Hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee - Opening Statement of Sen. John Thune, Nomination Hearing on Elaine Chao

Hearing

I want to welcome everyone to the Commerce Committee's first hearing of the 115th Congress, especially our new members, Senators Inhofe, Lee, Capito, Young, Baldwin, Duckworth, Hassan, and Cortez Masto. In addition to growing in size, our Committee now has the proud distinction of being the Senate Committee with the most women members ever, at eight.

I also would like to thank all of our returning members, especially Ranking Member Nelson, for their hard work last Congress. Together, we were able to enact over 60 measures in the 114th Congress. I am anticipating another full agenda this Congress, and I am confident that we'll be equally successful.

Today we will consider the nomination of Secretary Elaine Chao to be the 18th Secretary of Transportation.

The agency Secretary Chao has been nominated to lead plays a vital role in facilitating and promoting the safe and efficient movement of goods and people throughout our country and the world. The Department contains 10 component agencies, employs over 57,000 full time employees, and has an operating budget of $75 billion.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the transportation sector employs over 12 million people nationwide and contributes nearly $1.4 trillion to the nation's economy, or 8.6 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. In my home state of South Dakota, this translates into approximately 10,000 jobs. But, these numbers only begin to tell the story, because so much of our economy is dependent on a thriving transportation sector.

For example, without a robust and efficient transportation sector, rural states like mine would be unable to get their goods to market. Increasing the capacity and efficiency of our nation's highways, rail lines, pipelines, and ports is crucial, and will have to be a top priority for the next Secretary of Transportation.

Another top priority for the next Secretary of Transportation must be safety. While our nation's pipelines, railroads, airways, and highways have a strong record of safety, improvements can and should be made. Of course, it will be important to avoid one-size-fits all solutions on safety. Instead, the Department must offer a range of tools to combat unique safety challenges, as South Dakota has done with its innovative 24/7 sobriety program to combat impaired driving.

Many of the strong safety improvements this Committee advanced as part of the FAST Act and PIPES Act last Congress are yet to be implemented, and we will expect our next Secretary of Transportation to work with us to ensure speedy implementation. We will also have the opportunity to collaborate on safety improvements when we revisit the authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration later this year.

The next Secretary of Transportation will also have a unique opportunity to show federal leadership in the advancement of transportation innovation. V2V technology, autonomous vehicles, and unmanned aircraft systems, to name a few, have great promise to increase safety, improve efficiency, and spur economic growth.

But, like all new technologies, these must be properly integrated into our current networks in a way that maximizes their benefits without compromising the performance of the current systems.

Secretary Chao, if confirmed, you will have a momentous opportunity to transform Americans' transportation network by promoting safety and innovation, growing our nation's freight network, and ensuring all users -- both rural and urban --benefit equally.

To my colleagues, I would say that, if you were to imagine an ideal candidate to tackle these challenges, it would be hard to come up with a more qualified nominee than the one before us. In addition to serving for eight years as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Secretary Chao has also served as the Deputy Secretary of the department she's now been tapped to lead. Her extensive experience also includes leading the United Way of America, the Peace Corps, and the Federal Maritime Commission.

Secretary Chao, you have consistently proven your willingness to roll up your sleeves and address the challenges facing our nation. I would like to thank you for testifying today and for your willingness to continue your record of service to the country.

I will now turn to Ranking Member Nelson for any opening remarks and then, before Secretary Chao's opening statement, she will be introduced by her husband Senator McConnell and the other member of the Kentucky delegation, Senator Paul.

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