Rick Crawford Asks Sec. Pete Buttigieg Point Blank: ‘Why Are You Squandering Time And Resources?’

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On Thursday, Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) questioned Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on highway repair during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you.

00:03Mr. Crawford.

00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:05Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being here today.

00:07I want to address something that we've talked about before,

00:10and that is the Federal Highway Administration's proposed

00:13greenhouse gas emissions performance measure

00:16to force State Departments of Transportation

00:18and metropolitan planning organizations

00:20to cut carbon emissions stemming from transportation

00:22on the national highway system.

00:24You know I've voiced my concerns about this

00:27in opposition to this proposal,

00:29which demonstrably exceeds the administration's authority.

00:33The policy was specifically considered and disposed of

00:36during negotiations of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

00:40The Federal Highway Administration announced its final rule

00:43last November despite not having the authority to do so,

00:46and as a result, 22 states sued as part of two separate lawsuits.

00:53This spring, two federal courts found that the rule

00:55exceeds the Federal Highway's statutory authority.

00:58Yet now we learn that you're going to appeal that ruling.

01:02Can you tell us why?

01:04Why are you squandering time and resources

01:07to appeal a decision that's been adjudicated in court

01:09and clearly had no authority to make that rule?

01:12So explain that, if you would.

01:13Sure.

01:14I'm not going to comment on our courtroom strategy.

01:16What I will say is that any-

01:17I'm not asking for that.

01:18I'm asking for the sense behind why you're challenging the ruling

01:21when you clearly didn't have the authority.

01:24We don't believe that that's accurate,

01:26and of course we will comply with any and all relevant court rulings.

01:29That's what we're doing in the meantime.

01:31Let me ask you this.

01:32How much is this setting you back?

01:33And by you, I mean the Department of Transportation,

01:35and by Department of Transportation, I mean the American taxpayer.

01:38How much is this costing?

01:40I haven't seen a costing in terms of hours of work spent on this.

01:44That's a shame.

01:45You know, you got $661 billion to the Department of Transportation

01:50in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, $661 billion.

01:54And the things that we should be focusing on, like, for example,

01:56parking spaces for truck drivers.

01:59I'm glad you raised that.

02:00As you probably know, we're building parking spaces for truck drivers.

02:03Instead of spending the money on parking spaces,

02:06you're spending the money on appeals in the court system.

02:10The grant programs for parking spaces don't come out of the same part of the budget

02:13as lawyers working on appeals, Congressman.

02:16You really think it's a good allocation of taxpayer resources

02:19to challenge a legal decision for which you have no authority to make a rule on?

02:23If anything, we do.

02:24We think it's a good allocation of taxpayer resources.

02:26Otherwise, we wouldn't do it.

02:28Well, I guess the taxpayers probably feel differently about it

02:30because I hear about this all the time from folks in my district

02:34that actually build the highways.

02:36See, we're responsible for paying for the highways.

02:38You're responsible for making sure they're getting done.

02:40But the people actually do the work.

02:42They got a problem with this.

02:44Let me turn to another matter.

02:46Since I was first elected to Congress,

02:48I've worked to improve the safety of our nation's roadways.

02:50The American public should remain confident

02:52that our professional commercial motor vehicle drivers

02:55are operating safely throughout the country.

02:57In 2011, I introduced the Safe Roads Act, which was incorporated in MAP 21,

03:01and the creation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's

03:04National Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.

03:06My Drug-Free Commercial Driver Act, which was included in the FAST Act,

03:09would allow hair testing for CMV drivers,

03:11which is a much better way to ensure that habitual drug users

03:14are not operating in safety-critical roles.

03:17The Department of Health and Human Services continues to fail

03:19to implement that requirement.

03:21I'm going to continue to remind them to do their job.

03:23The Department of Justice just published a rulemaking

03:26seeking to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I narcotic to Schedule III.

03:30Under current law, trucking and other safety-critical transportation workers

03:33are required to be tested for certain drugs, including marijuana.

03:36Marijuana continues to be the drug most frequently seen

03:39by CMV drivers in their testing,

03:41reported to FMCA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.

03:44The rescheduling and deregulation of marijuana

03:47would inevitably cause the number of people driving impaired

03:50while high to grow.

03:52The American Trucking Association has transmitted two letters to your agency

03:55highlighting these concerns.

03:57I would ask unanimous consent to submit those into the record.

04:01Mr. Secretary, I think it's safe to assume that, you know,

04:04the number of all impaired drivers on our roadways

04:06would increase with that ruling.

04:08Can you speak to what your department is doing

04:10to ensure that transportation workers in safety-reliant positions

04:13can continue to be tested for marijuana use

04:16if this proposal goes forward,

04:17and how your department plans to address transportation safety

04:20in light of DOJ's rulemaking?

04:22Thank you. Yes, any impaired driving,

04:25be it alcohol, marijuana, or any other source of impairment,

04:28is, of course, a major safety concern.

04:30Our understanding of the rescheduling of marijuana

04:33from Schedule I to Schedule III

04:36is that it would not alter DOT's marijuana testing requirements

04:40with respect to the regulated community.

04:43For private individuals

04:45who are performing safety-sensitive functions

04:47subject to drug testing,

04:50marijuana is identified by name,

04:52not by reference to one of those classes,

04:54so even if it moves in its classification,

04:56we do not believe that that would have a direct impact on that authority.

05:00Likewise, I should mention for federal employees,

05:03including any DOT employees

05:06who have a security clearance or a safety-sensitive position,

05:09we do not understand that to be changed,

05:12any drug testing requirement relevant to that,

05:14to be changed based on the reclassification decision,

05:17but we're continuing to evaluate any indirect impacts that it might have.

05:22Thanks. Go back.

Rick Crawford Asks Sec. Pete Buttigieg Point Blank: ‘Why Are You Squandering Time And Resources?’

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