Schatz Secures Commitment From Transportation Secretary Nominee Sean Duffy To Continue Bipartisanship At Agency, Keep Infrastructure Funding Flowing
Schatz Also Raised Ongoing Work To Improve Tribal Transportation, Bike And Pedestrian Safety
WASHINGTON – During a nomination hearing for Sean Duffy, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. Secretary of Transportation, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) secured commitments to continue the longstanding tradition of bipartisanship at the U.S. Department of Transportation, as well as to keep funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law flowing to states.
Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, asked Duffy, “I’d like for you to offer clarity to this whole committee and to your staff, your future staff, that you’re going to continue in that long tradition of bipartisanship, and really nonpartisanship as it relates to transportation policy.”
In response, Duffy said, “Infrastructure is not partisan. I am committed to working in a bipartisan fashion to make sure we are looking at the best projects and the safest record. I look forward to doing that…We can do that together in Hawai‘i.”
On funding from the infrastructure law Congress passed in 2021, Schatz said, “It’s a federal law, it was a bipartisan law, and I just want your assurance that in terms of releasing funds, that this will all be done on the level and not be intermediated by political concerns.”
In response, Duffy said, “Absolutely, you have my commitment. We will be on the level.”
Schatz, who is Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, also raised the importance of meeting the specific transportation needs of Native communities.
Duffy assured Schatz, “I think you’re right, providing assistance, simplifying the process to make sure that our Tribes can access money that’s available to them to make sure they can build their Tribal infrastructure and roads. It’s an important part of the way I think about transportation and would welcome the chance to work with you on that.”
Video of Senator Schatz’s full exchange at today’s hearing is available here.
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