FY 2027 Department of Transportation Budget Hearing

thank you for being here today we got tied up at the white house and i'm sorry for the delay i truly apologize for that but i'm delighted to welcome you back and uh our secretary to test for testify before the subcommittee for our budget of twenty twenty seven from the president's office request for the department and uh Thank you for your team and your continued partnership, and I certainly look forward to working together to ensure we meet the nation's infrastructure and transportation needs at such a pivotal point. And I'm also pleased to be joined by our Ranking Member, Senator Gillibrand, who has been a great partner in writing and passing FY twenty twenty six, the HUD Appropriation Bill into law. I hope to build on that success through continued bipartisan collaboration as we this next fiscal year, twenty twenty seven bill. Every physical year is different and comes with its own set of challenges. Notably, the IIJA advance appropriations will sunset at the end of this physical year, which we may leaves which may leaves sufficient significant gaps in funding for crucial infrastructure and needs across the transportation modes. I've heard from many of my constituents across my home state of Mississippi about the need for continued investment in our surface aviation maritime and safety projects. I look forward to this subcommittee playing a vital role ensuring we continue to make many of these targeted investments through our annual appropriations bill. While I'm encouraged by several items in the budget that I will get to in a moment, there are several areas that cause concern. As I shared with you last year, I remain disappointed in the department's pose cuts to the essential air service program. The EAS program is critical to connecting our nation's rural communities, like those in Greenville, Tupelo, Meridian, and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to the broader transportation network. Mister Secretary, as a former member of Congress with multiple EAS airports in your district at that time, I know you understand the importance of this program in supporting rural communities with dependable commercial air service. Significant funding cuts would jeopardize economic development and threaten jobs in local communities across the country as this program supports more than a hundred and seventy small and rural communities across thirty-five states. I'm also concerned about the administration's proposed elimination of funding for the Build Competitive Grant program. The Build program is necessary to support multimodal and multi-jurisdictional projects across the country that are more difficult through other grant programs. Build grants are especially impactful in rural America, where most of our roads miles exist, and as a result, so do many of our nation's safety and mobility challenges. For example, just last year this administration awarded twenty-one point three million through the build program for a project I supported and advocated for, the US forty-nine and Mississippi thirteen interchange project in Simpson County, Mississippi. Investing in rural America through programs like Build fosters economic growth, connects rural residents to essential services like schools and hospitals, and improves the quality of life for communities that lack may lack the resources necessary for infrastructure improvements. Notably, I was also disappointed in the absence of your surface transportation reauthorization proposal in your FY twenty twenty-seven budget. As the department is ultimately the one who carries out the programs created and funded by Congress your expertise is necessary to help inform this body's decision-making as we write our annual FY twenty twenty-seven bill. I hope you and your team will work with us during this process. Now for the good news. Let's first talk about aviation. Mister Secretary, last year you testified before this subcommittee about the need for significant federal investment to modernize our air traffic control system. And I am proud to say this committee delivered and provided four billion dollars in FY twenty twenty six for the FAA facilities and equipment programs, which includes funding ATC modernization efforts and bills on the down payment of Congress provided through the twenty twenty five reconciliation bill. While this was certainly a monumental step in the right direction, You and I know that there's more work to be done. I will look forward to sharing with this committee updates on the department's implementation of this critical modernization funding and how additional resources will help deliver the world's safest and most advanced aviation system. I was encouraged to see the department's four billion dollar requests for the FAA facilities and equipment program, which includes one point five billion to continue ATC modernization efforts. This funding would provide our air traffic controllers with modern display systems at more than four hundred airports across the country, supporting transitioning legacy automation systems to a modern common automation platform and alleviate airspace constraints, to reduce delays among other things. I look forward to partnering with you, Mister Secretary, to ensure we continue to build the safest and most efficient ATC system in the world and improve the customer experience for all flying passengers. I also want to commend you, Mister Secretary, for your leadership in addressing the shortage of air traffic controllers. And I support the FY twenty twenty-seven budget proposed to fund the FAA's ongoing surge to hire and train the next generation of controllers. On another important topic, I am pleased to see the FY twenty twenty-seven budget include funding for Federal Railroad Administration's CRISI and Rail Crossing Elimination Grant programs. As this administration prioritizes safety and efficiency, improvements across our nation's entire transportation network, these two FRA grant programs are critical to ensuring the safe transportation of people and goods on freight and passenger rail lines, while also addressing safety challenges with rail grade crossings. These programs, like the previously mentioned BUILD program, have such a profound and direct impact on local communities by bolstering national supply chains reducing congestion and making the overall rail network safer and more efficient. Mr. Secretary, I'm also encouraged by your strong statements of support in the department's actions to invest in our domestic shipbuilding industry. As you know, Mississippi and its shipbuilding capabilities are to support the administration's agenda to restore america's maritime dominance by returning critical shipbuilding programs to experienced american-owned hands i am pleased the department's budget once again proposes significant investments in pidp and small shipyard grant programs these grants will help improve in-house shipbuilding capabilities support the commercial and defense industries improve supply chains and stimulate economic growth in and around ports, while improving both safety and efficiency. Finally, we need to make sure that our appropriations bill strikes a balance to meet the needs of all Americans especially those in rural communities, which face unique transportation and economic development challenges. We will work through these challenges to produce a bipartisan product worthy of Senate consideration, And as I've said many times, I believe that our funding decision should be guided by physical responsibility with the taxpayers in mind. Secretary Duffy, I look forward to hearing from you and working together for the American people to ensure that we have the safest, most reliable transportation network in the world. And now I turn to Sen- Senator Gillibrand for her opening statement.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. I appreciate your leadership. Um, I appreciate this committee very much. Thank you, Mister Secretary, for your time, uh, for our earlier conversation and the work you do for the country. Um. We agree that a functioning transportation system is vital to everyday life. In New York City, transit and passenger rail service provides the most efficient way to get around, moving about five million people every day. New York's ports, the US Merchant Marine Academy and SUNY Maritime Col- college are critical to our economy and national security. Highways and bridges are a lifeline for connecting communities in every corner of the state. Bike lanes, sidewalks provide safe routes to school for children, planes connect us around the world. We need the federal government to continue to be strong and make those sustained investments in all modes of transportation. And if we pick winners and losers, it has untold negative impacts. This real world is a challenge, and we need to address it head-on. When trains break, Americans miss work, when roads aren't reliable, children miss school. When gas prices spike fifty percent because of the decisions of this administration, Americans can't afford to see each other or support their small local businesses. This is the real world American people are dealing with every single day. Republicans, independents, Democrats. We need reliable and safe transportation, not partisan punishment or distractions. The American Society of Civil Engineers two thousand twenty-five report card gave America's infrastructure an overall C. That's better than where we were in twenty twenty one. And it shows the significant investment in the bipartisan infrastructure law is helping. But a C is just above failing. And some critical sectors continue to lag seriously behind. Aviation and roads got a D plus. Our transit got a D. These grades would upset any parent in America, and it shows there's so much more work we have to do. For this committee, that means funding all modes of transportation and ensuring we continue the nearly thirty-seven billion dollars in advance in advanced appropriations from the bipartisan infrastructure law in our fiscal twenty twenty-seven bill. If we don't, projects to upgrade airport terminals, repair bridges, maintain and expand subway services will stall. If we go back to the twenty twenty one funding levels, Americans and our economy will suffer, costing about three hundred and forty four thousand jobs and five trillion dollars in economic output nationally, and cost American families about seven hundred dollars each a year. New Yorkers are furious. They're upset that the administration is making everything from gas to food more expensive. Meanwhile, the President is building a golden ballroom, telling the American people he thinks affordability is a hoax. The choice we have is very simple, and I hope this can be bipartisan. We must continue an all of the above approach in transportation to lower costs for families, strengthen the economy, and support good paying jobs. The problem with the budget that you offer is it slashes funding for hugely important issues. We cannot slash funding for public transit projects by twenty nine percent or Amtrak by thirteen percent. The Northeast corridor gets six hundred and twenty eight thousand people to where they need to go every single weekday. There are nearly fifty projects in the capital investment grants program in blue and red states, counting on us to continue to invest in their communities. As Congress grapples with how to continue these investments, department's job to execute on the funding we have already provided. I remain very concerned, as the chairwoman did said, with action on grants. At the start of the administration, DOT embarked on a self-imposed bureaucratic process of re-reviewing every previously awarded and already eligible grant. Over one year, your continued lack of transparency and failure to respond to countless questions from this committee are unacceptable. From what we have been able to gather you, one, have canceled at least forty five projects worth five point three billion dollars, are keeping over three hundred projects in an endless review limbo, have forced grantees to remove complete legal activities from their projects, are arbitrarily cutting grants by ten percent, and are letting funding lapse to the tune of at least four hundred and forty five million last year. In New York State, and all of us will talk about our own state's worries. In New York State, you have canceled about a hundred and forty million dollars in projects, three hundred and forty five million for eighteen projects remain stuck, and the Gateway Tunnel project, which I will ask you about, one of the most urgent infrastructure projects in America, has been under review for over seven months with no end in sight. The project has done everything you asked and yet is still under review, and construction is only happening today because the courts have mandated it. Combined, these actions create a concerning pattern of attacks on communities and against transportation choice. It's hard not to see the tilt towards punishing blue cities and blue states. I think we can all agree our cities, counties and states should be making decisions on what works best for their communities, not bureaucrats here. While there are things we disagree on, I do commend you for several successes. I commend you on your focus and enthusiasm on aviation safety and improving facilities at the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point. This good progress has made a difference. Good progress is also being made on the air traffic control modernization, and your commitment to hiring and training more air traffic controllers is clear. Mister Secretary, I look forward to the conversation of this committee, and I appreciate your testimony today. Thank you, Chair.

Yeah, Mister Secretary, we recognize you.

Chairman Hyde-Smith, Ranking Member Gillibrand, members of the subcommittee, thank you for having me here today. Very grateful for that. Looking forward to questions on EAS uh from the chairwoman, and also looking forward to a very bipartisan, friendly hearing today with all of you. Uh, for the past sixteen months with your support, the Department of Transportation has been hard at work delivering wins for the American people we have a once in a generation opportunity. to revitalize the critical infrastructure that millions of Americans rely on every single day. From our runways, to our roads, to our railroads, we have upgraded our national infrastructure, invested in the backbone of our economy, and made life safer for American families. We are aggressively moving to clear the backlog of three thousand two hundred grants, left behind by the previous administration. Our goal is simple. to ensure these grants deliver safe, enduring infrastructure that will serve Americans for generations to come. At the FAA, we have kick-started a historic overhaul of our air traffic control system. This was made possible because of the Congress, and I thank you for that. Thanks to the Working Families Tax Cut Act, we received twelve point five billion dollars as a down payment to begin deploying state-of-the-art equipment across airports nationwide. To date, we've replaced fifty percent of legacy copper and have moved to fiber. We've converted two hundred and seventy-eight radio sites, installed fifty-eight new surface awareness systems, and transitioned seventeen towers to electronic flight strips. But technology, as the ranking member mentioned, is nothing without people. since last march we've hired a record number of air traffic controllers two thousand four hundred of them and our innovative gamer recruitment campaign has also smashed records resulting in over twelve thousand applicants in just twenty four hours which is pretty remarkable um this was the most successful recruitment launch for controllers in faa history on our roads we're also restoring integrity and safety to the American trucking industry. It was the policy of the last administration to allow for unqualified foreign drivers to get behind the wheel of a truck. Those days are over, and I think that's a bipartisan issue. We want safe uh commercial drivers on American roads. We've worked with states to cancel twenty eight thousand illegally issued licenses for unqualified foreign drivers. And we are holding non-cooperative states accountable. We've also knocked more than twenty thousand drivers out of service for failing to meet basic requirements like reading our road signs or being able to communicate with law enforcement. These changes aren't just keeping you and your family safe on the road. They have the added benefit of boosting wages for our hardworking American truckers. Our commitment to historic safety standards, it's already delivering historic results. In twenty twenty five, We successfully reduced roadway deaths by six point seven percent across the nation. This is the fifth largest drop in DOT history. This is saving lives and keeping families together. Through our Freedom to Drive initiative, we're working collaboratively with states to aggressively reduce traffic bottlenecks. That means maximizing roadway capacity, fast-tracking projects, that alleviate congestion and congestion choke points and leveraging the private sector uh and their partnerships to help us accomplish these goals by following the law and restoring cafe standards to the rightful levels we are lowering the cost of the purchase of a vehicle at a dealership saving the economy one point nine billion dollars putting the american consumer in the driver's seat of what car they wanna purchase Congress in the driver's seat of what we have to purchase as Americans. We're also working collaboratively with your states to finally make transit safe, clean, and dependable. Who would have thought that a Republican cares so much about transit? But I do. I wanna make it great for all who travel on it. And this is blue states that usually use transit. Usually rural states like where I was from, we don't have a whole lot of transit. From Waumata, here in Washington DC, to San Francisco, systems are tackling fare evasion, reducing crime, and protecting riders and transit workers alike. We're also building faster than ever. By empowering states like Texas and Nebraska to take control of their own environmental reviews, we are cutting red tape and delivering major projects on time and on budget. We're also unleashing American innovation like never before. I'm gonna start going faster, Madam Chair, cuz I see my red light is on. uh in the last year we've updated autonomous vehicle regulation for the first time in a decade ensuring that evs are not just built here but the innovators stay here and through our advanced air mobility strategy we will soon see evitals drones and other exciting innovations making life more convenient and affordable here in america and when it comes to our rail we're making generational improvements to the northeast corridor that means cleaning up union station investing in union station and a transformative investment in new york's penn station eight billion dollars by the way we're also repurposing funds from california's high speed rail and putting two point four billion dollars into local rail crossings where uh uh it'll actually save lives and to unleash american energy we've helped restart the sable pipeline in california adding sixty thousand barrels of oil of daily production on our seas finally we're restoring american uh uh maritime dominance It's often said that he who controls the seas, controls the world. We're doing this by uh restarting domestic ship building capacity, and strengthening America's maritime workforce. We're also leading a technological renaissance on the water, pioneering advanced propulsion through small modular reactors for commercial vessels. And most importantly, we are reaffirming our commitment to the US Merchant Marine Academy. Yes, it's in Kings Point, New York, uh, great academy. We are restoring King's Point as an institution worthy of the young patriots who train and serve there. As we approach America's two hundred and fiftieth birthday, this administration is putting the people first with a complete historic overhaul of our nation's transportation system. The golden age of transportation is upon us. I thank you for having me, and I look forward to your questions.

Thank you, Mister Secretary, and now we're gonna go to Senator Collins for her questions.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. The chair mentioned in her opening statement the importance of the essential air service program, and I wanna start to my first question my first question on that issue. Uh, first let me welcome you, Secretary Duffy. It's good to have you here today with us. The Essential Air Service program is truly a lifeline to rural communities across the country, helping to connect them to national and global transportation networks, as well as to critical services such as healthcare. In Maine, the Essential Air Service program plays a critical role in promoting economic development, expanding access to healthcare and also supporting tourism, which is our one of our state's largest economic sectors. There are four airports in Maine, Presque Isle, Rockland, Augusta, and Trenton, which serves Hancock County. that would not have any commercial air service but for this program. Mister Secretary, that's why I'm very concerned about the substantial cut in the EAS the EAS program uh that is included in the President's budget. How would you plan to support air service to rural communities if you have that deep a a cut in the EAS program.

First Senator, thank you for the question. I'm not surprised that rural America asked me about essential air service. Um, as you know, I also, when I was a member of Congress, I had uh an essential air service uh um airport in in my district and one very close by, and I understand how important uh essential air service is for communities who normally do not get service uh but for this program um and what and i've and i we i think we talked about this a year ago

we did

i i i remember uh this is asking for the system to be more efficient and that is the ask but if you ask about uh the dot and this president's commitment to essential air service you would remember during the shutdown uh there wasn't necessarily money to continue with essential air service And this administration found resources to maintain service to rural communities, funding essential air service when the government was shut down. So I think that does underscore the commitment to the communities that are served by this great program. This is a budget that we, that does reflect our desire to have efficiencies brought into it, but we do not wanna see communities cut off from air travel.

That's good to hear, and I hope that you'll work closely with the subcommittee as we uh compiled the bill. Mister Secretary, I also want to commend you for your leadership in modernizing our nation's airspace system. You talked about replacing old legacy copper wire um with fiber and I know this has been an extremely important important priority to you, and it's one that I share and I commend you uh for leading the way. The department's air traffic control system modernization efforts have the potential to enhance safety, something that's important to all of us while improving the reliability of controller communications increasing surveillance capabilities, and reducing the individual workload among many other benefits. I know that the personnel at the Bangor and Portland main airports appreciate the technological improvements and your focus on also addressing staffing shortages. I was very happy to hear you talk about hiring more than two thousand new controllers. That is absolutely critical. I wanna point out to you that the Bangor Airport in particular has been assessed to be one of the most understaffed airports in terms of the tower in the country. And so I hope that that will be a priority for you. What do you think about the possibility of giving bonuses or some sort of financial incentives to controllers who are willing to relocate or initially locate after they've come out of training in those airports in the country that are most understaffed

so senator i first of all i appreciate your support you've been a a a great advocate and by the way listen i i if i could just take a moment i um i believe this is an american project and i don't think there's any disagreement i think everybody here wants to see us get this job done and um it's not easy this is not an easy undertaking and i we wanted to do this twenty years ago twenty five years ago this body had a conversation about next gen and giving billions of dollars and you spent the money but we didn't get the result and i'm not blaming anybody but uh i wanna work with this body um on the resources that we need but also keeping you informed and if we're behind or we're ahead, we will tell you where we're at. I think we, you you're entitled to that and uh this body took a leap of faith on us to say this is the time and these guys can get it done and we owe that to you, and I'll continue to um keep you with the FAA administrator up to date to on on where we're at and are we on track on time are we behind and if so, why? But um this is a broader conversation. Sometimes uh folks wanna go to Bangor, Maine. it's a great place to live

it is i live there

and um and they don't they don't pay as much but also there's an issue with um and this is maybe a conversation we could more broadly have if you have to go to senator senator Gillibrand's um uh towers it's more expensive in new york it's expensive in l. a. it's expensive in d. c. and our cost of living for the controllers um and how much we can pay them to accommodate the cost it actually um takes out of their paycheck to to reside in these communities i think that's a conversation we should have together because um it's gotten expensive in america uh i was just down in in miami same thing there used to be a a lower cost location um or moderate cost and now it's gotten to be very very expensive so maybe that's a conversation we could have that we can get controllers to small airports but also get them to take on the more expensive bigger airports um and and and compensate them for the cost it um with housing and um other uh costs to the family. But thank you, Senator, for your support.

I appreciate that. And uh I do certainly recognize that the cost in New York City is way higher than in Bangor, Maine, as perhaps not as much of a difference to Portland, Maine these days, as far as housing is concerned. Uh, but my point is if these larger urban uh airports have a sufficient number of controllers despite the fact that the cost of living is higher. It seems to me providing financial incentives for people to go to the woefully understaffed towers such as in Bangor would make sense and I I would urge you to consider that.

I I would be happy to work with you on that and see what is the root cause of why we don't have enough controllers in in Bangor, and we could have that conversation.

Thank you.

I'll do some research on it.

Great, thank you.

Thank you, Senator.

Senator Gillibrand.

Thank you. So, Mister Secretary, you and I have talked at length about your approach towards transportation. You want certain things out of different states in order to fund certain things. So, you and I have talked about second avenue subway. that's finally in compliance and that is going forward. Right now, Gateway Tunnel uh is under review. What's the status of that review and when do you think it will be completed?

So the the the resources um are flowing to both of those projects and y- you know we um we were doing a review on race-based contracting versus merit contracting. The Supreme Court indicated uh projects couldn't do that um and that happened during the shutdown I only had one staff from the Civil Rights Office so it did take more time and then once uh the staff did come back there was a backlog um in the office. So um but the money is flowing to both of those projects and Gateway is the I mean, I think it's probably the biggest project in the Western Hemisphere.

East, correct. So when do you think the review will be done?

Uh, if not done now, shortly.

Shortly, OK. I will hold you to that shortly, cuz obviously it is such an important economic project for the entire eastern seaboard and the entire nation. Um, and we don't want more delays because we know that when you have delays, costs increase.

Yeah,

So we

but, but, but it's not delayed now, money is going to the project.

OK. So, now I wanna talk to you about something that is less easy. Um, I saw your ad. You wanna go fast. I saw that. But I did not like the fact that you bragged about cutting funding to New York. That sounded like a political argument that is not a very nice thing to say about a state that has twenty million people that need to get to work every day on critical infrastructure. So I don't like that quote in your ad. I thought that was a very inappropriate thing to say. I also do not like your great American road trip. And I get you have experience in that. I get you wanna promote American, how beautiful and amazing it is. I get all the good reasons why you wanted to do that. And I get it's time with your family, all those things. I don't like it. Because right now in New York, people are suffering. They are extremely stressed out. They're stressed out about the cost of gas, which has gone up by fifty percent under this administration. They're cost about they're upset about the cost of everyday household goods. They're upset about the cost of groceries and housing and health care. So there's stresses. I don't think they're gonna get to go on that Great American vacation that they'd like to go on. I think a lot of families are not actually going on vacation this summer. And when I went and met with a bunch of gas stations across my state just a couple days ago, uh, the cost of well over four dollars a gallon in every gas station, uh, five dollars a gallon, over six dollars a gallon for diesel, it's extremely stressful. And I don't like the fact that this Great American vacation reality TV show, took days and days of filming. I don't like the fact that it was paid for by companies that you have to oversee, companies that you work with. And in our jobs, that would be pay for play. It would be a hundred percent illegal. It would be inappropriate on every level, uh, and not tolerated. And in this era where President Trump spending money building a golden ballroom that we don't need, that he's spending a billion dollars a day on bombs, that people would far rather he be spending on health care or housing. This great American road trip, it doesn't smell right, it may be fast, but it's fast and loose with the rules. I don't like it. I think it's wrong. And I think you should explain to the American people why you should spend your time and why you should be pay- getting a vacation that is paid for by companies that you regulate. I think those things are highly problematic, and it makes me extremely anxious, because the American people and New Yorkers in particular probably can't afford their vacation this summer at all.

So, I I appreciate that, Senator. Um, first off, yeah, in the ad, we were in there you had a lot you said a lot, can I unpack some of the allegations that you made? First, in regard to um New York, Uh, we've asked uh for all states to uh revoke illegally issued driver's licenses. Every state has complied but New York. And we have tools to pull money from New York, and we did. California even complied. Um, but that

But the point is, but Mr. Duffy, Secretary Duffy, I don't mind that you have rules and that you have a different way of doing the Department of Transportation.

And

What I mind is that you bragged about it and made a joke about it.

I'm also bragging,

It's not, it is not appropriate for us secretary

uh, Senator, Sen- Senator, listen, do you want me to answer the question? Do you want me to answer this?

To to demean an entire state by that joke.

Uh, come on, so, so, we're gonna give eight billion dollars to rebuild Penn Station. Is that a joke?

No, but you, you

No, th- you, you'd welcome that, right? And I've asked for your subways to be cleaner.

With our tax dollars,

Is that a joke?

you got that money cuz we give it to you,

Let, make it cleaner. But And then,

from New Yorkers.

and then we get a choice where to put it, and you give me that, you give me that discretion.

We also appropriate money that then you don't grant.

And so, you give me the discretion and No, let, let me, let me, let, let me talk to you about

So we, we are the appropriators, not you.

L- No, I know you are.

We appropriate the money, you're supposed to spend it. Sometimes you choose not to,

Can I make decisions on how to spend it?

and we have to file lawsuits to get you to spend the money.

Wanna make allegations? Do you want, wanna, can I respond? Do you want me to respond to, or just if you wanna take all your time is up, but if you want to just sit and, you know, vent or want me to respond,

Let's talk about,

you let me know.

let's talk about the great American vacation.

The great American road trip?

Yes, let's talk about that.

Yes, it was, it, this was a project, Senator, and I wanna encourage Americans to see their beautiful country. And as we can see from this hearing, there's a lot of partisanship in America. This senior country. Experiencing your country through the window of a car is a beautiful thing. It actually unites America. Maybe spending time with your children is a wonderful experience.

It is a wonderful thing,

So great, so so

but your vacation was paid for by Boeing,

So, hold on, I'm going.

Toyota, United Airlines,

This is a project, sir, so

Enterprise, Shell, R- Royal Caribbean Group,

So, Senator

all organizations and companies that

Do do you want me to respond to you? Can I respond?

But you're you're you're responding with platitudes,

OK, so I'm I I will respond.

Mm.

and it's not

No, but I'm telling you what, I'm telling you what the project was,

Got it.

OK? Two days, quickly in and out, and I did film. the great american road trip to encourage americans to travel i'll answer your question

mmm

so this was officially part of uh america two fifty and you all sanctioned america two fifty this is an official partner no it's an official partner of america two fifty also this body told me that i'm supposed to promote tourism and travel and that's what it does as well now hold on a second no you you're making a no no

and it shouldn't be paid for by people that you have oversee that you oversee

so can i respond to that

oh sorry i didn't realize

So if I could respond, um, this was a partnership with a non-profit. It was a non-profit, and the non-profit

Funded by organizations and companies that you oversee.

Do you have jurisdiction over law firms? So you received seven million dollars in political contributions from the trail bar.

Oh my God. Honestly, this has nothing to do with members of Congress. This has to do with the fact

It is everything.

that you went on a paid vacation that was paid by companies that you oversee

everything to do I didn't go on a paid vacation you you received seven million dollars from the trial bar you have jurisdiction you have jurisdiction on the trial bar

that's campaigning it's different

seven million dollars when we go down the list of what else you received you have jurisdiction you actually passed legislation for the trial bar

listen listen secretary duffy this hearing is about you and this administration

so don't take me that I I didn't make any money no it's about you I didn't make any money

this hearing you are the witness I am not the witness

I didn't make any money I didn't make I don't have I don't have any well you maybe you should be

You know what?

Maybe you should answer the American people for seven million dollars from the trial bar.

Secretary Duffy. Secretary Duffy. Secretary Duffy.

Senator, seven million dollars.

I think you should be telling this committee

That goes in steak dinners, that goes to put your ad on television in your,

why.

that's that's all to you. You spend that money.

This is what I'm concerned about.

Steak dinners, what's

You are political and you are using your position in political ways.

We're over our time right now.

A half a million dollars paid by the trial bar to fly you on a private jet.

I've never been on a private jet.

A priv- Zen Air.

i don't never been on a private jet no we don't

then air four hundred and sixty two thousand dollars private jets

you're out of our time

we don't we don't members of congress aren't allowed

so they pay a fee to fly on a yes senators can

not true

it is

not true

answer to that

you know what mister secretary

i made nothing

your job

they put your eh your face on television

your job your job

your face on television your steak dinners your vacations by the trial bar i make nothing on this no money

we're gonna go to senator capito recognize you for your question

thank you thank you uh thank you madam chair thank you mister secretary Uh, and and thank you for the visit to Wheeling, West Virginia.

It was great to be there.

Um, appreciate that.

Thank you.

Um, I wanna talk about highway funding and bridge funding.

Great.

Um, the bridge investment program, I I'm concerned uh, because there is still more to to be done to to manage these discretionary programs, one of which is the uh bridge investment program. Uh, I've had concerns because it's costly and time intensive. So, these concerns were underscored when three hundred and seventy million dollars in um, contract authority out of the highway trust fund lapsed last year. The biggest driver of that was the protect discretionary grant program and you and I have talked about discretionary grant programs. Last week, the department published the second amendment under your tenure, the bridge investment programs notice, or NOFOs. These funds have already been NOFOed before and states have been waiting years

So I I think we're so so we do have a no follow for the small bridges. uh coming out i don't know if that was yesterday or today it's coming out that nofo but in regard to the protect money

right

um we got that nofo out um about a year ago little less than a year ago but the the funds expired at the end of the fiscal year and eh we we uh announced the grants but the grant recipients didn't have enough time to go through the permitting process and that's why that money expired if this body wants to uh send that money back to us for for those projects, we're happy to take that and um make good on those announcements.

Well, are you saying then that the ones that were uh award or uh awarded but not permitted have lost their opportunity and have to reapply, is that what you're telling me?

So in in protect the money goes away. Um and so it was they could have been done a a year before, but um

So what what do you what uh what steps are you taking to avoid that from happening again?

Uh so the the the the money has been announced. and they have to go through that process um to get the uh permits done but

you feel that they're gonna go ahead and get their permits in time? i mean are we gonna run into the same problem

i i hope so i hope so i

that's why we're doing permitting reform hopefully

i hope i hope so but but again you this body has the ability to send the money back that expired and make good on those projects

ok

we could talk about that further if you like

ok um well i mean i i have a particular interest in bridge bridge dollars cause we have so many deficient bridges all across the country but in particular you saw

yeah

You've seen our landscape. We got a lot of bridges.

It's beautiful.

Um, I wanna talk about Jaeger, uh, the, uh, air traffic control tower. Uh, we are one of the oldest operational, and actually might be now, I think the only one still that is, um, uh, sponsor owned. Uh, it is, it's owned and operated by the airport, not by the FAA or a contract entity, and therefore it's been ineligible previously for federal grant programs. Uh, I'll just I'll just tell you our approach lighting system was built in nineteen sixty or not, commissioned in nineteen sixty two, our visual approach slope indicator was built in nineteen seventy four, our radar was in nineteen seventy eight, our tower cab nineteen fifty, uh, and we have the oldest kaleidoscope in use, if you've ever gone into Jaeger airport you wanna make sure all these things are working, because it's on the top of three mountains. So, um, I'd like to also highlight that this airport is uh the home to the hundred and thirtieth airlift wing which is always deployed at the tip of the spear uh whenever uh uh globally and also the marshall university bill no flight school so we have a lot of students going in and out of that airport learning how to fly to provide for the next generation of uh workforce training for future commercial pilots so as you're moving forward i understand now that these that these uh um sponsor owned are going to be uh eligible for funding to um uh update because they've traditionally been excluded is that the case here or are you familiar with this

what so uh your i would love to tell you that your story is unique

mmm

in how old your systems are uh but it's not unique um this is the story across districts and states in this country we the the necessary investments have not been made and so the the dollars required to get all of our aviation systems up and um uh make them state of the art is is gonna cost a lot but you mentioned your radar uh we do have money for radar and radars are across the nass are gonna be replaced um we do have our radios coming across the nass but if you look at your tower um the resources for towers we're going through um a um an analysis on impact and age and the limited resources we have we're we're deploying those dollars

yeah i don't wanna misquote what the airport manager the cost of the replacement of the tower astronomical uh in terms of what i would like eighty million dollars or something like this,

Dollars. Yeah.

for a small regional airport that's very critical. So uh we we can talk on this further and thank you very much for being here.

Thank you, Senator.

Senator Reed.

Thank you very much, Madam Chairman, Mister Secretary. Um The bipartisan infrastructure law expires at the end of september which means that we're looking at a cut of about thirty six point eight billion dollars

yes

which were advanced appropriations under the law and at the same time you will admit readily that your programs are being oversubscribed by localities uh particular bill program where there is uh eight hundred applications requesting more than ten billion dollars and the actual fiscal year budget you've submitted up uh eliminates funding for build grant so we're in a very difficult situation we've made some progress on our infrastructure the american society of civil engineers have given us their report cards we went from a c minus to a c plus or c rather c minus to c uh we got a long way to go so how is the department of transportation gonna help states meet the needs of our aging transportation system and infrastructure with this fiscal cliff coming up

that's a great question so with our budget um we don't i can't give you the advance appropriations that's in the purview of this body

mmm

um and so i have given you um a a budget that's consistent uh and actually more than uh what we had last year and then the year before that but um this body is has the ability to do advanced appropriations we don't do that in our budget but if this body sees fit and wants to uh put dollars into these programs um i would welcome that i think america would too

no i think you're right i i think though stepping back and i have some duties on the armed service committee with the huge request of one point five trillion dollars for our defense budget we're finding it very hard just to make ends meet on the domestic side uh to increase your funding i think makes a great deal of sense but it's gonna be a difficult struggle uh president uh excuse me senator capito pointed out the project uh protect funds and we in rhode isle had four grants two have been funding thank you very much mr secretary uh but two are sort of not yet obligated and we seem to be in a similar position of we need additional monies this year so that we can go back and fulfill the commitment we made uh are you going to try to also to sort of reinvigorate and put more funds in the protect program

uh yes um that'd be wonderful but just to wanna be clear last last year the the program recipients didn't have enough time to get the permitting done and the money did expire and i this body has the ability to give that money back if you would like and we can make those whole um

and but you would be supportive of that

yeah i would be

thank you um one area uh that you mentioned i think is commendable is air traffic controllers um and um i think we can do a lot more to streamline the process for retiring military or separating air traffic controllers to get into the air traffic controller business and uh i would like to work closely with you to do that

sir i appreciate that i i don't think we um aggressively enough go after our controllers in the military there's a great option for them to just uh fold right over into um in you know into the um into the faa i i would just if i could make this point we do we do have an issue with the controllers

yeah yes sir

um we have offered the the controllers who are of the age of retirement those are our best controllers uh we've offered them and we're able to take this you know from the budget but we've offered them a upfront twenty percent cash bonus to stay on they'll stay on for a year and every year they'll stay

yeah

um we'll give them uh that money but i think again we wanna get more controllers in the pipeline get more controllers in the military but if we have those great controllers who are about to retire if we can keep them on the job that's even better for us so we're working at all different sides of this problem

well i would like to be helpful particularly with the military access to the to controllers uh final question is that uh in the bipartisan uh infrastructure law we put in a safe streets and roads provisions and uh it seems that the money has gone more to uh minimize uh automobile fatalities and accidents rather than pedestrian and we're seeing uh pedestrian fatalities increased by seventy two percent compared to the thirty percent increase in total fatalities so uh i think uh a re configuration that might also emphasize pedestrian fatalities would be in order and your comment

And I care about the safety of all Americans and I'd be happy to work with you on how we are using the program and how you would have envisioned the program operating.

Thank you, Mr.

Thank you, Senator.

Mr. Secretary, you and I have discussed at length in the past the uh funding for the FAA's Center of Excellence, and it's the uh a sure program, the unmanned aircraft systems at Mississippi State, as well as the separate distinct funding for counter u. a. s. efforts both of those which are mississippi state but they just really play a critical role in integrating the u. a. s. into the national airspace system safely and i want to thank you for your work on that i very much appreciate that my uh first question i want to talk about is truck parking the committee continues to hear concerns related to the shortage of truck parking nationwide and the negative on safety the efficiency the uh foods the supply chain and the reliability of these trucks going up and down the interstates and when they log out because of their time limits having a place to park has become a real problem that you're well aware of without that sufficient parking tractor trailer drivers they're forced to get on the side of the highways off ramps i see them everywhere the side streets the shoulders the rest areas and uh just causing an unsafe situation and mississippi is a state um with the fewest available public and private parking spots for these big rigs and i see this first hand all the time i'm just we've been in the trucking business a long time and i just notice these things and very conscious of it but they're parked in unauthorized locations in order to comply with the hours of service requirements which you know we want them

mmm

to stop. But this just isn't safe for the truck drivers and it's not safe for the travelers. Obviously, unauthorized parking can cause safety, maintenance, and congestion problems as well. And uh I was pleased this committee appropriated two hundred million dollars in FY twenty-six to help address these concerns, but recognizes far more is needed to address this problem nationwide. What is the status on the guidance to state DOTs to get these funds allocated

so we have an coming out on truck parking and i appreciate the dollars and i think all the truckers in america appreciate the effort um you're right it's a safety issue um and a security issue for them and they spend more time looking for uh parking than they need to um so that's in the process of coming out uh in regard to the center of excellence i think that has to be done every year and uh i i saw the paperwork come up uh i think yesterday so that's in the process of moving as well

great cause that is critical for us

great work there

and uh you know we still mourn the lives of the mid-air collision right out here ronald reagan washington national airport last year i don't think any of us will ever forget that day and i remain committed to taking bold action to prevent any future aviation disasters that we can possibly prevent Following its investigation of this tragedy, the uh National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report on the collision in January and found that the FAA lacked effective strategies to identify, assess and reduce reoccurring mid-air collision hazards in that particular airspace. And despite available safety data showing repeated close encounters, The NTSB also issued a broad set of recommendations aimed at preventing similar accidents after finding these shortcomings in route designs, air traffic control practices, and the entire FAA safety analysis. I'm concerned with reports that the FAA does not plan to implement those NTSB recommendations identified in their final report. So, Mister Secretary, in light of the recent near misses across the system and the findings in the uh NTSB's final report, what specific steps is the FAA taking to better identify recurring safety hazards and risk before they result in an accident and how is the agency ensuring those lessons are being applied across the uh national airspace system, not just at Reagan National?

Yeah, so, you know, the day after the crash, uh, I took action to stop, uh, fixed wing helicopter, uh, cross traffic, uh, in the Potomac. And, uh, the FAA, uh, three months ago, I believe, stopped all, uh, cross traffic, uh, with visual separation between helicopters and fixed wing, uh, airplanes. Uh, I could, I, I think there's a, a, a broader issue at play here. We've, I've, I think I told you last year that we were gonna use new technology to, to cause there was eighty five near misses in the d c a airspace that no one saw and then people lost their lives and it's our job to look and see where do those risks exist um and as we've used new technology we do see risks in the airspace um one of the problems we have is to uh restructure uh the airspace we have to go through nepa and so even when there's some critical issues that should be fixed in a month it'll take years to go through the NEPA process on the airspace and so if there could be some work and maybe we could have a conversation off-line of what we're seeing and what we would need from the committee to make sure we can take the appropriate action um to move more quickly I think that would be helpful but we we listen we were I work closely with the chair of the NTSB um and just so you you know it it takes time uh to go through a process to analyze to think through how things should be implemented and um the FAA is going through that process

Thank you very much, and at this time I'll recognize Senator Coons.

Um, thank you Madam Chair and Ranking Member. Uh, I was uh quite pleased with where we ended up in the FY twenty-six appropriations process, and I I hope this year will be successful as well. Mister Secretary, good to see you again. Uh, there's a number of things uh I'll just briefly be positive about the shipbuilding initiative, I think is something uh all of us welcome. Uh, the focus on uh air traffic uh and air safety I think is important. Um, what I mostly want to focus on though is rail. Uh, I was encouraged to see your recent comments in a number of settings that the DOT is focused on ushering in the golden age of American rail. Uh, I share that goal, uh, as someone who grew up, uh, traveling, uh, on, uh, the Northeast quarter regularly. Uh, I only wish that one, one chapter of your great American road trip, uh, had put your whole family on a rail section, cuz I think that's a great way to travel. uh, with family. Um, the Northeast Corridor is the heart of America's rail system. It carries two thousand trains and six hundred and thirty thousand passengers every day. They had record ridership last year of thirty-four and a half million. It takes a huge burden off highways and airport runray- runways in the most densely populated, uh, part of America. And the Northeast Corridor operating expenses are fully covered by its revenues. But it's the capital expenditures that are funded jointly by states uh, and Congress. And if you spend time in this part of the country, you know there's a huge backlog of infrastructure investment due to decades of deferred maintenance. Um, they've added new routes, uh, from the Mardi Gras line that, uh, connects, uh, New Orleans to Biloxi, um, from, uh, the downeaster that connects, uh, Maine into, uh, Boston, and they're making real progress on those lines. Um, but the IIJA, uh, which committed to advance funding, is as several uh colleagues have mentioned, sunsetting uh and this big backlog the NEC has um can really only be addressed with forward funding. So the IIJA was a real success because it allows these badly needed capital projects to be done in a way that allows for hiring, training, uh deploying the workforce, procuring materials and equipment, and moving projects forward instead of on again, off again, one year, not one year um, through long-term multi-year funding. Um, one of the things I'm I'm not excited about in your budget proposal is the rescission of more than four billion dollars of previously invested IIJA funds. Did you give any thought to reallocating or suggesting to this committee, the reallocation of that? Um, and have you given any thought to how critical these long-term investments in infrastructure are for the so-called golden age of American wealth?

So it a couple uh points one i would i would agree with you we take uh passengers off roads we alleviate the stress on roads

mmm

um how the number of people that move in the north uh uh northeast corridor is remarkable ridership is up dynamic pricing which i don't always like cause it's gets to be expensive but um has i think worked to to to shore up the books of amtrak um i mentioned earlier we're thinking about some ideas of again i don't like to look at europe on how we uh should model ourselves but europe obviously trains better than we do um and i think there's some lessons we can

europe does japan does korea does and china does

well everyone everyone does you're right so we're uh gonna look at some different models we're talking to the unions and uh we'll obviously brief uh this body before we take any action but it's exciting that we could do things differently um but if uh we've uh we've pulled grants obviously we wanna put that money back in and we try to make people whole um on on those projects And if you have a specific that you're referring to, I'd be happy to.

Well, there, I mean, more specifically, there's a proposed thirteen percent cut to Amtrak overall, a twenty four percent cut for the Northeast corridor, uh, in your budget this year. Um, the Northeast Corridor Commission projects thirty-four billion dollars in capital costs uh needed over the next five years. This is something states come to the table uh and make significant investments. Help me understand why this big a cut for this vital part of the country. where if you lose the northeast quarter you gotta build a fourteen lane highway, which we both know will never happen.

But no, I think it's important to understand that um we make a budget proposal, and I'm right in line, I haven't made any cuts um to to rail. Um but on the advanced appropriations I don't put that in my budget, that's what you all do on your own and that's what you've done in the past. So your advanced appropriations, I don't assume that, I don't put that in my budget, which is why you're seeing a hole,

Right.

because that's what you all did almost five years ago. So that's it's not that's not an intentional cut, that's a um uh a a drop for this body.

A drop off. Well, I'll just, for the benefit of the chair in ranking, suggest that I think that's a a whole or a drop off that we shouldn't allow to happen, uh when we've got a such a significant shortfall. Let me circle back to the point you just made in passing about different models. Uh because I understand the FRA, the Federal Railroad Administration, under your uh direction is saying to Amtrak to consider restructuring itself into three different entities,

Yes.

one for operations, one for rolling stock, and one for infrastructure. Um, reorganizations when done thoughtfully can be constructive, but I'm concerned this may be um the first step towards a privatization, uh or a fundamental restructuring. Um, can you commit to consulting with Congress in detail before any plan moves forward that would restructure Amtrak?

Uh, absolutely, and just I'll this is uh akin to you all had a debate about should we privatize air traffic control i've been very clear no uh not looking to privatize uh uh amtrak this is a way to give better transparency and i think give some more insight for states um in the kind of uh infrastructure builds that can actually benefit states as well and so that's the purpose behind it but i would i would welcome a conversation when we get to the uh point where we have um it fine tuned i would love to have a conversation if you have some feedback for us uh we would welcome that

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Thank you, Senator.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Senator Hoeven.

Thanks, Madam Chair, Secretary Duffy. Good to see you.

You too, Senator.

Thanks for being here. Appreciate all your hard work. Um, I want to talk about the airport terminal project disc uh discretionary limitation. So we uh we changed that in I don't know, two thousand twelve. From twenty million to thirty million. Uh, but the interpretation FAA is using is that that's cumulative for any projects at airports since two thousand twelve versus not on a per terminal project basis so that is a problem with some of our fastest growing airports um in these smaller markets so what can we do to uh make sure we have flexibility to meet so you know we're working on getting the funding for the uh programs but some of their projects are getting clipped by that applying that as a cumulative limit.

Well, if if you think we are in uh interpreting the language incorrectly, I'm happy to have a conversation on how we should be interpreting, what was the intent of this body, I I don't wanna get crossways with your intent. So I'd be happy to have that conversation.

Yeah. So, yeah, that's it. Just, are you willing to work with us, you would figure out so that these projects can move forward and we have flexibility.

A hundred percent, Senator.

Yeah, great. Good, that's that's what I'm looking for. Uh, Mental Health in Aviation Act. Um, so uh we've passed that, that's uh legislation that uh I'd sponsored that we have now passed through the Commerce Committee. And it uh really updates the special issuance medical certification, uh for both pilots and air traffic controllers. And we're hoping that we can move it through the Senate and over the House here pretty quick. Your thoughts on improving that certificate and the need to do so.

I haven't spent a great deal of time looking at that, Senator, but I I would and be happy to. uh follow-up hopefully again we've seen some differences in opinions in aviation between the two bodies and hopefully the bodies are working uh together symbiotically to to um to streamline the process but i'll look at the legislation, i haven't seen it yet

based on your experience now you wouldn't favor the house view over the system

that's right uh well we we have uh kind comments for the senator over here in the house

um so we appreciate all the work that you and administrator bedford are doing on updating the uh air traffic control system twelve and a half billion in in the one big beautiful bill um how how's it coming how you doing

it's it's it's going it's going very well we are uh on track um for the most part uh think of the fourteen um work streams ten of them are on track or ahead of schedule we went forward uh slightly behind uh but we believe that we can have this uh uh this twelve and a half billion dollars spent in two and a half years can i make a pitch to you though

yeah that's my next question anyways so go ahead

ok so we're we're doing all the infrastructure right the the we're gonna get new telecom and we're gonna get new radios and new radar and that's gonna be wonderful it's gonna it's gonna make the system more resilient it's gonna be safer

mmm

but i think the magic of this system is you need new software the software is what's gonna

that was my next question what what do you need what do you need now

so and so because the the senate the house was a little more generous with how we could spend the money the, the senate was very specific in how we had to spend it. I would have probably made some different decisions, but I follow how you, give me the money. I would like to have in two and a half years as, as this infrastructure is done with the twelve and a half billion.

Mm-hmm.

At the same time if we could be working on the common automation platform. Um, and they're able to meet up at the same time. And as the, the infrastructure is done, so too is the software. i think it would be too bad if if we get the infrastructure done but you don't we we haven't developed the software

right

um to then you know make this this magical system that's gonna reduce your delays and your cancellations and if we're gonna have evitals and and drones come into the airspace um i think that's what we wanna have happen cause we wanna impact the lives of the american people and their travelling experience um i will say that we we are working on this smart system uh uh administrator bedford might have talked to you about that about how we can uh use technology uh to air traffic controllers don't have the tools of an iphone they're using it like the not even a flip phone maybe the old bag phones are the big maybe even a rotary phone

oh brick yeah

if we could give them some new tools to make their jobs easier to stress them out less but to give them better prompts um we can i think bring more efficiency into the airspace we're working on that right now if you wanna go to the faa i know you wanna go to the faa and uh see what they're working on it's actually pretty cool But this is the software is the that is gonna change the experience for the American traveler. And that's what we wanna give up.

Have you started to build that into your budget request?

No, we we we this is a would be a fee for service. We'd be able to pay for it.

OK.

We're the common automation platform.

Authorization.

There's nothing off the shelf.

Do you have a uh estimate on terms of cost at this point?

For the common automation platform, I think it was seven billion.

OK.

So but the but but that's that's all new equipment in the in the facilities. one system that they use no matter where they go it's all gonna be the same um and i because we have the we have we have the greatest airspace the most unique airspace the busiest airspace and so there is nothing off the shelf no other country has a system that we can buy right we have to develop our own and so it's kind of using our you know great companies to to work and think through what is this new state of the art system look like and it takes time to do that and money to money to do it as well

yeah

yeah you have to make sure and to make sure you get it right one final quick question air traffic controllers utilizing the our university's something we worked at university of north dakota uh john deotagar school of uh aerospace aviation that has been a game changer you've been a champion of it and anything we can do to help you with that we wanna do but uh kudos on grabbing that and and running with it

thank you my brother-in-law went to uh flight school at UND loved it

Fantastic.

Senator Murray.

Thank you, Madam Chairman. Uh, Mr. Secretary, you know how important the Interstate Bridge replacement project is across the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon. It's important for the entire West Coast, and it is really critical, as we have talked about many times, to keep this project moving and on track, and we know that delays mean higher costs. So I wanted to ask you when you're in front of us today, will you commit to publishing the record of decision for the IBR project

Oh I I don't know that I I gotta take a look at that but I but to to the issue of uh of the I five I have been wildly aggressively involved in the process

Yeah

for the last year and a half um it's probably the project I know more about um now I I I think we have to work together I think the the initial estimate was fourteen billion dollars for that project I think we have to work together to get to a number that's gonna be

that is true but today I just wanted to ask you about the record of decision

uh uh a lot oh

delaying that is gonna make it cost even more.

I'll I'll I'll look and I'll look and see on the timeline. I don't know that I can commit to by July first. Let me look and I can circle back with you um on that timeline.

OK. Thank you. Um, I wanna ask you about the bipartisan infrastructure law. As you know, it expires September thirtieth,

Yes.

and communities across our country are immediately gonna lose access to about thirty-seven billion dollars in transportation funding along with tens of billions in other critical funds in other agencies. I heard um Senator Gillibrand mention these facts earlier, but the American Society of Civil Engineers gives our infrastructure a C grade, roads and aviation D plus, transit gets a D, and these grades tell us, really, that we have a lot more work to do. And if we don't, ASCE estimates that American families will pay seven hundred dollars more a year, three hundred and forty-four thousand jobs lost, and our economy is gonna take a hit as well. So we have to address this infrastructure cliff in our twenty-seven funding bills, or our cities, our airports, our transit systems are not gonna have the funding that they need for vital projects in in actually every one of our states. Meanwhile, we have a budget from the president, and he is proposing a half a trillion dollars more for the war budget, but his pr- budget proposal does virtually nothing to prevent a thirty-seven billion dollar cut to this transportation funding. So, I'll just be blunt, is it the position of this administration that we should stop fixing our roads and bridges to fund a war abroad?

So, Senator, I appreciate the question. So first, when you look at the C rating, um, and we should be A rated in America, I agree with you, you and I are on the same page.

No, I'm asking you about that.

I will I'll answer that question, I'm just tell but I'm talking about what

Yeah, but I have limited time, so just

OK, so I I have pulled out a lot of the green requirements that you all didn't put in the legislation, IIJA, and I pulled out a lot of the DI from the last administration to make us build faster and build better.

I know what you've been doing. I know what you've been doing, but

I know. And so, just so you know, we w- the base

The budget proposes a flat funding funding for transportation.

You you're ea-

It proposes a huge funding for war.

So so what No, it doesn't.

So to all of us looking like at this budget, it's fewer bridges and more bombs.

You're you're No, no, you're you're

And I just gotta say that as a committee, we have to address this infrastructure cliff in our funding bills. we cannot let this funding expire and leave our communities dry.

You you c- I think it's important that we're on the we're not I take your point,

That's that's my point, I just wanted you to understand that.

can we be on the same page? Um you all do the advanced appropriations, and you're melding together the budget with the advanced appropriations.

Correct, and that's what we've been doing for a number of years,

And No it's not actually what we do.

and all I'm saying is that uh there's gonna be a huge cliff,

The the what the

and instead of giving us a budget that helps us address that cliff,

So so We don't we

we did not get one.

The last administration didn't give you a budget that included advanced appropriations, and I didn't either. So we've actually in increased the money in the base budget.

But because the cliff is this year, that is why it's critical.

No, but but I never you if I came in and told you all what to do with with advanced appropriations you'd be offended by that that's what we don't do.

No, but I I am offended by a budget that comes in for with a one and a half trillion dollars more for war, and no increases for infrastructure, when we all know that in October there's gonna be a huge funding cliff on transportation that was not addressed in the budget.

Which is which is which I've ha- I have a hundred and fourteen billion dollars, the biggest base budget in transportation ever submitted to Congress. But the advanced appropriations is not what I do. You all do the advanced appropriations.

Well, and and this is a problem we're all gonna face, but but let me move on because I I do wanna address this um issue because over thirty nine million Americans are expected to hit the road for Memorial Day weekend. And you are encouraging Americans to spend the summer road-tripping across the country. But let me just ask you, how much did you rack up on gas during your great american road trip i understand that was paid for by groups and sponsors sponsors is that correct

what well this was an a non-profit uh funded the great american road trip

the the non-profit actually solicited funding from private organizations

yeah i did not right

ok do you know how much gas

no i don't

you don't

but i i know i know it's not as much as it was under biden which was five dollars a gallon

um well so holy cow ok so just listen

it's only four fifty ok

uh americans don't have corporate sponsors to pay for their gas and for families that are hitting the road this The national average gas price is now four dollars and fifty cents per gallon. That is more than fifty percent higher than before Trump's war in Iran, when gas was less than three dollars a gallon. Um, so the, and I just wanna make the point, the families are seeing this at the gas pump, but they're also seeing it costing more for airline trips. The cost of a domestic flight is up thirty-one percent over last year, and they, by the way, are stuck paying ridiculous junk fees. Why? Because you decided to rip up some basic protections that gave people automatic refunds and hotels when their flight was delayed or canceled. Not true. So, here's the problem. Here's how Americans see this and who are talking to me. You've been recording a promo of yourself and not working to lower the cost. Excuse me. Sure, Senator. So, I just, it just, this show is incredibly out of touch with where Americans are. Senator. And I echo Senator Gillibrand's concerns that it really raises some serious ethics, concerns about who you answer to because the people organizing your show, solicited corporate sponsors and promised rewards at each level of funding.

That's just, uh, just to be I'd be honest, that's not true.

Now Uh uh I'm looking at your thing. What you did for being a pla

That's not mine. That's not I I there there there's a memo of understanding that

What you're, what what

says no one gets any benefit for anything they do to participate.

OK, well let me just, I'll ask you a question, maybe you can answer it.

Sure.

If I'm an airline executive, and i paid a million dollars for this great american road trip what would i get out of that

with from me nothing

well look as i said the the deck that is out there says that if you

so

give a million dollars you get six vip invitations to receptions you get to go to round tables you get to networking events

so if someone from if someone from the healthcare industry gives you two million dollars what do they get for it

look uh let me let me just the the i do not oversee the

what do you give them

i do not regulate

what do you you you have jurisdiction

i do not regulate i do not regulate the f.

you have jurisdiction two million dollars to put your face on tv to buy steak dinners

a. let me just say this you need to mr. secretary listen listen to my point here

to go on vacations that's what you do welcome to maga

mr. s

welcome to drill baby drill are you gonna drill do you wanna support lower gas prices

mr. secretary please uh master i ask my time back please so i can ask my question

i welcome that let's drill let's refine let's pipe fuel across the country

mr. mr. secretary you obviously came here with the book of every one of us so that instead of

you have not been supportive of that you haven't supported that senator

answering our questions you could attack you you are a i

you i'm answering your question you're asking you're asking about gas prices you have done everything you can to increase gas prices for americans and make us buy evs

madam secretary can i have my time back mister secretary this is my time

donald trump is lowering the cost of energy and you know that

you are wasting my time responding with a book of claims that you have come at us

you're wasting my time

with even just

are you uh do you deny that you got two million dollars from healthcare i can go down the list here

let me just m- mister secretary that is not mister secretary it is my time

emson gave you a hundred and forty thousand dollars weisberg gave you a hundred and two thousand dollars

madam chair i am asking to be able to ask I do not need an attack by a secretary who is the witness at this table that is out of order.

I'm just pointing out your record. I'm I'm what do they what did Big Pharma get for the one

Secretary Duffy.

point one million that Big Pharma gave you,

Sec-

what did they get for it?

Oh my God. Mister Se-

What did they get?

Mr. Paul, Mr. Paul. seriously.

Seriously.

Seriously.

I wanna know, I think America wants to know.

I I find it ast-

I got nothing from anybody.

I find it astonishing

I do too.

that you are so angry at a question that I asked.

I mean, I'm surprised that you are, Senator.

No. I am not, I'm sitting here trying to ask a question, I'm being interrupted. About big formal? No, it's in healthcare. Mister Secretary, let me just say this, Toyota, United Airlines, Shell, Boeing, Royal Caribbean and Enterprise all sponsored your show. It is literally your job to make sure each of those companies are playing by the rule. So, Toyota Can I answer the question? is sponsoring a show starring you, and it is your department, Mister Secretary, You hate America. that decides Don't you wanna celebrate America? Mister Secretary, it is your department that decides whether Toyota's next recall is voluntary or mandatory.

It's our birthday. No one gets anything from me.

Certainly, you can understand, you're not even gonna acknowledge that this is a bad look in America.

Nothing. No one gets anything. There's a ba- it's a bad look that you take,

Madam Secretary,

Bill,

I have gone over my time,

millions of dollars. I know, so

I find your answers out of touch and irresponsible.

what I what I find is, I I there is there is no benefit that anyone gets. If I'm gonna celebrate America two fifty, you gave me the ability to partner with America two fifty and I did. You told me, this body did, said celebrate tourism and travel. And that's what I'm doing. All I'm saying is, America, go see your country.

Mister Secretary, you're really good at talking.

Families are beautiful things.

We're gonna go to Senator Britt.

When I ask you, you should recognize.

And and and businesses around this country have leaned in to celebrate. If you don't wanna celebrate America's birthday, I'm sorry.

Mister Secretary, for

But American businesses wanna celebrate America's birthday, I'm sorry.

Senator Britt, you're recognized for your question.

It's a beautiful thing.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, Secretary Duffy, thank you so much for appearing before the committee today. I enjoyed uh being in Alabama with you.

It was great to be with you too.

Um, and and also enjoyed talking about various road trips that my family took growing up, such fond memories and um, exciting times and certainly hope that others have the opportunity to experience that as well. So thank you, thank you. Um, I also, well, why don't we just jump right in. You have been very helpful in helping us figure out what is the solution to the I-ten, uh, bridge and bayway project there in Mobile. We know that that is important not just for Mobile, but it's important for the entire Gulf. coast and when you're looking at commerce being able to move across our nation, this is a critical component to it. I just wanna say thank you to your uh team, to President Trump, to you. Uh, we've made real progress under your leadership. And it is my understanding obviously that ALDOT has applied for the Interstate System uh Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program. And if there is anything additional that we need to be doing, that you may have we certainly look forward to hearing that

so first of all i appreciate you and the coach coming in um with your dot team and it's gonna take some creative thinking on how do we get this project done but you have a commitment from dot

yeah

uh to get our teams to continue to work together and i think there's some avenues and options for us again it's a it's a critical artery and very important i know to your state and to america so um i appreciate the engagement that you've had

absolutely

uh with me and my team

absolutely well we look forward to continuing to work um it's been a With you, it's been a long time project, and I think it's gonna be transformative for the entire region and for the nation. So thank you. Um, you know, going back to your time in and Alabama, and I certainly look forward to getting you down for a football game. Um, still have that on the list, but when we were at Mercedes, we were celebrating what that manufacturing facility has meant to the entire Tuscaloosa region, and to our state. That manufacturing facility coming in ultimately transformed the way that we

So, first off, I I um I if I'm not my going to my memory, I think this was the first um,

Mm-hmm.

we're, car manufacturing plant in,

It,

at least in Alabama,

that's exactly right, and it's the thirtieth anniversary,

right?

that's right.

And it was, uh, the kind of jobs and, uh, economic opportunity it drove into your state I think was remarkable and how grateful, uh, all of the employees were for that investment in their, in the jobs and the family and economic opportunity. I thought that was, um, that was remarkable to go to the plant and the innovation that's happening there. Um, very cool. Um, but just some things that we've thought about is if, if the, if this, if the government tells car companies what those car companies have to build that's not necessarily what the american people want to buy

mmm mmm

and so uh with cafe i we're all about making sure that we have um great policies in regard to emissions and i'm about that i know you are as well we love clean air and clean water the problem with the last administration was

yeah

they used evs um and um used that to come up with the standard that was unattainable for a combustion engine

mmm

and the law said you're not supposed to do that we went back to uh uh uh the the lawful standard and so i hope that uh car companies around the country will build cars that people wanna buy and when we buy cars um that means more manufacturing also the average age of a vehicle i believe is thirteen years old on american roads um the technology that's come out that saves lives with these new vehicles

mmm

it'd be great if we could get uh more newer vehicles on the road and get some of those older ones off the road and then yeah and that'll save more lives um as people travel with their families.

Absolutely, and look we have a number of projects in Alabama uh where we wanna see those roads continue to be elevated so that people and products can move safer and and um uh more expeditiously across them whether it's the Northern Beltline project there in Birmingham or I sixty five um where we have backed up traffic, particularly this time of year when people are going to see our uh beautiful white sand beaches and they come right down I sixty five. Um, that back-up and backlog, we we wanna find a solution to, so I look forward when we getting getting you to Alabama, so that you can see all of that firsthand,

I can't wait. And

for sure.

and people love the beaches and I I've I haven't uh experienced it, but I heard the the um the congestion there is real.

It is, it is very real. So I I'd love to talk to you about continued solutions and what we may do on that as well.

OK.

And last but not least, we talked um a little bit about maritime the last time that we were together, and when we're looking at how we make sure that we're competitive. with China both on the road when it comes to vehicles and then obviously um with with the maritime industry as well um can you talk a little bit about DOT's role and and how you try to how you're gonna try to help this administration implement its broader maritime strategy and how the

Yes.

department's views um the importance of both coastal and inland ports and regional ship building hubs as we as we restore Americans' maritime dominance.

i i appreciate the the question because um we were the greatest ship builders in the world after world war two and we've seeded

mmm

ship building to the rest of the world and um it's uh maybe we can forget about ship building and maritime um when things are normal but if you go through a time like this and we look at the state of hamoos we understand how important uh shipping is and um if uh the great ships that um that sail the seas are not built in america but built somewhere else uh i think that's a real risk and so yes we make great military ships but we have to be able to expand that and make more commercial vessels in the us uh the jones act is part of that thinking through and we're doing this right now and i'd be happy to partner with you on what we're thinking but how do we make sure we have cargo for um some of the ships that we build in

mmm

america and there's some uh thoughtful strategies that we're thinking through right now uh that can incentivize um uh companies to actually invest and build ships again in America and and great places like your home state.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it, Mr. Secretary.

Thank you.

Mr. Van Hollen.

Uh, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Welcome, Mr. Secretary.

Thank you, Senator.

Um, I do wanna get to some Maryland specific questions, but just one question to clarify for the record in terms of airline passengers' bill of rights and protections. As you know, the secretary of Congress passed and codified certain protections. Um, it's also the fact that at the end of the Biden administration, they had proposed a rule, uh, with additional protections. And just for the record, I not wanted to debate this at length, you all have not proceeded with that rule. Is that right?

Was this from the last administration you're talking about?

Yeah, the Biden administration had proposed a rule to advance further protections for consumers and airline passengers and the administration,

Right. Yes, so.

the Trump administration decided not to proceed with it.

What what we decided to do is follow what. The FAA reauthorization told us to do, which we have and.

Right.

Uh there's great protections that you put in the FAA reauthorization.

No, I, that's why I started with that.

I commend.

There are some in.

I commend you for that.

I appreciate that.

And we followed what you told us to do.

There, there, I just, I just wanted to be clear, cuz I didn't wanna leave some confusion to Senator Murray's question because the Biden administration had then proposed additional protections to the regulatory process. And I think you'll find the records clear that you did not proceed. with that you withdrew that rulemaking.

The proposal.

Let me let me just move on, Mr. Secretary.

The proposal. That's that that's

OK. Uh, let me move on, Mr. Secretary, um, regarding the key bridge. And I I wanna thank you for working with Governor Moore and the State of Maryland on the replacement. As you know, the success of this very critical project requires all parties to continue to work in good faith to see it through. Uh, the full federal funding that the Maryland delegation secured, uh, provides certainty. that the state needs as it pursues a revised contracting uh proposal uh for this construction project uh maryland continues to fulfill its responsibilities and requirement to use any funding we secure through litigation or settlements uh to offset the federal payments for the bridge and i just wanna ask you here in this public setting if you'll commit to continuing to work uh in good faith with

yeah

the state of maryland to rebuild the key bridge

yes so i've uh had a number of meetings with your local uh d. o. t. and with your governor and we have a great working relationship we don't agree on everything but we agree on making sure this project gets built as an important bridge

i no i appreciate that and you know we we worked hard and the congress did uh pass on a bipartisan basis the full federal funding commitment uh obviously there were issues that i think both you and the state um were concerned with with the most recent bid Uh, so I'm glad the state, uh, has decided to re-bid and I understand that you,

I

you are too.

I I commend the governor for that.

Thank you.

I think we could do better on our pricing,

Yeah.

um, and performance. So, well done on the governor's behalf.

Pretty tough. Thank you. Um, so let me ask you about the bridge investment program. I know Senator Capito had some questions regarding small bridges in, in West Virginia. Um, Maryland of course has an application pending for the American Legion, uh, bridge replacement, a nationally significant. project i'm sure you're you're familiar with it um your department has said it was quote highly recommended uh and i i just want to underscore the importance of this program for our region and get your commitment to work together to see this project through

so that that's one that i also worked with uh your state dot and your governor on um we did both bridges together in our meetings and i think everyone recognizes how important if you live in this area how important that bridge is become a bottleneck.

Yeah.

And so, no, I'm I'm committed to the project.

I I I appreciate that.

I think everybody who drives here would appreciate that.

I I know I I know I appreciate you're absolutely right, Mr. Secretary. And look, as we move.

When you when you fly over, you can actually see the the the traffic backing up.

Ah, you can see the bottleneck and sometimes, you know, yes, it's all my constituents that are in there.

Yes.

Um, as we move forward with the reauthorization bill, I I wanna make clear that I do support, including advanced funding, uh, appropriations and um the funding levels authorized by the iiga and believe that uh we really need to push hard now collectively to avoid uh this cliff and not go backwards uh i do wanna mention three initiatives i'm pursuing as part of that reauthorization that i'd like to work with you and your team on one is called the the the sarah deb debink uh langen camp uh active transportation safety act so Um, she unfortunately died in a, a terrible accident. She was a bicyclist, and she was hit by a car and killed. Uh, she was a State Department employee serving the country. And so this legislation is designed to prevent those kind of terrible tragedies, preventable tragedies going forward. Another is called the Moving Transit Forward Act. We can talk about that. It's about getting more funding for transit. And finally, there's a bill we plan to introduce soon dealing with providing some more guidelines on the installation of guardrails it you know we all take for granted that when we're driving along the highway we see those guardrails there but in fact many people have been killed literally speared by guardrails because they've been wrongly assembled and we're working on legislation to address that so again i'm not asking for your commitment to support all three of these, but I am asking for your commitment that you and your department work with us, to review these legis- pieces of legislation and provide any feedback you can.

I would welcome that opportunity.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Thank you, Senator.

Thank you.

Thank you. The uh hearing record will remain open until Friday, May the twenty ninth, for the senators to submit any additional questions you may have. Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here, and we request your responses. to additional questions within thirty days if you can do that and uh the hearing is now adjourned

thank you senator