Out of the Gate, Cantwell Presses Duffy for His Commitments to Bipartisan Transportation Infrastructure Investments, Aviation Safety, & Traveling Public

Ranking Member will hold Duffy accountable, if confirmed as Secretary, to commitments made today

During her first round of questioning at today's hearing to consider Trump nominee Sean Duffy to be Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Ranking Member Maria Cantwell pressed the nominee for his commitment to honoring the transportation infrastructure investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, continuing to strengthen aviation safety oversight, and putting the traveling public's safety ahead of special interests. In response, Mr. Duffy made a series of important commitments to Ranking Member Cantwell. The senator plans to hold the nominee accountable to the commitments he made during today's hearing.

"I want to talk about the Bipartisan Infrastructure law and those projects that are so important to us in growing our economy. And I think anybody here on the committee who represents a coastal state, or doesn't matter, or represent a midwestern state, it is all about getting product to where it's being exported. This infrastructure investment is critically important and we will look forward to asking you questions about that," Sen. Cantwell said in her opening statement. "I also want to make sure that we're continuing to make the investments that the Congress has already appropriated and assigned because obviously building resilient systems that can't be disrupted helps us drive an even bigger economy in the United States of America."

Senator Cantwell's First Exchange:

Watch the Video Here

DUFFY: Yes.

CANTWELL: Thank you. Are you a supporter of the MEGA and [INFRA] and at-grade crossing programs that we established under the recent surface transportation bill?

DUFFY: Yes, and I think this fits in with the kind of vision 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.

CANTWELL: Yes, and we worked with Senator Wicker so that states that may not have the 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 can still have a MEGA project because it has mega economic consequences and dwarfs the budget.

What about culverts? Supporting continued support for culverts?

DUFFY: Are we talking about the ones so we can have the salmon run and spawn?

CANTWELL: Yeah.

DUFFY: I love salmon, and I love salmon spawning, so, and we've talked a lot about that. So 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, I would answer yes.

CANTWELL: Okay, so aviation safety, will you meet with the families of the MAX crash victims?

DUFFY: Absolutely.

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

DUFFY: I 100% do.

CANTWELL: [O]ur committee has been able to understand and confirm…through our efforts and starting with Senator Wickers efforts prior to ACSAA…and [echoed in] a recent article in the Seattle Times-90% of complaints submitted by airline and manufacturing employees through the FAA 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?

DUFFY: …One more time?

CANTWELL: … 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…that's what we're still pushing-to make sure that's exactly [what] the FAA is saying that…Boeing should do. But we have to continue to push this.

DUFFY: 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.

CANTWELL: Great, and the issue about, you know, projects that, you know, I mentioned the I-5 bridge when we spoke, you know, the infrastructure investment that's already been planned, that the money has been out the door and has been, you know, it's on its way to doing the work.

Will you commit to helping complete these projects and continue the funding?

DUFFY: That are underway? Yes. And again, one of the complaints I've heard from the committee is oftentimes the money is 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 the money gets out the door to the projects that are underway.

CANTWELL: 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 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 costs, on average, over $1,000 a month. Meanwhile, a Sound Transit pass costs $100 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?

DUFFY: I am.

CANTWELL: 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.

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 facilities and those events?

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

Read Senator Cantwell's Opening Remarks as Delivered: Watch the Video Here

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 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 critically important for the State of Washington…the fact that the gavel is passing to you and passing to Texas, congratulations.

I do too want to welcome our new members, Senators Fetterman, Kim, Blunt Rochester, Moreno, Curtis and Sheehy, to the Commerce 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 - Ocean Shipping Reform Act, the Infrastructure bill, the CHIPS and Science Act and an FAA Reauthorization Reform. I'll put something in the record expanding on those accomplishments.

But I don't care whether we are in this chair or that chair [Chair and Ranking Member seats], this is about [accomplishing] … for the American people. And while I think those bills led economic opportunity and manufacturing resurgence in the United States, the infrastructure investment we're going to talk to about today, was critical to that, I believe there's more to do in driving down costs as it relates to supply chains and making sure the transportation infrastructure is getting those people to work who need to get to work on public transportation systems. I look forward to talking to the nominee about that.

I hope that as we continue to work together...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 6:30pm Monday night, [is critical.] I looked with interest this morning on the New York Times coverage of all of that. It's about processing people so that everybody feels confident that we have done our review. So, I hope that we will keep that.

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

To this nominee, again, congratulations to you and your family. There's one thing the Northwest also appreciates besides the Commerce Committee, we definitely like lumberjacks. You will go down as a storied DOT Secretary in the eyes of Washingtonians, particularly if you run up a couple of poles or rolling while you're out there in Washington. So, we definitely appreciate that.

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 ACSAA, we need to make sure that we hold the FAA accountable and build a strong oversight culture…I appreciate you saying that you would meet with the families of the MAX crashes and I know that Michael Stumo is here in the audience today.

I also want to talk about the Bipartisan Infrastructure law and those projects that are so important to us in growing our economy. And I think anybody here on the committee who represents a coastal state, or doesn't matter, or represent a big Western state, it is all about getting product to where it's being exported. So this infrastructure investment is critically important and we will look forward to asking you questions about that.

I also want to make sure that we're continuing to make the investments that the congress has 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 and some of those that you and I had a chance to discuss in my office. I look forward to asking some questions about that.

I also want to mention that as people continue to discuss other appointees to the Department of Transportation, Mr. Bradbury has been nominated [and is] one of the chief architects of Project 2025 and we will want to know from you what you believe we should continue to move forward on in investments in transportation. …[E]ven looking at some of those issues as it relates to how we bolster U.S. competition in the international air space, which I very much appreciate, actually.

But we have to make the investments and we have to keep moving forward. I want to hear your views on a surface transportation act - that is something that needs to be authorized by 2026. Making sure that we continue to make these investments will be critical to American's opportunities. [A]gain congratulations to you and welcome to your family.

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