost of projects by roughly 30%. So would love to work with you on deregulation and spending those dollars. Well, and with that I regret that I'm out of time.

Sean Duffy (01:39:41):

Just maybe one other point on, that is some studies have indicated up to 40% of the cost is in the permitting in the studies that are done.

Speaker 3 (01:39:50):

Duplicative.

Sean Duffy (01:39:51):

Absolutely. So making sure we speed that up. I'd be a partner.

Speaker 3 (01:39:55):

Yeah.

Sean Duffy (01:39:55):

Thank you.

Shelly Moore Capito (01:39:55):

Senator Lujan.

Speaker 4 (01:39:57):

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Mr. Duffy, thanks for being with us today. And for your focus on safety throughout your testimony, if I heard you correctly, you told Senator [inaudible 01:40:09] that you want your legacy as Secretary of Transportation to be improving safety. I cannot think of a more noble and important priority in your work in making our country safer for our families and for our communities. I also want to say thank you for sharing your wife Rachel's story. I know first hand how hard it's to speak about these tragedies and these traumas. 30 years ago I was hit on by a drunk driver. Thank God you're here. Thank God I survived. It took me a long time to even learn how to tell my story. I don't like talking about it and even I can feel the swelling around my eyes right now. It still brings back these memories whenever you even think about it.

(01:41:10)
It's one of the reasons why I introduced the HALT and RIDE Act with my colleagues. I want to thank the chair because she has been a steadfast leader on getting this done. I introduced legislation that I believe will dramatically end dramatically reduce not just drunk driving deaths, but distracted deaths and crashes across America. As many as 10,000 people die a year, not fortunate like Rachel and I, we still be here and share our story so that others don't go through this. I was proud to speak at the announcement of the advanced notice proposed rulemaking in December of 2023. Upon passage of this bipartisan legislation, I want to thank Senator Rick Scott of Florida for the work that he has done in this space. However, I'm disappointed that we haven't made more progress since then. I'm very disappointed that under this administration the rule's not been finalized.

(01:42:15)
More work has been done, but more people's lives could be getting saved in the next couple of years. The problem is getting… as we have seen with drug-driving deaths, they've increased 33% since 2019. These are preventable deaths and it's in the department's hands right now. Not only does this law make sense to make us safer, but it also makes economic sense. According to NHTSA in 2019, the economic cost of alcohol involved in distracted driving crashes alone totaled $167 billion in a single year. The final deadline to finish this rulemaking will come during this administration, under your time as Secretary of Transportation. If you want your legacy to be improving safety and saving lives, this is a good place to start.

(01:43:14)
Mr. Duffy, yes or no, do you commit to providing me with an update on the status of the rulemaking, including a timeline to complete it within six months of your confirmation?

Sean Duffy (01:43:25):

So Senator, first, if I could say I appreciate you sharing your story with me in your office, which prompted me to share mine with Rachel, with you. And far to me, families are being destroyed, losing loved ones by drunk drivers. So I commit to looking at the status of where this rule is and I will get back to you. And I think one of the things I mentioned to you, my concern, I think you shared it as well, is that we can have technology that can save lives, but the technology that's smart can also be stupid. I want to make sure we also protect people's privacy in regard to uploads of information. And I think you were in agreement with me on that. But again, I think your point is you want to see the technology and the intent of the law executed. I will work with you on that.

Speaker 4 (01:44:16):

And Mr. Duffy, that was the reason for this legislation and for the rulemaking was to collect this information to have a thoughtful approach. Because years ago Congress did move forward in working with the automotive industry as well. And investing in other technology and things of that nature, and some of that is being considered today. At least nine auto manufacturers have filed patents on some form of technology, at least the following 14, tier one and two suppliers, the major suppliers of building autos in America have also filed. We've seen this technology deployed in Europe. There was stories recently of people's lives being saved as well. So I agree we should have smart technology, technology that's actually going to prevent these deaths and crashes and all the trauma associated with them. And so I appreciate that very much.

(01:45:07)
One follow up here as my time's expired is yes or no, do you commit to ensuring that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has the manpower, the people power and resources it needs to acquire technology, develop testing procedures, and finish the rulemaking on time?

Sean Duffy (01:45:28):

You guys will set the funding levels, but yes, I commit to looking at where we're at with this law and what has to be done to make sure it is brought to Completion. If I can just make one other note, you mentioned the eye movement technology, which I thought was fascinating, I hadn't heard before, which is very similar. It's the horizontal gaze nystagmus where you'll see when someone's been drinking their eyes will start to twitch. So I look forward to talking to you as well about the technology that exists on this front.

Speaker 4 (01:45:57):

And Madam Chair as I close here, look, if you have a health episode, you have a heart attack, you lose that gaze. Everyone's on their darn phones these days.

Sean Duffy (01:46:06):

Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:46:09):

I believe this will help. So thank you Madam Chair. I know I've gone over my time here. This is such an important issue and I hope to God that we can get this done for all the families that are out there. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Shelly Moore Capito (01:46:26):

Thank you. Senator Marino.

Speaker 5 (01:46:26):

Well first of all, congratulations being [inaudible 01:46:27] by President Trump.

Sean Duffy (01:46:26):

Thank you.

Speaker 5 (01:46:27):

Hopeful that we'll get obviously you in a bipartisan way across the finish line and all the other nominees so that President Trump can get to work on the agenda that he ran on, that the voters overwhelmingly supported to make this country great again. I also want to ask you a tough question. You've been asked to make a lot of commitments. So as somebody with extensive and deep knowledge of the Big 10, do you commit to cheer for Ohio State on Monday?

Sean Duffy (01:46:58):

We can discuss that a little further, Senator.

Speaker 5 (01:47:03):

Obviously, as you know, the automobile industry is near and dear to my heart. I spent my entire adult life in retail automotive. I think what's really important is for us to know how we got here. We did not invent the automobile, that was done by another country, but we invented what the automobile became and the automobile became a symbol of freedom. Just ask any 16-year-old who gets his driver's license for the first time, what that license really means. The vast majority of Americans don't take public transportation or airplanes to get from point A to point B. They get in an automobile to do that. And for the longest time as this country's developed our automotive sector, it's been a very simple formula. You had car companies that listened to their dealers, that listened to their customers to make the cars that consumers wanted, and that power of the marketplace dictating the pace of innovation has led to an automotive industry that thrived in this country.

(01:48:05)
The auto industry supported probably somewhere above 7% of our entire GDP. But it seems like in the last few years there's been this idea that car companies, instead of listening to their dealers and their customers to dictate where they should go, where innovation should lead, is that somehow Washington D.C inserted itself in between the relationship between manufacturers and consumers. There's no better example than the weighing of one particular powertrain versus another as to what should be incentivized or produced and made. And unfortunately, we've played into the hands of China. China could never compete with us with internal combustion engines. Instead, they decided to go all in on electric vehicles and they've now convinced a lot of people here in this city that electric vehicles is the only path forward.

(01:49:03)
And as a result, instead of investing in safety technologies and innovation that consumers want, they're losing tens of billions of dollars to make cars that people just do not want to buy. So I would love to work with you to find a way to make America's automakers thrive again in this country by allowing them and freeing them to make the cars the consumers truly want and are truly demanding.

Sean Duffy (01:49:34):

Senator, I appreciate the question and I couldn't agree with you more that we shouldn't be forced to buy cars that Washington wants. We should be able to buy the cars that we want. And I think there's room in this space for electric vehicles and gas-powered vehicles, and it might depend on your priorities, the places that you live, the temperatures of where you live. But I want to see a robust marketplace. And again, you have a lot of expertise in this space. I enjoyed our conversation, which you brought up a few points to me that I wasn't aware of. But I would welcome the chance to continue to work with you and pull off of your expertise should I be confirmed as the Secretary of Transportation?

Speaker 5 (01:50:16):

I can assure you that in my decades of experience in the retail, automotive business watching customer behavior in a showroom, I've never had one single solitary client ask me what kind of car their elected official wanted them to buy. That was never something that was asked of me. Instead, it was what car makes sense for them. So look forward to working with you on that, and I will spend the last few moments of my time here directed to your wonderful wife. Thank you for allowing him to come back into the public space. Doing this is going to be really, really hard. I don't know how you manage nine kids. I had only four. So I'm an amateur by your standards. But thank you and thank you to your kids. This is hard on them as well because it's all of you as a family that are serving this country and it takes a deep love of this nation to do what you're doing. So thank you so much for doing this.

Sean Duffy (01:51:10):

I'm very grateful, Senator. Thank you.

Shelly Moore Capito (01:51:12):

Senator Markey.

Speaker 6 (01:51:14):

Thank you and welcome and welcome to your beautiful family. And as you and I talked about in my office, I was hit by a car at age five out in the Middle Street and hurts a lot. And then you told me about your wife's story as well. So it's something that we both understand from personal experience and it actually is why I focus so much on auto safety as an issue. Very personal to me, and I know what happens to families when they're affected. So I've repeatedly urged transportation leaders to prioritize safety and I'm glad to hear that you will do so. At the moment, the National Highway Transportation Administration is conducting an investigation into a number of car manufacturers, including Tesla's full self-driving. The question I'd ask you is, regardless of outside political pressure, can you commit to allowing the traffic safety investigators to follow the evidence and operate objectively as part of their investigations?

Sean Duffy (01:52:30):

Senator, I appreciate it and enjoyed our meeting in your office. There's a history there that I was not all aware of and I'm grateful that you shared that with me. Yes, I commit to this committee and to you that I will let NHTSA do their investigation. And I think I also mentioned to you that a lot of the players in these spaces, I haven't met any of them. So yes to your question.

Speaker 6 (01:52:55):

It's going to be a lot of pressure. You hear a lot of talk here about pedestrians being hit or you mentioned the number of people who die on our highways. We just have to make sure that we don't see history repeating unnecessarily. [inaudible 01:53:08] just key to me and I think to your own family. I just want to say right up at the top, just to clarify, there is no fuel economy standards that mandates the use of electric vehicles. That is not a law. Just want to put that out there. That does not exist. We're going to keep hearing it. Just not true, not accurate. Manufacturers can use all available technologies to comply with the standards and save drivers money.

(01:53:38)
So I'm the Democratic author of the 2007 law to increase our fuel economy standards and ultimately, if they were by-to-by, it saves consumers $26 billion because they don't have to pay the guy at the gas station to put it into their pump because they got more miles per gallon. That's what it's all about, American innovation, American ingenuity in moving forward. So from my perspective, I have a question that is just going to go right to the heart of this, which is whether or not the law as it's written under the Energy Conservation and Policy Act, that NHTSA is required to set maximum feasible average fuel economy standards that cars and truck manufacturers can achieve.

(01:54:32)
If confirmed, will you follow the law in setting these standards and setting the maximum feasible fuel economy standards as supported by the technological evidence provided to your agency?

Sean Duffy (01:54:50):

Senator, I have all respect for the body that I also served in. I will follow the law.

Speaker 6 (01:54:55):

You will follow the law, which is great. Last Congress, this committee heard over and over again that having multiple crew members on the train in East Palestine increased safety and help prevent the disaster from being even worse. The Federal Railroad Administration's objective research on this issue has also concluded that technology is no replacement for having multiple crew members on each freight train. I was proud to work with incoming vice President JD Vance on this committee to include a provision in the Railway Safety Act to require at least two crew members. The Federal Railroad Administration has also now imposed this requirement. So if you are confirmed, do you support the requirement that freight trains have to crew members?

Sean Duffy (01:55:53):

Can I just take a moment? What happened in East Palestine, I think all of us on the committee were horrified by what happened to the community, what happened to their air and their water, and I share in that and want to make sure that we have the utmost safety in regard to rail. I believe, again, you worked with the Vice President. I'm sure that he'll have a position on the two-person crew, which will flow down to the Department of Transportation, which I will abide.

Speaker 6 (01:56:25):

Well again, the Federal Railway Administration has imposed that requirement already. Will you stand by that requirement?

Sean Duffy (01:56:35):

Yes.

Speaker 6 (01:56:36):

You will?

Sean Duffy (01:56:37):

Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:56:37):

Okay. Well, that's important for us to hear. Thank you-

Shelly Moore Capito (01:56:42):

Thank you.

Speaker 6 (01:56:42):

… Madam Chair.

Shelly Moore Capito (01:56:43):

Thank you. I want to thank Senator Sheehy's allowing me to go forward and question before him, and he's going to take the chair. And I have a wonderful view of your family and they're amazing. I will have to tell you, you are boring some of them to death. But in any event, that's probably a good thing. You and I shared the Financial Services Committee together and I came to Wisconsin with you and did a field hearing and enjoyed it. So I thank you for serving. The Surface Transportation Authorization expires on September 30th, 2026. As you know, these are complicated, very large bill. I chair the Environment and Public Works Committee where we are already beginning the bill development process by reviewing existing programs and policies. And we're going to be working, obviously with this committee with Chairman Cruz and also ranking member Cantwell to make sure we're coordinated here.

(01:57:35)
Can you please commit to supporting us because we're going to need comprehensive technical assistance to develop this correctly and describe how you would ensure that we get the necessary technical assistance as we're developing this bill.

Sean Duffy (01:57:48):

Yeah. First, if I could thank you again. When you came to Wisconsin, we're in Wausau, Wisconsin. You saw some of the finer offerings that we have in our state. So I do appreciate that and it's been a pleasure to meet with you and work with you in your capacity on the committee. But I will direct the department to provide all necessary technical assistance to the Congress and we'll fully work with this committee as we work through that process as well as with the administration.

Shelly Moore Capito (01:58:17):

So in the bill that we're working under now and the IIJA, there were two specific areas in… Well, there was a lot of creation of some discretionary programs. You and I talked about this. Some of them haven't even really been rolled out. The rules and regulations units were over three years past that bill signing. And it is my hope that you would commit to reviewing and updating as necessary. What this Biden administration, they've really dragged their heels on this thing, the benefit cost analysis, guidance that they have put forward and make sure that we are looking at the vital role that bridges and roads play in connecting rural areas like mine and states like yours.

Sean Duffy (01:58:57):

Yes, absolutely, Senator.

Shelly Moore Capito (01:58:58):

Thank you. One of the other things in the bill is a thing called One Federal Decision. It was supposed to help with ease of permitting. It was supposed to put one particular agency in charge of maybe the Corps, Fish and Wildlife and others would go up to the Federal Highway Administration. I can't get an accurate reading as to whether this is working or not. I can't get an accurate reading of whether these other agencies are abiding by this. It makes good common sense. We've all talked about project delivery and how things can go quicker. I don't know how familiar we're with the one federal decision process. Are you familiar with it? And will you please take a look at it to make sure the desires that we had initially are actually being met in the end?

Sean Duffy (01:59:43):

Should I be confirmed? I'll become more familiar with it. I think it makes a lot of sense and I think it goes to the point of bipartisanship in this committee, but also in the body as a whole of figuring out how we can streamline this process and again,

Sean Duffy (02:00:00):

… Be responsible, but also move projects. So I would work with you on that, and I'll report back on what I find.

Shelly Moore Capito (02:00:05):

The model for that has been used in some energy projects and hoping that what we've done in transportation can translate into other project development, permitting goes into this as well, but it just hasn't met the expectations. So we need to work on that. I know safety, you mentioned that would be what your legacy would be, and we've talked a lot about safety away from drunk driving and disasters and everything. One of the things that's been occurring in our state, and I actually talked to somebody about this yesterday, is workplace safety. When somebody's working on the highways, we've had some tragic accidents where people are just blowing into workers, killing them in some instances. Maryland had a terrible accident. I think we need to look at best practices here to see where we can make drivers more aware, when they enter a work zone, they're really entering a work zone where people are putting their lives in danger. So I would encourage you, I don't know if you have any thoughts on that, in terms of keeping our highway workers or construction workers safe while they're out there, sometimes, in the middle of the night.

Sean Duffy (02:01:11):

I think that's a really important point. I'll look at the data, and I'd love to partner with you to figure out what we can do to make sure that those who, again, are just doing the work of building great roads in America, aren't losing their lives because of inattentive or reckless drivers.

Shelly Moore Capito (02:01:29):

Yeah. And lastly, I would say that the rail safety, the East Palestine accident occurred seven miles from West Virginia, a lot of the emergency responders who responded to that were volunteer firefighters from my state. Obviously, everybody pitched in to help there, but I do think there are things that we can work, working with the industry, working with others, the union, and everybody to make sure that our rails are as safe as they possibly can be as they move the goods and the people throughout the country. So I want to work with you on that as well.

Sean Duffy (02:02:02):

I would welcome that. And also, just even knowing what hazardous materials are on trains, and communities knowing so they can prepare, should there be an accident, I think, would go a long way to making sure we don't have the scenario that we had in East Palestine.

Shelly Moore Capito (02:02:16):

Right. I think one of the aftermaths of that has been some additional training, so that they know the materials, they know what the best way to handle it is. So we have made strides there. We just need to continue that, and it's really good to see you again.

Sean Duffy (02:02:32):

You as well. Thank you, Senator.

Shelly Moore Capito (02:02:35):

I believe I'm going to Senator Blunt Rochester.

Lisa Blunt Rochester (02:02:39):

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the members of this committee for your warm welcome. And I want to also say thank you so much to Mr. Duffy for our meeting earlier this week. And I want to welcome your family, your beautiful family. But I will say, as a first-time grandparent myself, I am going to give all the credit to the grandparents. As we discussed in my office, the Department of Transportation plays a critical role in our global competitiveness. It impacts our economy, but we also focused on workforce, supply chains, which is vitally important to me, and infrastructure. And we've had some conversations here before about a port expansion.

(02:03:23)
And we know that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided 2.25 billion for the Port Infrastructure Development Program to improve our nation's ports. And in my state, we have Port Wilmington that we discussed. And right now, we are in the midst of an expansion project that will not only help our economy globally, but it will also create good paying jobs. And I just want to follow up on Mr. Peters' question, because I appreciated your commitment to making sure that there is funding. But just want to, because there is so much need, wanted to ask you specifically, will you commit to supporting additional funding for the Port Infrastructure Development Program in the next surface transportation reauthorization?

Sean Duffy (02:04:08):

First, Senator, I want to thank you making time, I think it was yesterday, that you made time to meet with me, which I do appreciate that. I know how busy you are. And this is a topic that you brought up and which I let you know I understand how important our ports are to American commerce, making sure the great products that we produce in this country have a pathway to countries around the world that go through the great ports like the one in your community. Also, we saw, during COVID, when this supply chain breaks down, we need to make sure that we can get products from around the world into this country that we don't produce. And so, I would welcome the opportunity to work with you, to make sure that we have the resources, to make sure that our ports can meet the needs of today's economy.

Lisa Blunt Rochester (02:04:56):

Thank you so much. And as a follow up, we also talked about our airports and that we should, as a country, continue to have robust airports, but really be world-class in our airports. And so, will you continue to support funding for airport terminal and infrastructure improvements in the next surface transportation reauthorization? I think I shared with you that our airport in Delaware, even though people might not assume, we do have airports in Delaware as well, small but mighty.

Sean Duffy (02:05:29):

You did say that. Yeah. So again, I think we should have beautiful airports in America. Sometimes, folks will travel overseas and see these beautiful airports. And again, our infrastructure, our airports have aged. Maybe they were built 40 or 50 years ago. The Congress has put money into this effort, and I will work with this committee and with you to make sure that money gets out in an appropriate way, so we can continue to build out our airports to meet today's needs.

Lisa Blunt Rochester (02:06:00):

And I want to shift to public transportation. As I shared, as we're a small state, but we are urban, suburban, rural, and coastal. And particularly, many communities in America are rural communities. And I wanted to talk a little bit about making sure that we have adequate access to public transportation. I know, in Delaware, when folks can't get to jobs, they can't get to appointments, healthcare appointments, unless they have a car or own one or have some other way. So as secretary, in your golden age of travel, can you talk about connecting rural and coastal communities to rail access?

Sean Duffy (02:06:41):

Yes. I appreciate that question, Senator. And from my vantage point, oftentimes, I do think rural communities can be forgotten. And again, we're smaller populations. One of the balances that I think I'll have to make with this committee is the amount of dollars it costs to connect rural communities, whether it's through rail. Maybe there's other better option. Maybe it's buses or other forms of transportation. But I would welcome the chance to work with you to figure out pathways in which we can make sure our communities get connected to the arteries of this country that connect everybody.

Lisa Blunt Rochester (02:07:20):

Yeah. I want to make sure also to follow up on Senator Kim's point. We talked a little bit about Amtrak, and you actually shared that you've had great trips on Amtrak. I want to make sure that Amtrak and…

Sean Duffy (02:07:33):

I don't know I said great.

Lisa Blunt Rochester (02:07:34):

Yes, you did. I want this on the record.

Sean Duffy (02:07:37):

I may have overstated that.

Lisa Blunt Rochester (02:07:38):

You see, I put this on the record, "great trips on Amtrak." Beautiful. But I want to make sure that we continue to support that rail, because it's so vital. And then, the last thing, a lot of people have talked about the pilot shortage, and this is something we didn't talk about in our conversation, but I'd love to follow up with you. Delaware State University, our HBCU, has the first probably program in the country that is an aviation program. And we are growing pilots, helicopter pilots as well as airplanes. So would love to follow up with you on the efforts that Delaware State University is making in partnership with the private sector, with the public sector, as well as a model for the rest of the nation.

Sean Duffy (02:08:19):

I would welcome that, and I think this is a great industry to get into, a great career path. And I think we have to do a better job of incentivizing young Americans to consider aviation as a career. So I would love to follow up and speak with you on that. Thank you, Senator.

Lisa Blunt Rochester (02:08:35):

Thank you. I yield back.

Tim Sheehy (02:08:41):

I got promoted quickly. Recognizing Senator Wicker. And now, I'm fired as chairman, because the real one's back.

Roger Wicker (02:08:47):

Well, thank you very much.

Sean Duffy (02:08:49):

Well done.

Roger Wicker (02:08:49):

And Representative Duffy, great to have you here. And you and I had a great conversation. Let me just reiterate a thing or two, and then, I want to invite you to Mississippi and to New York. Okay? But first of all, I understand you had several questions about Essential Air Service. You've spoken favorably about that. There are many parts of Wisconsin that are rural. I can tell you that, in Mississippi, all of our airports would have problems if it weren't for the Essential Air Service program. It gets cars off the road and helps the situation on our highways and for air travel. So I'm glad to know that you've said something positive about Essential Air Service. I want to ask you to come and visit us in Mississippi in June of this year, when the Amtrak rail, twice daily, between Mobile and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and New Orleans and back, opens, in June of this year.

(02:10:05)
I've worked with a number of Secretaries of Transportation about this. The service was ended after Hurricane Katrina back in 2005, and this was a sore spot for my predecessor, Senator Trent Lott, and for my colleague, Senator Cochran. And now, it's Senator Hyde- Smith and I who are working on this. We are just about there. I think maybe one other little FRA award is coming, and in June, that service will reopen. Let me just tell you, Amtrak isn't going to work all over rural America. But we've got the city of New Orleans, that goes from Chicago, it runs down through Memphis, then to Jackson, and about 180 miles further to New Orleans.

(02:11:06)
That segment of Amtrak is widely traveled, and I can just tell you that it's the same type of service, the same type of population centers as the major city of Mobile, onto the Gulf Coast, and then, a major American city of New Orleans. Amtrak works from Jackson to New Orleans. It will work from Mobile to New Orleans. It's basically all you have to do is preside over it and come see us. I do want to invite you. Your calendar is not full for June, is it Mr. Duffy? Will you look at coming to see us at this big reopening?

Sean Duffy (02:11:50):

I don't have my phone with me, but I think I don't have anything in June right now.

Roger Wicker (02:11:54):

Okay.

Sean Duffy (02:11:55):

But I want to commend you. You brought this up in our meeting we had together, and the amount of effort you have put in to make this a reality. So with an invitation, I would welcome the opportunity to come and see you in Mississippi, as this project, after long delay, is launched.

Roger Wicker (02:12:12):

Great. Good. Thank you for that, and you will be warmly received. Now, let me invite you to Kings Point, New York. So why is a Mississippi Senator inviting the next Secretary of Transportation to New York? And it's because I am a board member of the Merchant Marine Academy. And you will not be the first Secretary of Transportation that I have hosted there. But I can assure you, my friend, that, in addition to the three service academies, Air Force, Annapolis, and West Point, and the Coast Guard Academy, the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York is a fine opportunity for young Americans. And it not only provides great officers for our Merchant Marine, but having been to graduation there and having been there as a member of the board and having served there for several years, also, their graduates serve, many, many of them move right into the armed services, the three branches and the Coast Guard.

(02:13:36)
And so, it's a vital part of educating young Americans. It's a great opportunity for them. But as a board member, I can tell you, since it's not in DOD and it is going to be under your jurisdiction, we have not been able to get the infrastructure repairs done that perhaps would've been easier had Kings Point been under the Pentagon. Many of the buildings, and I've seen this, exhibit crumbling concrete, leaking pipes, mold, inadequate heating and inadequate air conditioning for the midshipmen.

(02:14:25)
And yet, still, we have young people from all 50 states and the territories applying to come to this great educational institution and get an education, a world-class education, that's unmatched anywhere. So I would invite you, as soon as you get your schedule, to make plans to come, it's just really about an hour and a half, hour and 15 minutes from New York City, to come to Kings Point, see what we have there, see what the real estate is and what a great tradition we have there, and principally, to see the quality of the great young Americans who have an opportunity to get an education there. Will you commit, during the year 2025, to coming to Kings Point and seeing the Merchant Marine Academy?

Sean Duffy (02:15:25):

100%. And I encourage young Wisconsinites to take the commission that we could offer as members of Congress to go to the Merchant Marines. We never filled the slots, but I think this is an important role of the Department of Transportation. If we go together, I think it's Nikki from Senator Cantwell's team, maybe she'll join us as well, and maybe we'll go to a football game is what she suggested. So I would welcome that.

Roger Wicker (02:15:52):

Yes, they're competitive in their division, and as you can imagine, they're probably just as athletic as you are.

Sean Duffy (02:15:59):

I don't know if that's good or bad.

Roger Wicker (02:16:03):

Thank you very much.

Sean Duffy (02:16:04):

I'm very grateful.

Roger Wicker (02:16:05):

Essential Air Service.

Sean Duffy (02:16:07):

Yes.

Roger Wicker (02:16:08):

Amtrak for Mississippi, Alabama, and New Orleans. And the Merchant Marine Academy. Thank you for your time.

Sean Duffy (02:16:16):

Thank you.

Roger Wicker (02:16:16):

And congratulations.

Sean Duffy (02:16:17):

Thank you.

Roger Wicker (02:16:18):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Ted Cruz (02:16:19):

Thank you, Senator Wicker. Senator Duckworth?

Tammy Duckworth (02:16:22):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Duffy, welcome and thank you for taking the time to meet with me and also for our phone call yesterday. I want to second what the chairwoman of the Tammy caucus in the Senate had to say about Buy America. It is critical to the US steel industry, and the US steel industry and our steel workers are critical to our nation's commerce and also our defense industrial complex. We need to be able to make our own steel, and we need to be able to sell that steel. And so, it's really important to enforce the Buy America provisions. If confirmed, you will be taking the helm at DOT at a critical time. And we've already talked about safety and air transportation. You've mentioned dignified treatment of traveling Americans. And I'm particularly interested in the over 70 million of us who have some form of a disability.

(02:17:15)
And I have to say that I hope that you will support the ASAP Act, which provides funding to make our nation's… It's called the All Stations Accessibility program. It provides funding. It was passed as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal to make all stations for mass transit stations accessible for all persons who face challenges, not just a mobility disability, like I have, but also, as you've mentioned, cognitive disabilities, vision, hearing. If you have to buy your ticket on a flat screen, that makes somebody with a vision impairment very difficult for them to do that. When you have some stations set up in a way that is very challenging for people with cognitive disabilities, it makes it very hard for people to access mass transit. So I hope that you will support the ASAP Act, Secretary of Transportation.

Sean Duffy (02:18:08):

Yes. First, can I just say, I appreciate your generosity and the meetings we had in your office and also the phone call we had yesterday. I'm grateful for that. And thank you. And I'm not that familiar with the act. I'd love to review it, but if it's a law passed by Congress, I will follow it. And I'm committed to you and the chair of the Tammy caucus to making sure we do have access with all kinds of disabilities to our transportation system. And I never got a straight answer on how Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin got the chairmanship, but we can talk about that later.

Tammy Duckworth (02:18:43):

She was unanimously nominated and voted upon when she left the room to go use the restroom. She came back and she was a chairwoman. So going back to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, it is crucial that DOT continues to implement the law, as Congress directed. And Illinois and every other state needs to receive all the funding that has been awarded to it on time and without undue delay. And this funding is going to both red states and blue states. If confirmed, will you ensure that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act continues to get implemented in a timely manner?

Sean Duffy (02:19:15):

I commit to implementing the law, and I mentioned this earlier, but a number of people have indicated that they thought that the money was going out slowly after being obligated. So I would work to make sure we're getting it out the door faster for these really important projects and try to identify what the holdups are.

Tammy Duckworth (02:19:35):

Thank you. As you know, and we've had this conversation already has been brought up, I remain very concerned about aviation safety. I am on the Aviation Safety Subcommittee [inaudible 02:19:46] to help, along with Senator Moran, a wonderful partner on passing the FAA reauthorization. If confirmed, will you faithfully execute the 1500 hour rule?

Sean Duffy (02:19:56):

Yes, I will follow the law.

Tammy Duckworth (02:19:57):

Thank you.

Sean Duffy (02:19:58):

Which is the 1500 hour rule.

Tammy Duckworth (02:20:00):

Thank you. If confirmed, will you ensure that the FAA Reauthorization Act is implemented in a timely manner, so that its safety enhancements will be promulgated without undue delay?

Sean Duffy (02:20:09):

Yes.

Tammy Duckworth (02:20:10):

This is also a critical time for oversight of Boeing. We've already talked about this. The FAA has conducted enhanced oversight since a door plug blew out of a 737 MAX 9 last year. This is long overdue and must continue. In October, our scathing Department of Transportation Inspector General Report found not only that FAA's oversight of Boeing production prior to the Alaska Airlines incident was ineffective, but that report also disclosed that, a few months before the door plug blew out, FAA oversight officials had initiated a request to delegate airworthiness inspections back to Boeing, so that they would be self-inspecting, without any criteria for doing so. This is a dereliction of FAA's oversight responsibility. If confirmed, will you ensure that the FAA conducts appropriate oversight of Boeing?

Sean Duffy (02:20:56):

100%.

Tammy Duckworth (02:20:58):

Thank you. I also want to make sure that we continue to address, as I've talked about, accessibility for Americans with disabilities. If confirmed, will you worked with me to continue improving transportation access for individuals with disabilities, all forms of disabilities?

Sean Duffy (02:21:14):

Yes. I look forward to working with you, Senator.

Tammy Duckworth (02:21:17):

Thank you. And I am out of time. I yield back, Chairman.

Sean Duffy (02:21:20):

Thank you.

Ted Cruz (02:21:23):

Thank you. Now, recognize Senator Sheehy.

Tim Sheehy (02:21:28):

Thank you, Chairman. Sean, welcome. Thanks for taking on this challenge. Rachel and your beautiful family, thanks for coming, especially Valentina. My wife has two brothers with Down syndrome, and they are the light of our family too. And they're my kids' favorite uncles. They like them better than me, by a lot. I want to talk about FAA aircraft manufacturing specifically. My background, I'm a water bomber pilot. The planes you see on TV right now in California, that's what I used to do. And our nation's aviation infrastructure is very challenged right now. And what Senator Duckworth just said is very true, but one of those issues is the federal government can't solve everything. And one of the dynamics that the federal government has created is we have one single company in this country that makes planes, big planes, airliners. A few decades ago, we had several.

(02:22:22)
We had McDonnell, we had Douglas, we had Lockheed, we had Convair, and Boeing, and they all competed with each other to create the best product, the safest product, the most trusted product. We have allowed and frankly encouraged this massive consolidation. And I think it would behoove the FAA to help create competition again in that marketplace, inside America, not just with Airbus or Embraer, that are other nations' companies. So I'd be curious what your thoughts would be of what the DOT and the FAA specifically could do to try to encourage increased domestic competition in large aircraft manufacturing.

Sean Duffy (02:22:57):

Senator, I appreciate the question, and it was a great conversation you and I had in your office about what can actually happen. And I asked you the question, "Is it possible? Can we get these innovators to actually start up and make additional planes in America?" And you said, "Absolutely." I would like to work with you. Obviously, you're an innovator yourself, a businessman, who's been very successful, who knows this space. I think it's important to talk with people like you on what needs to happen on rule changes on the permitting process, that will allow startups to expand and grow. Because I do believe, and I think you do as well, competition gives us better products and better pricing. And if we had more competition, I think that would be better for all Americans. So I would welcome the chance to work with you to figure out what has to be done that startups could actually build planes in America.

Tim Sheehy (02:23:54):

Great, thank you. Another piece, this is starting in Europe right now, but due to automation and the pilot shortage, which has been mentioned several times today, which is critical, we're seeing proposals to put single pilots in airline cockpits. And although that sounds great and it reduces cost, in the event of an emergency, it's a two-crew environment, you need multiple people on that flight deck to mitigate that emergency. I'm a survivor of a fatal plane crash myself. I luckily got out, my partner did not. And you need two people managing that emergency. So I'd ask that you, it probably won't be your specific decision, but you apply rigorous, rigorous scrutiny to any pressure that you're getting to put single pilots in the cockpits, where they have hundreds of people's lives in their hands. The technology is not ready. I don't think it'll ever be ready. And the 99.999% of the flights that go well, that's not why you have two pilots up there. It's for the very rare occasion when things don't go well.

Sean Duffy (02:24:51):

Yes, absolutely.

Tim Sheehy (02:24:53):

Okay. And then, obviously, we're seeing what's happening in Los Angeles right now. There is not an FAA code to govern aerial firefighting. Right now, one of the most critical airborne missions we have in this country is governed by crop dusting regulations and air charter regulations and airline regulations. But nowhere in there do we have specific FARs that dictate how aircraft will operate safely in the aerial firefighting environment. And as a result, it's one of the deadliest jobs in the world is to be a firefighting pilot. So I think it's high time the FAA recognizes we're in a new era of wildland fire aviation, and instead of allowing it to be shoehorned into inappropriate codes, we need to start drafting an FAA code that can actually focus on wildland firefighting. So I look forward to your willingness to look at that.

Sean Duffy (02:25:44):

And especially when we see what's happening in California right now, I wasn't aware that firefighters were using crop duster codes, until you brought it up. So I would welcome the chance. And obviously, we should have a certain set of rules for those who are flying for firefighters versus crop dusting.

Tim Sheehy (02:26:03):

Once again, thank you to your family for letting you do this. It's a big job. And obviously, Montana is a big state. I won't invite you there, because it's cold and you probably don't want to go there right now in January. But what I will say is we have a lot of highways and rail. It's critical to our economy. So like everyone else has mentioned, I look forward to your commitment to those programs. So thank you for taking on this duty.

Sean Duffy (02:26:22):

Thank you, Senator.

Ted Cruz (02:26:26):

I will note, folks from Northern Wisconsin might be among the few who don't think Montana's all that cold. Senator Rosen?

Jacky Rosen (02:26:35):

Thank you, Chairman Cruz and Ranking Member Cantwell, for having this hearing. And Congressman Duffy, thank you for being with us here today, for your service, prior service, your willingness to continue to serve. And we all do know our families serve and sacrifice with us. So thank you for doing that. I really appreciated too our productive meeting that we had ahead of this hearing. And we're going to talk a little bit about how you're going to support our infrastructure, as everybody else has talked about their state, so I'm going to follow in that and talk a little bit about Nevada. And so, in Nevada, our economic well-being, and everybody, think they know this, it heavily relies on travel and tourism.

(02:27:17)
In 2023, Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport saw over 57 million passengers, the most in its history. We generated $35 billion in economic output, and we support over a quarter of a million jobs, at our hotels and our convention halls and the airports itself. So as demand rises to historic levels, travel demand, for business, for personal, how can DOT play a greater role and how you actually play that greater role, excuse me, in facilitating our tourism across the country, want to ensure transportation is easier, we've talked about rail, we talked about air travel, easier, more efficient, it supports our good-paying jobs, and will you commit to working with me on being sure that the Department prioritizes key projects in states like Nevada, that really depend on tourism?

Sean Duffy (02:28:11):

And not like Nevada, but northern Wisconsin, we love our tourism as well. It's a huge part of our economy. So I understand that, and I appreciate our meeting. I thoroughly enjoyed it. We did it in the Capitol. You're able to break away for a few moments. I think Nevada seems to be a perfect example of investments in rail projects that can make commutes better. You've mentioned, is it what's the…

Jacky Rosen (02:28:44):

High-speed rail, Brightline, is coming.

Sean Duffy (02:28:45):

No, but what's the road? What's the freeway between you and LA?

Jacky Rosen (02:28:48):

Oh, I-15.

Sean Duffy (02:28:51):

I-15. I lost that. But I-15, you said, is bumper to bumper.

Jacky Rosen (02:28:52):

It is bumper to bumper.

Sean Duffy (02:28:54):

No matter the time or day, and making investments that will move people between those two cities can reduce congestion.

Jacky Rosen (02:29:03):

Yeah, no, I'm sorry, go ahead. I didn't mean to interrupt.

Sean Duffy (02:29:06):

I think it's projects like that that make a lot of sense, a lot of ridership. And again, taking cars off the road, I think it makes it better for everybody. And who doesn't want to go to Las Vegas?

Jacky Rosen (02:29:18):

Well, that's true. And I will tell you though, whether you're urban or rural, our airports are the gateways there. And then, we do have the trains. One of my questions that we have too is about the I-15 and the Brightline and the projects that we have, both for high-speed rail. But what most people don't know is that Nevada, we actually have a couple of ports along I-80 and I-15. They're inland ports. Why are they important? It's not just for travel and tourism, it's for the shipping lanes. You know the ports of San Francisco and Los Angeles, we want to bring those goods in. We drop them off in Nevada, I-15 and I-80, the two major arteries going into the country from the West Coast,

Jacky Rosen (02:30:00):

And that allows those trains and trucks to go back and it really relieves congestion in our supply chain. So it's really important. Will you commit to being sure that we expand, have the Brightline project, of course that brings travel and tourism, but we really have to expand our freeway capacity in order to also help with our supply chain, which helps economic input everywhere, right?

Sean Duffy (02:30:26):

You did confuse me when you said, in our meeting, that you have the biggest port or one of the biggest ports. I was like-

Jacky Rosen (02:30:31):

We do. No, it's not the biggest port, but we do have inland ports and it is really to drop those containers off to move in, right.

Sean Duffy (02:30:38):

The point is really well-made and I would welcome the chance to continue to work with you-

Jacky Rosen (02:30:42):

Thank you.

Sean Duffy (02:30:42):

On the needs of Nevada and the infrastructure around these containers and also again, the projects of rail and roads.

Jacky Rosen (02:30:51):

Thank you. We are going to, we moved a little bit ahead, I'm going to talk about emerging transportation technology. Nevada's been on the cutting edge again with transportation technology. We host the only statewide FAA authorized drone test site, is where various autonomous vehicles, smart transportation pilot projects and a Hyperloop One testbed is there. It's really important. We have this great line of sight in some of our desert spaces in Southern Nevada.

(02:31:22)
So Congressman Duffy, if confirmed, I know my time is about to end, how will you ensure the Department continues to encourage creativity and innovation in our transportation sector and help us to grow some of these things that we're doing so well in Nevada?

Sean Duffy (02:31:36):

I don't know that everyone would think traditionally of transportation as being that innovative, but it is innovative now. And to your point, all of these new technologies are developing and again, I think will be data driven, will be safety driven, but I think we need to have rules and, I mentioned this before, clear guardrails about how these innovators can expand and grow and create product here. I don't want to see those Americans with these fantastic ideas on how they can revolutionize, whether it's drones or eVTOLs or autonomous vehicles that they pack up and they go somewhere else. I want them in Nevada and in other states around this country. So the products and the manufacturing and the technology is ours. And I think the Department, if I'm confirmed, I'll lead in making sure that we have rules that allow for that investment and that creativity.

Jacky Rosen (02:32:30):

Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm going to yield back. Oh, your kids are probably hungry for lunch. So we'll yield back quickly.

Mr. Cruz (02:32:39):

Thank you. Senator Young.

Senator Young (02:32:41):

Thank you, Chairman. Congressman Duffy, great to be with you. I look forward to serving with you in this new capacity. We had a great meeting in my office and just want to ask you a few questions building on that conversation. Represent the state of Indiana and therefore on account of our vibrant agricultural sector, our manufacturing sector, logistics, economy, transportation and infrastructure, dare I say, it's an important part, not just of our economy, but also of our culture. In fact, we identify ourselves as a state, as the crossroads of America from time to time. So if confirmed, I'm certainly looking forward to working directly with you on a number of ongoing priorities.

(02:33:32)
I want to begin by flagging with you the largest, at least for so many of my constituents, project priority, and that is the I-69 Ohio River Crossing Project. This is a crucial final connection between Evansville, Indiana and Henderson, Kentucky. It's going to provide massive safety and economic benefits, not just to Indiana, but more broadly to the economy. Will you commit to work with me to secure federal funding for this project and others like it?

Sean Duffy (02:34:09):

Yeah, and I appreciate the time we spent together in the House and the meeting we had together in your office. Yes, I would welcome the opportunity to work with you on the project, learn more, possibly come to Indiana and see with you, per our conversation in your office.

Senator Young (02:34:25):

Fantastic. We will look forward right upon your confirmation to following up with your team about aligning schedules for that visit.

Sean Duffy (02:34:35):

Thank you.

Senator Young (02:34:36):

Turning to autonomous vehicles. I've long been a proponent of continuing to encourage our innovators to go out there and keep innovating, but also to ensure them that we're going to adopt a regulatory atmosphere that is friendly to autonomous vehicles. We see many other countries aiming to lead in this space, China, perhaps most notably is catching up and we'll soon be surpassed if we don't adopt pro-AV policies. I see here a real opportunity for improvement by the Trump administration over the outgoing administration. So what are your thoughts generally on AVs and what opportunities do you see, Congressman Duffy, at DOT for AV policy?

Sean Duffy (02:35:25):

I appreciate the question and I think you make an incredibly important point, which is this is not just a wonderful technology that has a potential of making our roads safer, but this is a national security issue. We can't fall behind China or other countries as it comes to AV technology.

(02:35:47)
Right now we have a patchwork of laws from state to state. I believe there has to be a federal law by which all of these innovators can abide by no matter if they're in Texas or in California or somewhere else. And again, I'll always make sure that safety is key. But after safety, we want to give a wide runway for these companies and innovators to create products that are going to bring us this new technology that, again, can revolutionize the way we get items, how we travel, whether you're taking an Uber or… It can be remarkable and exciting.

Senator Young (02:36:25):

Can I just say here, I'm really impressed and encouraged that you identified this as a national security priority because with this technology, as with so many other emerging technologies, they are dual use in nature. So if we can incentivize the innovators to keep innovating, the capital markets to keep deploying capital, workers to continue to be trained in this area, then there are spillover effects to the Pentagon, to our intelligence agencies and others. This is an argument that needs to continue to be made so that everyone understands that all of our departments here in Washington from DOT to DOC and SBA and beyond, they're all national security entities. We need to fund them and we need to be attentive to their programming just as much as we are to DOD.

(02:37:24)
Congressman Duffy, the last Surface reauthorization bill included a pilot version of my bipartisan DRIVE Safe Act. The pilot was quite simple. We want to do establish an apprenticeship program to allow for the legal operation of commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce by CDL holders under the age of 21. Let me just explain how this works. If you live in Gary, Indiana up near Chicago, you can drive all the way down to Lawrenceburg, Indiana right near Cincinnati, Ohio driving a big rig, age 19, drive a CDL. But you can't go from Gary, Indiana over to the Illinois line. You can't go from Lawrenceburg, Indiana into Ohio doing the same thing, even if those states authorize. So why is that? Why is that?

(02:38:23)
Well, let's just say charitably there are vested interest that really don't want us to solve the driver shortage problem. So we passed a pilot program out of Congress, took us years to get this damn thing done, and we sent it off to the Biden administration that signed it into law and they have reconstrued the language in what strikes the average person, I was actually trained in the law incidentally, but as a bizarre construction of the nation's law.

(02:39:00)
So I guess what I would ask you is would you commit to reviewing how the Biden administration screwed up the implementation and potentially try to fix this broadly bipartisan effort? And if it can't be fixed administratively, and I strongly believe it can, then might you work with me to improve the language next go around?

Sean Duffy (02:39:24):

Senator, I don't know if this was your bill when we served in the House together, but I was a co-sponsor of this in the House and I saw the same concerns.

Senator Young (02:39:31):

Yes, sir.

Sean Duffy (02:39:33):

Again, we want to make sure that these young people are safe when they drive and maybe there's some additional standards they have to have. And I haven't looked at the bill that you passed, but I commit to you that I will look at where the department is or how they've mangled the intent of the Congress to make sure that what Congress passed is fairly and rightfully implemented. And if there's a problem with it, I'll work with you and clearly tell you what that problem is.

Senator Young (02:39:56):

That's all I need. Congrats again, Congressman. And Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Trying to get his attention.

Mr. Cruz (02:40:04):

Thank you, Senator.

Senator Young (02:40:05):

Yes, sir.

Mr. Cruz (02:40:05):

Thank you very much, Senator Young. All right, we're going to do I think what's going to be a very abbreviated second round. I've got a couple of follow up questions, Senator Cantwell does, and then there are a couple of senators on both sides who are trying to make it so if they make it before we're done, they'll get around and if they don't, they won't.

Sean Duffy (02:40:21):

So let's go quick then so they don't make it back.

Mr. Cruz (02:40:24):

All right, two other things I wanted to raise with you. Last year, the FAA fined SpaceX for alleged violations of federal aviation regulations in 2023. One claimed moving launch control from one building to another violated SpaceX's communications plan. The other claimed that SpaceX conducted a launch with an unimproved rocket propellant site despite approval by the federal officials responsible for range safety. Under the law, the Secretary of Transportation is ultimately responsible for licensing commercial space launch and reentry activities to protect public safety. Fines like these in my judgment are not only corrosive but are counter to US law, which says that DOT should, quote, encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial space, not stymie, curtail and obstruct it.

(02:41:17)
If confirmed, will you commit to reviewing these penalties and more broadly to curtailing bureaucratic overreach and accelerating launch approvals at FAA's Commercial Space Office?

Sean Duffy (02:41:30):

I commit to doing a review and working with you and following up on the space launches and what's been happening at the FAA with regard to the launches.

Mr. Cruz (02:41:38):

Yeah. It is a huge job driver and a major part of America continuing to lead in space and it is exciting. I had the chance to be at Starship, launched out in Boca Chica just a couple of months ago. By the way, if you haven't done that, I encourage you. It is awesome in not the Valley Girl sense of the world, but the true inspiring awe to see a 22-story Statue of Liberty blasting into the skies. And five years ago that was an empty stretch of beach at the southern tip of Texas. So if you haven't been there, it is definitely worthwhile. And by the way, that might be a trip worth bringing the kids to because it is really cool seeing a launch.

Sean Duffy (02:42:23):

I haven't been, but I want to see it. Thank you.

Mr. Cruz (02:42:25):

All right, final question. The authorizing legislation for the pipeline safety programs at the Pipelines and Hazardous Material Safety Administration expired at the end of fiscal year 2023. While the relevant House committees marked up pipeline safety bills in the last Congress, this committee did not take action on them. I found this concerning because the Biden administration has used DOT to slow the production and the movement of American energy. This committee plans to pursue a senate pipeline safety bill that has the proper focus on cost-effective and data-driven regulations.

(02:43:07)
Two related questions. Number one, do you agree that pipelines are one of the safest modes of surface transportation?

Sean Duffy (02:43:13):

I do.

Mr. Cruz (02:43:14):

And do you agree that the Department of Transportation should be focused on safety and let data drive regulatory decisions?

Sean Duffy (02:43:21):

Yes.

Mr. Cruz (02:43:22):

Very good. Thank you. Senator Cantwell.

Ms. Cantwell (02:43:24):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A couple of follow-ups too. The rulemaking authority that you have as DOT is incredibly important and individuals that work within your organization, I brought up earlier about Mr. Bradbury's nomination to work with you as deputy. And I note that in producing some documents, even Senator Wicker had frustrations in getting documents out of the administration. So I hope that you guys will comply with requests from our committees on that.

(02:43:56)
And on the rulemaking, I hope that your prioritization in the Project 2025, he suggested maybe we should get rid of essential air service, I think they'd probably hear a lot from people on this committee about not doing that, but that you're not going to prioritize things that are going to undermine safety or consumer protections.

Sean Duffy (02:44:23):

So, I have never read Project 2025. So I'm not sure what's in it. But the President's going to decide policy and he made me the secretary. And so again, this is a good example, I didn't realize that essentially our service was in Project 2025. The President stepped away from it, it hasn't been part of his agenda. But as I've been clear in six questions I think I've been a supporter of essential air service and-

Ms. Cantwell (02:44:52):

Great. Just the notion of rulemaking not to undermine safety or consumer priorities.

Sean Duffy (02:44:57):

I'm committed to that.

Ms. Cantwell (02:44:59):

Great.

Sean Duffy (02:44:59):

And the point you made, you brought up transparency and I think your team did, and I met with them yesterday or two days ago, I'm committed to transparency in providing the documents that you all have requested in a timely manner.

Ms. Cantwell (02:45:11):

Thank you for that. One thing is the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill that was done five years ago, obviously did advanced funding for five years appropriations on those big grant programs because they want to get… Well, it really becomes an agreement between DOT and the applicant, both of theirs commitments to move forward. So are you going to honor those commitments?

Sean Duffy (02:45:36):

Yeah, I would anticipate honoring those commitments, especially if the law has been followed and the agreements are being met. I think I might get some backlash from this committee if you're halfway through a project and there's an effort to pull funding. So, no, projects are going well, funding's flowing and the deal is being met, I don't see an issue with that.

Ms. Cantwell (02:46:00):

Great. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Cruz (02:46:03):

Thank you. I have been told that Senator Schmitt is sprinting back from judiciary where he was just asking questions. So I've been instructed to stretch for a moment.

(02:46:14)
So I'm going to ask you an incredibly difficult question. Can you tell this committee the most amazing characteristics about your wife?

Sean Duffy (02:46:23):

Well, she has actually-

Mr. Cruz (02:46:25):

And feel free to elaborate because we're waiting on Senator Schmitt.

Sean Duffy (02:46:27):

I'm going to take my time. I better not get this wrong. No, listen, I'm grateful for a wife and I think everybody who has a family looks at their kids and their spouse. But someone who has nine kids, I would love to take credit for doing the hard work and the heavy lifting of raising kids, but I have to give that award and gold medal to my wife who has been the center in the heart of our family.

(02:46:56)
As you've had a chance maybe to get to know Valentina a little bit here today, and I'm just stretching, you guys, so we're going to wait for Senator Schmitt. Having a Downs child, when you get that diagnosis can be very scary because there's a point of unknown with the Downs child. And we were no different. It was a little bit scary, but she has truly been the joy of our life. She had open heart surgery and had a full recovery and she's very friendly. So when Senator Baldwin came into the ante room, she's very bipartisan too, so she went up and was hugging Senator Baldwin. And then Senator was very kind and hugged her back and had a break and then she's like, "That wasn't enough. We're going to hug again." And so they had a second hug.

(02:47:43)
So just to put a point on that, anyone who has that diagnosis, I would just tell you they're wonderful, beautiful children and they'll bring happiness and joy to your life. And I would encourage people to take a hard look at that when they make decisions.

(02:48:03)
And I appreciate Senator Schmitt allowing me to talk about Valentina and my family as you sprinted down here.

Mr. Cruz (02:48:10):

Well, and I will tell you, Senator Cantwell and I were observing the absolute joy Valentina has. And perhaps a lesson all of us can learn that at times we think things in life might be dour and her joy and marvel at everything around her is inspiring to see.

Sean Duffy (02:48:29):

I appreciate that. And it was probably less stressful for me not to be able to see that behind me.

Mr. Cruz (02:48:37):

And with that, I recognize Senator Schmitt.

Senator Schmitt (02:48:39):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's good to say that.

(02:48:43)
Yeah, I'm sorry I missed that. But you and I had a chance to talk a little bit about her in my office and we share that very special bond of being dads of kids with special needs. My Stephen's 20 now. But it's the reason I do this and the perspective, as you know, that you gained from it is life-changing and I'm very grateful. So thanks for sharing that. Even though I didn't get to hear that public portion, we talked about it in my office.

(02:49:11)
I want to just start by extend my congratulations to you and your family. You're going to do a great job. I thought our conversation in my office was great, we talked about a bunch of different things and I think the American people deserve new leadership in this position and be focused on the right thing.

(02:49:30)
So I just want to rifle through a couple of questions. One of the things I think in refocusing the attention of the office, and one of the real challenges I think we've dealt with the last four years is this obsession that the Biden administration has had with DEI. And Pete Buttigieg, for example, implemented this and was focused on this and a month before the first national ground stop our national airspace since 9/11, he was busy renaming the air notice system to be more inclusive. I just think it's such a priority problem that we've had the last four years that I really welcome your leadership.

(02:50:10)
And so how do you intend to tackle that, to sort of refocus the Department on building big beautiful roads as President Trump says, right?

Sean Duffy (02:50:20):

Yeah. I appreciate the question. And this is, when we talk about safety, we're talking about getting on airplanes and flying through the airspace. So air traffic controllers and pilots and the mechanics and the machinists that build the planes. We want the hiring decisions to be based on merit. We want excellence. We want the best people in these jobs. Now, we can have a conversation and should have a conversation about what communities are we drawing from? Are we accessing the right communities saying, hey, there's great opportunities at Boeing or one of the airlines or at air traffic control? Accessing a lot of communities with the information about opportunities in these fields is something that I would commit to doing, but we can only hire the best and the brightest because everyone's safety is at stake.

Senator Schmitt (02:51:12):

It's on the line. You and I talked last time we met under the FAA. There's the Office of Commercial Space Transportation, or AST, and it's responsible for licensing and regulating all the commercial rocket launch and reentry activities in the United States. It's a little-known agency. The only reason, quite frankly that I'm aware of, I was the ranking member of the Space and Science Subcommittee the last two years and learned more than I ever thought I would ever learn coming into the Senate about how important and how critical this competition is we have with China in space. I mean, they're there in a real way. Everything of course is dual-use for them.

(02:51:52)
But I just want to make sure that we're on the same page to work together on these issues. They're only going to become more prominent, even though these agencies aren't heard of, in this sort of 21st century competition we have with the CCP.

Sean Duffy (02:52:04):

I would welcome the opportunity to work with you. And you're right, we are in the heart and center of some of the biggest innovation spaces, and we're in direct competition with China.

Senator Schmitt (02:52:16):

And I may have the opportunity of a lifetime for you for the first big beautiful airport in St. Louis. Lambert is going through this redesign. And I say that's sort of tongue in cheek, but not really. You've heard a lot of those questions here today about rural airports and the redesigns and sort of updating, because a lot of them are outdated. And these are kind of the core of the infrastructure projects you're talking about, right?

Sean Duffy (02:52:43):

Yes.

Senator Schmitt (02:52:43):

This is sort of like core mission stuff?

Sean Duffy (02:52:45):

Yes. The big projects that connect us. Where we may not have had the right investments that we've let crumble in age. I know 35W in Minnesota, Senator Klobuchar would talk about. The President has given me the directive to say, let's build these big projects that connect the country, that move our products from coast to coast. And again, that doesn't mean we forget about rural America. Rural America has to connect into this big infrastructure. But if that infrastructure that connects us doesn't exist or is crumbling, you can't serve those rural communities as well. I think in regard to airports also, making sure we upgrade and have airports of the 21st century is important.

Senator Schmitt (02:53:34):

And one last comment in my 10 seconds remaining here, it doesn't get talked about a lot, but EVs are heavier, a lot heavier than traditional. There's going to be ramifications whether there's not much of a market for it right now, even with a mandate and the mandate, I don't know what's going to happen with it, you don't have to comment on that. But the reality is they're here to some degree, and our roads and our bridges, and a lot of the infrastructure just wasn't built for that kind of weight. So I know it's something just sort of keep an eye on in your time.

Sean Duffy (02:54:03):

Yes.

Senator Schmitt (02:54:04):

But congratulations to you and your family. You're going to be great at this position. I have full confidence. Yep.

Sean Duffy (02:54:08):

Thank you, Senator. I look forward to working with you.

Mr. Cruz (02:54:11):

Thank you very much, and terrific job today. A final question is required of all nominees. If confirmed, do you pledge to work collaboratively with this committee to provide thorough and timely responses to the committee's request and to appear before the committee when requested?

Sean Duffy (02:54:26):

Yes.

Mr. Cruz (02:54:28):

Thank you. I have here 44 letters of support from various organizations for Congressman Duffy's nomination to be Secretary of Transportation that I ask an unanimous consent to be inserted in the hearing record. Without objection, so ordered.

(02:54:43)
Senators will have until the close of business Thursday, January 16th to submit questions for the record. The nominee will have until the end of the day on Sunday, January 19th to respond to those questions. That concludes today's hearing. This committee stands adjourned.

Sean Duffy (02:54:58):

Thank you, Senator.