‘One Of The Best Ways To Supercharge The American Economy’: DeLauro Touts Transportation Investments

last year

During a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) gave opening remarks about transportation in the United States.

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Transcript

00:00terrific working relationship over at financial services and general government.

00:04Look forward to continuing that relationship here today.

00:07The overall chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr Cole, had

00:11intended to be here today, but I think everybody knows he's facing a disaster

00:15in his own district with tornadoes a couple of days ago, and he is there

00:19attending the matters in his district in Oklahoma. Without objection, his

00:24prepared remarks will be included in the record.

00:28And now I'd like to recognize my good friend from the great state of

00:33Connecticut and the ranking member on Appropriations, Mr Laurel. Thank you so

00:37much, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Womack, Ranking Member Quigley, thank you both

00:42for holding this hearing. Congratulations to you, Chairman Womack, on your first

00:46hearing as chair of the subcommittee, and you are indeed a great friend. I want to

00:51say a thank you to you, Secretary Buttigieg, for being here today, for all

00:54that you have done to streamline and improve the travel experience throughout

00:57our airports, rail systems and other transportation modes, and for your role

01:02in overseeing all the work underway across this country, rebuilding American

01:08infrastructure. And that is thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs

01:12Act. I know we all wish we were joined in this hearing by the new chair of the

01:17full committee and the previous chair of this subcommittee, Chairman Cole. But

01:21as the chair remarked, he's unable to be here. But we pray for a swift

01:27recovery for the communities across Oklahoma that are impacted by the recent

01:32tornadoes. For hardworking Americans, business travel, daily commutes, hard

01:38earned leisure travel, everything in between. Life in America requires safe

01:43and efficient ways of connecting. Americans deserve the safest, most

01:48advanced systems in the world across all forms of transportation. Our

01:54transportation infrastructure is central to the health and to the well

01:58being of all of our communities. It connects everyone, urban, suburban, rural

02:03areas to their jobs, schools, grocery stores and the care that they depend on.

02:08And the work of your department, together with this subcommittee,

02:11ensures every American has access to reliable, safe and efficient

02:16transportation. As Americans travel in greater numbers than ever before, we

02:21have seen our transportation infrastructure really put to the test.

02:25Massive air travel disruptions, catastrophic train derailments, elevated

02:30pedestrian fatality rates emphasize the work to improve our transportation

02:35systems is never, never ending. And together, over the past three years,

02:40through this committee's annual investments and in the bipartisan

02:45infrastructure law, we have done so much to repair our transportation

02:48infrastructure, but the progress must continue. In the 2024 government

02:54funding package, this committee made robust investments in the safety and

02:58durability of our transportation infrastructure. We created and

03:03sustained tens of thousands of good paying American jobs with investments

03:08in airports, highways, transit systems, passenger rail and in our ports. We

03:13made targeted investments to improve our transportation system safety, cut

03:17emissions, increased resiliency, address inequities and fight the climate

03:22crisis while generating economic opportunities for working and middle

03:26class families. And we protected the bipartisan infrastructure law, ensuring

03:32that the legislation's generational investments continue to complement the

03:38work that your department does on an annual basis. To build on the success

03:42of the president's request for D. O. T. Includes $25.7 billion in

03:48discretionary funding to create safer, more equitable and more modern

03:52transportation systems. Critically, the budget calls for an additional $1.7

03:57billion in funding for the Federal Aviation Administration, which

04:01desperately needs to bolster staffing, modernize its systems to keep up with

04:05the historic rates at which Americans are traveling through the skies. The

04:10budget also invests in the Federal Railroad Administration for

04:13infrastructure and safety enhancements and to assure that Amtrak is able to

04:18meet the needs and demands of the public, which is increasingly looking

04:23for rail options to meet their travel needs. And just as an aside, Mr

04:28Secretary, I ride Amtrak twice a week and uh and and it's always crowded. It

04:36really is for and it is a great and wonderful, safe way to travel. And we

04:40thank you for that. I know you believe like I do that investing in our

04:44transportation infrastructure is one of the best ways to supercharge the

04:48American economy. We get an extraordinary return on our investment

04:52dollar when we connect communities, facilitate commerce and draw Americans

04:57closer together by building modern, fast and safe transportation systems. So

05:03it's wonderful to have you here with us this morning. We thank you for all

05:06of your work. Look forward to your testimony. And with that, I want to say

05:11a thank you to Chairman Womack and ranking member quickly. And I yield

05:14back. Thank the gentlelady. Mr Secretary, this is the first hearing of

05:19the Transportation, Housing and

‘One Of The Best Ways To Supercharge The American Economy’: DeLauro Touts Transportation Investments

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