Skip to playerSkip to main contentSkip to footer
  • 7/21/2025
During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke about three nominations for the Department of Transportation.
Transcript
00:00Today we're considering the president's nominees to lead three safety agencies within the Department
00:06of Transportation.
00:08With us today are Mr. Derek Bars, nominee for Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier
00:13Safety Administration, Mr. Jonathan Morrison, nominee for Administrator of the National
00:19Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Mr. Paul Roberti, nominee for the Administrator
00:26of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
00:31Americans want a transportation system that is fast, convenient, and reliable, but above
00:37all, safe.
00:41President Trump and Secretary Duffy have made safety the top priority of the Department of
00:46Transportation, and the three nominees before us intend to make it theirs as well.
00:53As a young deputy sheriff in Florida, Mr. Bars responded to a nighttime collision between
01:00a logging truck and a car full of young adults.
01:04Ever since, he has spent his career working to improve large truck and motor carrier safety.
01:12Mr. Bars served for nearly three decades in law enforcement, rising from deputy sheriff to
01:18head of Florida's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
01:23He is deeply familiar with the FMCSA, having enforced federal motor vehicle regulations and
01:32managed FMCSA grants in the state.
01:37As Administrator of FMCSA, he hopes to modernize the regulations governing the nation's trucking
01:45and busing industries.
01:48Mr. Morrison is equally dedicated to the mission of NHTSA, ensuring that cars on our road are
01:55safe and reliable.
01:58This won't be his first time at the agency.
02:01Mr. Morrison served as NHTSA's chief counsel during the first Trump administration, and having
02:06worked at a leading tech company over the last four years, he recognizes that NHTSA safety
02:12standards must keep up with automotive innovation.
02:17Our third nominee, Mr. Roberti, is ready to manage PHMSA, which oversees transport of hazardous
02:26materials.
02:27This includes the movement of oil, natural gas, and other critical American energy products,
02:33over three million miles of pipeline in this country.
02:38That's in addition to hazardous materials that we move by truck, rail, water, or air.
02:44I am hopeful that Ranking Member Cantwell and I can broker an agreement on an overdue PHMSA
02:50reauthorization that can be implemented by the new PHMSA administrator.
02:56Like Mr. Morrison, Mr. Roberti served during the first Trump administration as chief counsel
03:01at the agency to which he has been nominated.
03:05In that role, he cleared backlogs of hundreds of enforcement matters at PHMSA.
03:12And in various roles in Rhode Island state government, Mr. Roberti modernized the state's pipelines,
03:18increased their safety, and shared what he learned with other states.
03:22I'm excited to hear what he can bring to the federal agency this time around.
03:27I look forward to hearing from all our nominees.
03:30And now turn to Ranking Member Cantwell.

Recommended