Jim Clyburn Slams Sec. Sean Duffy Over DEI: What the DOT Is Doing Today Violates the Adarand Decision

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During Wednesday’s House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) questioned Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about DEI initiatives.

Transcript

00:00gentlemen. Mr. Kleinberg. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I noticed, Mr. Secretary,

00:08I made reference in my open statement to your submitted statement where the term DEI was used.

00:16In your oral statement, you used the term social justice, which is fine with me. I would call

00:23your attention to the fact, however, that that also raises an issue with me. We know what social

00:30justice admitted in this country. I'm a native of South Carolina. My parents, grandparents, all

00:36South Carolinians, where the Civil War began, where enslavement in this country really became

00:45the number one economy that made South Carolina the biggest economy in the country, all because

00:53of enslavement. Now, we have done some things in this country to overcome all of that. And one

00:59of the things we've done is to make special investments. My late wife, to whom I was married

01:07for 58 years, had to walk two and a half miles to school every morning right past the white

01:12school where the white kids had buses. That was social injustice. And this country has made

01:20a big investment to get beyond that. And now, all of a sudden, we see this as wasteful government

01:28spending. I don't think so. I think this is wise investment in a country that has challenges

01:38that we need all people involved in. And in the Department of Transportation, where I spend a lot of my time

01:46here in the Congress, we've had some rules and regulations about how to build highways, where

01:53to build highways, where to put those bridges. And we have done some things to stop that injustice.

02:01That's not wasteful spending. And so I would like to know exactly when you make these decisions,

02:11what kind of decision making goes into the fact that if I raise the issue that this bridge

02:17or this highway is busting up a neighborhood, putting the children on one side of the highway

02:24and the schools on the other side of the highway, I'm not telling you what I think. I'm telling

02:28you what happened in my neighborhood. These are social injustices that I think we as a government

02:36has got a responsibility to make sure that does not happen going forward.

02:43So I love builders. I'm a bridge builder myself, not trying to get from one side of the lake

02:50to the other, but a bridge builder to the future for my children and grandchildren. And I think

02:56social justice is an area that we need to pay attention to. And I would like to know, how do you

03:02make decisions about that?

03:03So, Mr. Claiborne, Congressman, I'm well aware of your history. And I think America should be proud

03:09of your history and all that you've done. I'm talking about something very specific in regard

03:15to DOT. Okay, I'm not talking about the broader political conversation. So there are requirements

03:23in the last administration, like a racial equity impact analysis has been completed for the project,

03:30or the recipient or a project partner has adopted an equity and inclusion program plan, or has otherwise

03:38instituted equity focused policies related to project procurement, material sourcing, construction,

03:43inspection, hiring, or other activities. And so what I see with the climate and the social justice

03:49requirements in the projects that you so dearly want built, that it's adding costs on, it's costing more

03:55money. And if we take out, you know, five to 10% on climate or social justice, that's money we don't

04:04have for additional projects. And that's my concern. And then the final point is, the Supreme Court in the

04:11Harvard decision said, we are not going to divide people and make decisions based on race or sex, we're

04:16going to make it based on the people and, and in Harvard, the quality of their applications to the

04:22school. And so here, these were specific instances where the costs were going up. And I don't know that

04:31this was adding to the safety or the quality of the project.

04:35Well, I will ask you to have your staff look at the Adoran decision that deals with this issue. And the Adoran

04:45decision has not been overturned by the courts. And I maintain that a lot of what we're doing

04:50at the Department of Administration today is in violation for the Adoran decision. I'll give back.

05:00Chair seeks unanimous consent to recognize Mr. Joyce out of order, since he has some other duties he needs to

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