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Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today, we are confirming former Congressman Sean Duffy as the new Secretary of Transportation.

Our Nation's infrastructure is essential to the economy, trade, and vitality of each of our 50 States. In Iowa, it is fundamental to moving our agriculture products, manufacturing goods, and, of course, our 3.3 million people.

I have long supported sound, sustainable infrastructure policies that provide certainty to businesses, States, and the transportation community. I agree that businesses and State and local governments need long-term visions and plans to ensure our infrastructure networks remain strong and support our Nation's economic growth and competitiveness.

We are soon faced, in this body and in the entire Congress, with reauthorizing our Nation's surface transportation laws. I am glad that Congressman Duffy understands, from representing Northwest Wisconsin, that rural America has many infrastructure needs--as many as urban areas. I supported the bipartisan infrastructure bill to provide needed funding to repair and replace Iowa's aging infrastructure. I look forward to working with him to advance Iowa's priorities and sound policies for the Nation.

Now, in the case of Secretary Duffy, even though I didn't meet with him in my office, like I do a lot of nominees, I stress today the importance of responding to congressional letters and inquiries. Congress has a constitutional duty to perform oversight over the executive branch for, as we learn in high school civics, what we call checks and balances. Congress not only passes laws and appropriates money, but we have a responsibility to make sure that those laws are faithfully executed by whomever is President of the United States.

Oversight, then, allows us to hold bureaucrats accountable to the rule of law, and it helps to keep faith with taxpayers. Or another way of saying it, if we have transparency in government, which the oversight of Congress ought to implement, we have greater accountability of our work.

Currently, I have been conducting oversight over the FAA and the safety of Boeing aircraft. I fully expect the new Secretary to respond to all congressional inquiries in a timely and responsive manner.

When people come to my office, I remind them of that question they get from every chairman of every committee: Will you answer the letters that we send, or will you appear before Congress, or will you take our telephone calls?

Every one of them says yes, but that is not entirely how it works out. I use an example of the Justice Department the last 4 years--as I showed soon-to-be Attorney General Pam Bondi--that I wrote 158 letters to the Justice Department. And if I got answers, they were partial answers, but most were not responded to. That is not the way that the executive branch of government, either under a Democrat or Republican President, should be handling or, let's say, should be thumbing their nose at the legislative branch of government.

So when people say yes to these questions that they are offered by the chairmen of the committee, I say to them: It would be more honest if you would say maybe instead of saying yes. So I hope that Secretary-to-be Duffy will respond to my inquiries about the FAA and Boeing aircraft.

I look forward to working with former Congressman Duffy to support long-term infrastructure policies to keep our manufacturing and our agriculture sectors robust and to support our State and local communities that depend on their jobs.

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