During Wednesday’s House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) questioned Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about cuts to the department.
00:00Thank you, Chairman and Secretary Duffy. Welcome to the committee, and I look forward to welcoming
00:06you in the Inland Empire sometime in the fall. I want to give you a little background on the
00:13district that I represent, California's 35th Congressional District. We refer to it as the
00:18Inland Empire. Infrastructure is our lifeline. Our region is a logistics hub where trucks,
00:26trains, and airplanes deliver goods to massive warehouses. The bipartisan infrastructure
00:32law and this committee's appropriations gave my constituents hope, investing in public transit,
00:41safety, and more reliable transportation network. But I'm very concerned that the ability of my
00:49cities to build these projects is being undermined by the layoffs, the workforce layoffs.
00:56The cuts have made it almost impossible to get funds out the door, and only 12% of federal
01:02grants are being distributed. Delays combined with lumber and steel tariffs have threatened
01:10vital programs, and it's resulted in one major rail public transportation program to be completely
01:17canceled, no longer affordable.
01:19I also represent the Ontario Airport, and I'm concerned about the recent actions taken that
01:26undermine our air travel safety. Bipartisan efforts in Congress, as you have recognized,
01:33increased funding for air traffic controllers. But the administration undermined that by offering
01:39deferred resignations to controllers. And at least 400 of them responsible for maintaining air traffic control systems.
01:48We're fired. Resulting in delays to much needed upgrades. I agree, and I'm so happy to hear what you've just told the chairman of the full committee.
01:59And I want to make sure that you are successful in hiring those 2,000 people in addressing the attrition rates,
02:06and addressing the training needs of this workforce. I'd like to ask for unanimous consent to enter into the record an email that I received from United Airlines this week about air traffic safety.
02:21This is an email that was sent to me as a passenger on a future flight that will be flying through New York Airport.
02:32Without objection, show order. Secretary Duffy, planes are falling from the sky, some crashing into each other.
02:41Air traffic controller systems are unexpectedly shutting down and resetting themselves.
02:47Traffic controllers are too nervous to continue in many cases. Praying for a safe landing isn't enough.
02:57I'm glad that you recognize that. The flying public, though, needs to hear more reassurances that you and the department,
03:08and all of us working together, are doing everything in our power to ensure that no more lives will be put at risk,
03:16and that we can continue to fly safely and be delivered to our destination in a safe manner.
03:25I also want to address the planned closure of the pipeline and hazardous material safety administration regional office in Ontario.
03:37It's a big mouth name for an office that does such critical work.
03:41This office plays a critical role in overseeing the safe movement of hazardous materials, like dangerous gases and corrosive materials,
03:52directly impacting the safety of my constituents and the entire region.
03:57The Alameda Corridor splits my district in two.
04:00Hazardous materials travel through the heart of my cities every single day,
04:05and this office is supposed to stop problems before they happen.
04:11I sent a letter to raise concerns about this closure,
04:14and frankly, the May 8th response I received reads like it was written by someone who doesn't give a shit
04:22about the consequences of closing this office.
04:27It provided zero assurance that this office would be restored and blamed the lease termination on another agency within this administration.
04:39We can't be blaming each other.
04:41We have to take accountability for what has happened, and we have to reverse course.
04:46It is clear that the safety of my constituents and the region at large is being completely ignored by bureaucrats looking to justify savings on a website.
04:59Just last year, inspectors from our region identified 15 probable violations,
05:04and it only takes one safety violation to result in a catastrophic incident like the one in East Palestine, Ohio.
05:13Secretary Duffy, how can DOT justify this closure?
05:21I know that my time is almost running out, but how can we justify this closure,
05:26and can I count on you to review the process of this other agency of closing this office?
05:35I'll give him a few seconds to respond.
05:38Mr. Chairman, there's a lot of falsehoods that were just lodged.
05:41If you'd give me a moment to respond to the five minutes of misinformation, I would be happy to do that.
05:47So we have not fired, haven't let any one air traffic controller go.
05:51I didn't say they fired anyone.
05:52You said that we let 400 go.
05:53No one in air traffic control has been allowed to take a deferred resignation offer.
05:59We have preserved all of our safety critical mission positions, including air traffic controllers.
06:05Not one has been allowed to retire by any of the programs that we've offered.
06:12Not one, not 400, zero.
06:14We're in this situation because the last administration didn't see to take initiative on the 3,000 controllers short that we were.
06:25Under COVID, they didn't stand up the school fast enough to get more kids through Oklahoma so we would have more controllers in the airspace today.
06:33The infrastructure didn't rot in the last 100 days.
06:38We didn't have 3,000 controller shortages in the last 100 days.
06:42There was four years that came before where nothing was done.
06:46And watchdog groups have warned the DOT that the infrastructure was failing.
06:52And nothing was done.
06:54So we're going to do something about it.
06:56We're going to try to fix it.
06:57By the way, if I could just talk about grants.
07:00Mr. Chairman, can I just have one grace moment to be 30 seconds?
07:04So between Obama and-
07:062,000 positions were funded in the last administration.
07:09So don't say nothing was done.
07:12Between Obama and Trump, election day and inauguration day, in that timeframe, Obama announced 50 grants in that timeframe.
07:21Between Trump and Biden, the Trump administration announced, between election day and inauguration day, 100 grants.
07:30This time between Biden and Trump, Pete Buttigieg announced 1,000 grants.
07:37A massive increase.
07:39And you all say, where are my grant agreements?
07:42So they announced all these grants and I have to do the work and I'm going to do the work, but offer some grace to the DOT.
07:48There's 3,200 backlogs here.
07:51We're going to work through it.
07:52I want to get you your money.
07:53But to blame it on us, I think, is rich.
07:57Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
07:58And once again to my colleagues.
08:00As I said in announcing the Q&A, if you're going to spend most of your time editorializing, giving your opinion, that's okay.
08:09It's your time.
08:11But don't ask the committee to be terribly lenient if you're going to do that and then expect a response from the Secretary.
