It eroded. Transportation secretary elaine chao testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee on the president s 2021 budget request. During the hearing she addressed infrastructure project, highway and rail safety, investment into the nations ports and discretionary Grant Programs that impacted the needs of rural and urban areas. The subcommittee will come to order. Good morning. Im pleased to kick off the subcommittee hearing season for this and other subcommittees by examining the fiscal year 20 21 budget request for our department of transportation. Secretary chao, welcome back and thank you for joining us. Glad to have you here. Frur serves as the foundation and quality of life. It facilitates the flow of goods and services, connects Education Opportunities and plays a significant role in our nations overall welfare. Theres no question our country requires an massive investment into bridges and restore Transportation Systems to a state of good repair, improve our ports, build new runways for our airports. We must also make forward looking investments across new services and modes including projects that expand inner city Passenger Rail and improve options for cyclists and pedestrians with a renewed focus on safety, on environmental sustainability and resiliency in the face of Climate Change and other perils. On this front its specially december appointing to see the department completely push a deeply flawed rule making seeking to role back standards under the previous administration, finalized the emissions being higher and affect prices at the pump. I urge members to redivorce force. Durks the analyst of simple infrastructure week that failed to work you during this attempts. During the past three years beginning under the chairmanmanship of my did friend marrial diaz ball lart of florida, we appropriated 16 billion above authorized levels for highways, transit, maritime, infrastructure problems. Im proud of the subcommittee and what its members achieved. At the same time we often call this a down payment. I think that is an atp metaphor, it is the down payment but its not the comprehensive force we need. We know that. We need to balance the Highway Trust Fund and put us on a more sustainable path forward. As part of the budget submission the administration put together a 800 billion tenyear reauthorization proposal. This is certainly an improvement over previous plans that relied on unrealistic assumptions about private companies and statestrapped casualties. But it falls short according to the leaders of the house and senate and lacks details of the plans and most importantly how all of this is going to be paid for. Its one things to keep options open but the president needs to get serious about negotiating with congress and finding new revenues for the infrastructure virtually everyone agrees is necessary for our prosperity. Turning down to the fiscal 20 21 budget request, the department proposes roughly 89 billion in budgetary sources, which is 2 billion or 2. 2 more than the fiscal 20 active level. However, the request for Budgetary Authority is 21. 9 billion, which is 2. 9 billion or 12 below the currenter yoo. Thats a strange view for a president who posed as the champion for infrastructure. There are bright spots, including requests for the oversubscribed tiger billed grant program. Im also especially pleased to see funding for the transit property pipeline. I will note, however, the cig program at the end of the 2019 fiscal year are toughly 21 billion in unobligated carryover funds, combined with the funds just appropriated, that total rises to about 2 billion, essentially a full year of cig appropriations. We know there are many worthy transit projects across the country seeking this funding. We need additional assurances backed by action that the department would administer this program in an expeditious manner consistent with congressional intent. I also have serious concerns about the treatments of rail programs in the budget, which would slam investment in amtraks busy northeast corridor, eliminate the federal state partnership for state of good repair and shift the cost of love Distance Service onto the states. These proposals were wrongly rejected on a bipartisan basis this year. We had hoped they wouldnt recur in the budget request. Unfortunately the budget also eliminates the popular Port Infrastructure development program. It cuts nhtsas Vehicle Safety program by nearly 10 when were grappling with new safety challenges posed by automatic vehicles, large trucks and distracted driving. Finally, while the requests would eliminate supplemental airport grants it does pro pros 30. 5 million to augment faa safety actives in the wake of the boeing disaster. To add talent, increase oversight and bolster data analysis. We provided similar investments in the fiscal year to make sure our skies remain safe to the flying budget. We need to learn more about this proposal and how the plan will use these resources. Secretary chao, we look to your testimony today and working with you to ensure d. O. T. Has the funding it needs to carry out its critical mission. I would now like to turn to our distinguished Ranking Member mr. Diazbalart, for any remarks he would like to make. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Thank you for holding this hearing today. This is the first of our fiscal year 20 21 budget hearings. If this is anything like last year it will be a great hearing season under the chairmanship of mr. Price. Hes been i like to say, mr. Chairman, youre the secondbest chairman of this subcommittee. All kidding aside, hes done a phenomenal job and this has been an attitude of working together. Its really been a partnership and im grateful for the way you handled your chairmanship sir. I just need to thank you and welcome you back to the subcommittee. This is the fourth appearance before the thud subcommittee of this remarkable public servant. Since your first appearance before us in 2017, together we made some significant progress. Improving our nations roads, railways, seaports and airports. In recent years when weve had these budget negotiations, dealing with budget caps, they emphasized Infrastructure Investments. The largest portion of new Infrastructure Investments have been at the department of transportation, that you so ably, frankly, lead. And i have to tell you, youve been a remarkable partner in this effort. I have said this to you privately, and i expressed it publicly before but i think it merits being repeated. As well as your team, by the way, and your staff. Theyve done a remarkable job working day in and day out to get those resources to our states and to our localities but doing so by protecting the taxpayer in an efficient manner. Again, both you and your staff have done a remarkable job. Our communities are already seeing the results. As you know, madam secretary, these investments, improved transportation that works, helps our businesses create jobs and improve the quality of life of the folks that we represent. Madam secretary, you helped to celebrate one such example just earlier this month in florida when you announced a grant for the port of miami, which will dramatically, dramatically increase the capacity of the port to, again, provide the economic benefits for the entire region. I want to paraphrase and said it many times and my staffing reminds me all the time, in another hearing here you talked about how important the engines of Economic Growth are in our country and its so true. Thank you very much for your leadership on this project, madam secretary, and working with this subcommittee to roll out what is really a newport program, infrastructure port program development, that was created by this subcommittee. Again, no surprise, youve done a great job in rolling out that new program. I am pleased to see that your budgets request places high priority on d. O. T. Safety mission. The requests of the federal Aviation Administration of 17. 5 billion, including full support for air Traffic Controller workforce and targeted investment for aviation safety. The faa facilities and equipments program would receive 3 billion in that budget, which will help us continue to modernize the air Traffic Control system. Again, this will improve safety and efficiency, which has been a high priority of both the chairman and myself and clearly its been your priority as well, madam secretary. Capital investment grants to receive 1. 9 billion in that request to meet all commitments on currently funded Grant Agreements and in addition to 775 million on new projects expected to be ready for Grant Agreement in 2021. I will tell you working with my constituents in southern florida and parts of miami, i have seen firsthand how complicated transportations are to come together and i believe we have a strong, strong part in that effort. I believe our sub chitty has a very Important Role to play. In fact, i have said repeatedly the thud bill mr. Chairman, you said it a little while ago, frankly is the infrastructure bill until Something Else may hopefully come along. This is evident in the Major Investments we have made in recent years through this subcommittee. I, however, recognize that there is a major task ahead of us as we face the expiration of the faft act at the end of this fiscal year. Madam secretary, you outlined a really bold proposal with a trillion dollar of new services over the next several years. I know youre working through the details of this legislative proposal and i look forward to hearing about those efforts today and in the months that come and working with you, again, on what is a very, very bold proposal. Our Infrastructure Investments over the next decade will help determine americas role and role for the next century. But the task clearly will not be easy. I will again, as i always have, call on my colleagues and the administration to come together and do this jointly for the good of the American People. Again, to get this job done. I am grateful, madam secretary, for the attitude you always had of inclusiveness, of thinking outside the box, of looking at things in new and fresh ways and not just assume because they were done some way for so many years, that was the best way to do that and i have no doubt that tradition you have brought to the leadership of your position will continue to bear fruit for the American People. Again, thank you, second chao, but more importantly for your service to our nation. And with that mr. Chairman, i yield back. Thank you. And now we turn to the chair of our full committee, miss lowy. Thank you, very much, chairman price and Ranking Member diaz bellart for holding this important hearing. And welcome, secretary chao, and thank you for being here today. Secretary chao, you and i had a vo productive meeting two weeks ago and i was very impressed with your candor, knowledge, willingness to work in partnership. Its my hope that we can maintain and grow this very positive relationship. And thank you for being here today. However, i must note several gross inadequacies in the budget, including a 374. 5 million decrease for northeast corridor grants to amtrak. A 90 million decrease to Capital Investment grants. Elimination of federal state partnership for state of good repair grants. No proposal to pay for crucial spending for roads, bridges, and transit, that comes from the Highway Trust Fund. These decreases and eliminations would seriously jeopardize safety of the traveling public. These proposals are opposed by the American People and bipartisan majorities in both chambers. While this proposal is better than in previous years, the committee will continue prioritizing safety. As i mentioned during our meeting, i am very pleased that the department has made the portal north bridge eligible to advance toward funding. And i look forward to seeing that happen soon, and i thank you very much for your efforts. However, neglecting to advance the hudson tunnel project is a political decision that endagers the safety of travelers who pass through the tunnel every day. Our current infrastructure is in such desperate need of repair, by preparing for the future, must also mean ensuring continuity of service, sustaining safety, and increasing capacity. And unplanned closure of the hudson tunnel would be disastrous for our economy, and disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of daily commuters. In fact closure of one of the two tubes in the existing tunnel, a partial shutdown, has been estimated to cost the National Economy 16 billion. Bottomline is that while the hudson tunnel project and entire Gateway Program is integral to new york and new jersey, its so much more than that. If we dont make the necessary investments and the Gateway Program today, our nations greatest economy and security will suffer. So i look forward to a productive discussion today. This budget request, however, does not reflect the good work that i know we can do together. Congress has consistently rejected the Administration Proposed cuts that would shortchange our national infrastructure. Instead passing responsible funding levels. So i want to thank you again for being here today. I look forward to your testimony. And i look forward to working together. Thank you. Thank you. I now recognize miss granger, the Ranking Member. Thank you. Id like to thank chairman price and Ranking Member diaz velart for holding this pop welcome, secretary chao. Its been great honor to work with you over the years and in particularly as your role as secretary of the transportation. But i remember beginning as a firstyear member of congress, bringing you an almost impossible request from my district, and you made that possible. I never forget that ever. Nor does my district. Transportation is greatly important to my constituents. I appreciate the work that you and your staff have done to make life better for the people who live and work in my district. I appreciate this administrations emphasis on redooiszing Regulatory Burdens and cutting red tape. I look forward to what you have to say about these efforts. I also appreciate the safety of our highways and railroads and air traffic system. It worry maind a major priority. I know you personal focused on d. O. T. Safetys mission. I look forward to hearing more about your achievements in that area as well. We all know theres much work to be done to build our infrastructure and ensure the safety of our roads and our railways and our skies. I look forward to hearing from you, and how we can continue to Work Together to achieve these goals through responsible investments in our nations infrastructure. Secretary chao, thank you for your continued work and the help you give to people like me. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you. Thank you. Madam secretary, please proceed. Well of course place your entire statement in the record, but well look forward for your presentation to your presentation for five minutes or so, and then well have plenty of questions. Please proceed. Thank you. [ muted ]. There it goes. Thank you, chairman price, Ranking Member diaz bellart, chairman and ranking of the full committee for being here, members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the president s fiscal year 2021 budget request for the department of transportation. The president is requesting a total of 89 billion to support transportation programs, and overall 2 increase above funds provided in the fiscal year 2020 appropriations act. This represents the largest increase in the budget of the u. S. Department of transportation. This funding will enable the department to continue our important work in providing americans with safe and dependable transportation, help deliver infrastructure more quickly, and prepare for the future in an era of rapid innovation. The president is requesting 1 trillion to rebuild, restore and renew the infrastructure. And this request includes two parts. First, it envisioned a tenyear surface reauthorsation proposal, providing 810 billion for surface. And then secondly 190 billion for other ichb strurku structure places including bridges and freight bottleneck. This comprises the proposal that this administration has. In this proposal, we recommend an authorization that provides for more flexibility for the states and other stakeholders. It includes program and policy changes that will help deliver modern infrastructure more rapidly, while ensuring that both rural and urban areas receive the assistance that they need. In addition it provides significant investments for rebuilding and repairing highways and bridges, by using flexible grants and modern, innovative finance tools that will help to get projects moving more quickly. Its also time to end their unreasonable delays that are keeping communities from getting the infrastructure that they need. The discretionally Grant Programs address a wide with avite of needs benefiting both urban and rural areas. And toward this end, the president s discretionally budget close 1 billion for the infrastructure for rebuilding america, or the infau Grant Programs, and it includes an additional win billion for the better utilizing developments or build Grant Programs. And with respect to transit, the president s budget includes nearly 1. 9 billion for the federal Transit Administrations Capital Investment programs, the c. I. G. S. This funds the opportunity portfolio of transit projects that have signed full funding Grant Agreements, and in addition, it provides another 925 million for new projects that may become eligible for funding during fiscal year 2021. Again, this is one of the highestfunded budgets for federal Transit Administration. Turning to aviation, the president s budget recommends 17. 5 billion for the federal Aviation Administration. This includes nearly a billion dollars across programs to support the ongoing work of nextgen. The president s budget also commits 1. 5 billion for aviation saufrt. And this includes an increase of 37 million to fund targeted investments to improve faas ability to respond to specific issues like boeing 737 maxs, analyze trends and improve accountability. These will be used to establish a centralized authorization office. And the president s budget once again includes 300 million for the National Security multimission vessel replacement program. And this Program Continues the administrations efforts to replace the aging school ships o for our state and maritime academies. Turning to rail, i also want to highlight key actions the department is taking, to advance the restoration of assets on the northeast corridor. First, the fra will release an environmental asosement for the replacement of the saw tooth bridge in the near future. This brinl, a component of the Gateway Program is a key chokepoint for the northeast corridor, transiting about 350 trains each day. Second, due to a lot of hard work on the part of new jersey transit, the portal bridge project proposal just achieved a mediumhigh rating for the first time. And the federal Transit Administration has been working closely with the project sponsors. And theyre working to resolve final details in order to move the project into engineering. Finally i final finally im pleased to report that the department is working closely with amtrak to advance rehabilitation work on the existing hudson tunnel, also known as the north river tunnel. Given the time, the cost, and the complexity of building an entirely new tunnel, the department is working with amtrak to design and validate a faster and more Cost Effective mythod to improve safety and functionality in this tunnel as the first order of business. So beginning rehab work in the near term is the right move. And not waiting years foyr the construction of a new tunnel beforehand. So new and innovative methods for repairing the north river tunnel, the hudson tunnel, while still in operation, could allow amtrak to commence repairs in this tunnel as much as ten years ahead of schedule. So these are some of the key programs included in the president s fiscal year budget request. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to appear before you today, and ill be happy to answer any questions that you and other members may have. Thank you very much. And i want to lead with a question of some urgency. It involves the coronavirus outbreak and your departments role in the response effort. There are a number of aspects to this that id appreciate your touching on. How is the department coordinating with other federal agencies, including the cdc and the state department, to respond to the outbreak . How are you engaging with airports, aish lines, mass transit agency, and other Transportation Providers, to ensure that the right data is collected and shared . How are you engaging with your International Counterparts . And most important, how are you communicating with the traveling public . Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to answer those questions, because they are certainly very important. And as you mentioned, the department is a member of the Coronavirus Task force. The main responsibility for coordinating response and efforts on this issue is dhs, department of homeland security. And of course the health and Human Service department along with cdc, center for disease control. So for the department of transportation, that coordinating role is one that deals primarily with, as you mentioned, airlines, both domestic and international, and working with dhs at ports of entry, and also working with the international agencies. So that coordination role has included being involved in the air bridge to bring thousands of american citizens, nationals, safely home from china and japan. To continued air and cargo traffic between the United States and china. Three, Health Screening at 11 designated airports in the United States for american passengers who have traveled in coronavirus stricken areas. Four, weve been involved in health proet calls to protect the cruise of air crafters continuing to fly between the United States and foreign designations. And five, Health Messages about the coronavirus for airlines to to their passengers. And as the president says, they containment measures have been effective, but we must be vigilant and plan for the possibility of communitybased transmission in the United States. We will be coordinating similar efforts with transit stakeholders as partly of this whole of government plan as well. Did you Say Something about the international community, the International Counterparts that youre working with . We work with our Counterparts International counterpaurtsz. Dhs and of course hhs, and cdc, work with theirs as well. But we work with the Aviation Industry internationally to work on screening incoming passengers at foreign airports. So this means that we have to deal with International Aviation authorities overseas. And to date, approximately 15,000 returning american nationals have been vetted. And we have also d. O. T. , transportation department, has also worked with International Health agencies to distribute health information, placards, pro shoourz to passengers and Cargo Airlines that continue to provide services between the u. S. And china. We also work with International Maritime organizations as well. Although that is not our plain equity. The coast guard and dhs has the bulk of the responsibility in dealing with cruise ships, for example, that come into the United States. Thank you. We appreciate that update and those efforts, and i think were all coming to realize the what weve got to prepare for here. We hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. And your department is going to be on the front lines of the effort, as are the Transportation Providers that you work with. Ill turn to mr. Diaz bellart next. I have of course other questions, but ill defer and move on with our Ranking Member. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Youre putting me on the spot by speaking less, not taking all of your time. Again, thank you, chairman for bringing up the coronavirus issue. And again madam secretary for the fact that you are clearly on top of it. Let me switch the conversation to a totally different area, which is the south florida airspace redesign. Known as metro pleks. I understand that the faa is about to undertake an airspace here with potential airplane nose noise on communities around Miami International airport. Three questions, in essence, what is the schedule for this airspace redesign, if you have that . What are the faas plans to engage the community on the noise impacts of this redesign . And also, will the faa dedicate staff potentially to engage with effective communities in the greater miami area . Mr. Ranking member, anything in southern florida is a priority for us. Can i interrupt you, by the way . Youve demonstrated that, and im very grateful. Yes, thank you. Currently the South Central florida metro pleks is in the Evaluation Phase with the draft e. A. , environmental assessment. We expect that hopefully later this spring, early summer, around hopefully may 2020. And then the final e. A. And two different cojoind events on the project is tentatively scheduled for early fall 2020. Implementation procedures are expected in april, june and august of 2021. So we are working closely with South Central florida metro pleks. I think you can expect that. As for needed personnel, we have assigned we believe the needed staff to Pay Attention to this and make sure that it is on track. And again your staff has been amazingly accessible, as you have personally. So obviously i look forward to as that process continues, to stay in touch with you. Im glad the Ranking Member of the full committee is here, because in the 2020 again, totally different issue, dealing with china now. In the 2020 National Defense authorization act that included the transit infrastructure vehicle security act, this legislation prohibits federal Transit Administration funds from being used to purchase rolling stook from china stateowned or supported companies. That probation takes effect in 2021. Im glad the Ranking Member is here because thats something you started, and it started getting more and more support for obvious reasons. Im grateful to you for your efforts. I put it in the subcommittee here with chairmans help and everybody else. But that was your effort, again very important. This received bipartisan support. [ muted ]. Were very much aware of this issue. Obviously this is an important issue with implications that you have just mentioned. The fta is currently working with the u. S. Trade representativess office to confirm which countries are impacted by ndaa language and develop direction and guidance to to procurements prestrictions. We are in the process of preparing that plan. Fta would likely use certification to enforce this as well. So this is a top of center issue, were very much aware of it. And obviously its very much in the press as well. Thank you, madam secretary. Mr. Chairman, in the eight seconds i have left, im also concerned about airports purchasing airport services. Ill spend time with you as well on that. Thank you for helping wur your leadership. Madam secretary, its an issue i will bring up to you and your staff when we have a little bit more time. Thank you so much. Thank you. Miss lowy . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Secretary chao, good to see you again. Thank you. I want to make it clear that no one disagrees that the existing hudson tunnel is in need of rehabilitation. The tunnel opened in 1910. Thats 110 years ago. And was damaged during superstorm sandy. But rehabilitating the existing tunnel does not increase capacity its important, and i thank you for your work. But it doesnt increase capacity on the northeast corridor. So without a new tunnel and two new tracks bringing the system to four total, the bottle necks will continue to limit amtrak and Commuter Rail which prooents Economic Growth throughout the northeast. So as we have successed, just rehabilitating the current tunnel is a nonstarter. So madam secretary, im pleased the portal north bridge, a key component of the Gateway Program to remove rail bottle next along the northeast corridor is now eligible to move forward in the Capital Investment grant process. However in the last year, fta has finalized only two fullfunding Grant Agreements for new starts projects, none for core capacity projects, key projects like portal north and trans bay in california are waiting. There are more than 600 million in core capacity funds that this committee has appropriated which fta has not even allocated to projects. We increased ftas budget last year so it could process these projects more quickly. So madam secretary, what concrete steps is fta undertaking to hasten the approval of new starts and core capacity projects other than small starts projects . Thank you very much. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to clarify that point. I did not say that we dont need a second tunnel. Right now the plan is to build the second tunnel, which will take seven to ten years. And then go back and rehabilitate the current tunnel. And what we are suggesting at the department is, can we not do this concurrently . Take a look at the existing tunnel, repair that, while were preparing for the second tunnel. Having said that, the hudson tunnel still has not been able to earn more than a mediumlow rating. Its got to get higher. New jersey did it, and i know the competition between new jersey and new york is sfeers. And new jersey beat new york to this one. Im sure new york is not very happy about that. But theyve got to get their rating up to at least a mediumhigh for us to be able to talk about further financing. Thank you. The second thing about fta, i think the situation is better than what you just painted. The department was allocated all of 2. 5 billion in fiscal 2017. Theres literally no dollars thats unallocated. Fiscal year 2018, we had 2. 6 billion, and weve allocated everything except for 40. 7 million. And then in fiscal year 2019, he with had a 1. 57 billion, and we have allocated all of that basically. And just last week we allocated eat 65 million in fiscal 2020 grants. Since january 2017 this administration has awarded 22 Grant Programs agreements, advanced 23 projects into c. I. G. Project development, and advanced nine projects into c. I. G. Engineering. Were accelerating. In the beginning we were slow because we were a new team getting into place. But i think we can take a look at the figures here, i think youre pretty pleased with what we have done. I see im running out of time. I do hope that the plans to continue to repair the current tunnel move forward because its essential. Absolutely. We are not saying but i look forward. I appreciated that last meeting we had, and i look forward to talking to you and the governors of new york and new jersey, and see what we can do to move the whole plan, the project, for the new tunnel as quickly as we can. Because we know it is essential. So i thank you. Look forward to working with you. Thank you. Miss granger . Secretary chao, regulatory requirements, environmental reviews often delay state and local plans to rebuild. I appreciate that the Trump Administration is committed to reducing these burdens. Can you outline steps youve tienl reduce these burdens for d. O. T. s grantees and what are your plans too make further progress in this area . Im so sorry. I didnt hear oh. This is a huge issue, obviously, with for all of us, any one of us that care aboutive structure. When i go into different communities i am horrified sometimes to learn how long it takes for new projects to be moved along and finished. So this administration has made it a priority to reduce the Regulatory Burden and streamline the environment standards without compromising safety or environmental protection. The president s won federal decision was an unprecedented level of cooperation and collaboration within the federal Government Executive Branch itself. And late last year, the department announced our rule on rules that would codify a series of important reforms to the departments rule making, guidance and enforcement practices. Hoover dam took four years to build. I recently last year, two years ago, went up to alaska to give one of the final approvals for construction for the sterling highway. It took 37 years. Clearly that is unacceptable. Communities are not able to function and have the quality of life that they deserve, when so many of these projects are so terribly delayed. Permitting reform and Regulatory Reform are Top Priorities of this administration. Thats wonderful, in an area like i live, the city of ft. Worth is twice the size it was when i was mayor of ft. Worth. And so that enormous growth, and its happened all over the dallas ft. Worth area, to wait for the highways to catch up without a program like youve got, would just be impossible to work with. So thank you very much for that. I appreciate the explanation. Thank you. Mrs. Chairman, i also ask that since theres a little lull here, theres also the notice of proposed rule making on neepa reform. I think all of us who care about infrastructure, we will all agree there can be improvements in neepa reform without compromising Environmental Standards or safety. It is a notice of pro peased rule making and Public Comment is welcome. Well scrutinize that carefully. Thank you. Mr. Quigley. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Secretary chao, for being here. You were very public in your criticism objections, that is, to the fccs proposal to change how 5. 9 giga hearts spectrum can be used. The proposal would shrink the amount of spectrum in the band from 75 meg hearts to 30 and increase for wifi. You said the Industry Needs all 75 mega herz. Can you explain why this requires all this dedicated spectrum and what would the operational problems be if they have to operate with only 30 . This is a really controversial topic and the real estate on the spectrum is very precious. Im looking out for just safety. I want to make sure we enter a new world in which Technology Takes a greater role in helping us achieve greater safety when theres vehicle to vehicle communication, vehicle to buildings, veeng to infrastructure, vehicle to everything, Communications Going on with the wifi, that the safety aspect not be compromised and forgotten and that we have the full real estate that is required. I am not wed, the department is not wed, to any particular technology. There have been technology that have been talked about in the past. We are not wed to any one technology. We believe that the consumer should decide. Critics have said that the Auto Industry has had 20 years to use this, and just a little bit now. How do you respond to those criticisms . Well, i wonder the same thing as well. I think we should be planning for this, and i want to make sure that the mistakes in the past are not being repeated in the future. And again, the pace of innovation and technology is occurring very rapidly. I want to preserve the real estate. Theres some talk about breaking up the real estate, using Transportation Safety on this spectrum, 5. 9, and then move on to take another piece. We dont know what the ancelarry impact would be. The Defense Department and the Commerce Department all have concerns about adjoining real estate for different purposes, uses. What that will do, whether it be bleeding of certain impacts from another use of spectrum, bleeding into their sector, whatever it may be. For us it would be Transportation Safety issues. So following that though, if the technology is again so essential, why hasnt d. O. T. At this point moved forward with mandating the use of vehicle to Vehicle Technology . I dont think manda mandatin fulfill the goal because technology is changing so rapidly thank you so much is not wed to any particular the technology is changing so rapidly. So i dont think that the government should be the one deciding what technologies to use. And right now, it is not yet set which technology is best. So we cant mandate any particular technology. And you cant all we can do i think is to reserve the, you know, the spectrum thats needed. We have an ongoing study. I realize that its taking a lot longer than ever expected, but its a complicated issue. Have you been briefed as to how quickly these services could be rolled up to a significant number of vehicles . Yes. And and im not im not ive been briefed by many, many parties, stakeholders. I see no clear answer, i guess is what im saying. Whats the range that youve been told . How long it would take . There are even we talked to scientists and they wont even say how much. Some people think five years ago that it would have been available five years hence, which is today, and we are not. I think one of the largest factors is consumer acceptance. The technology can be there, but if theres not consumer acceptance of this new world, then the technological pace will slow. In any case, theres no set or superior technology that is universally accepted that the government can say, this is the best technology, this is what we will deploy. Thank you. Mr. Rotherford. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Secretary, thank you so much for being here today. I want to start with the Safety Operations appropriation language dealing with the fra. Theres 225 million commit thered. But in 1995, the Republican Congress at that time actually eliminated this user fee that has now been brought back. And we were relying on the private sector safety related investments in rail infrastructure, technology and equipment. Can you give me an idea of why the decision was made to bring this fee back now . I know that you dont like this fee, and i know that there are others as well. So as you mentioned, the president s budget does propose to impose a 50 million user fee that would reimburse the federal Railroad Administration for the operational cost of rail safety, inspectors and activities. I think the thinking was that, like other regulated industries, railroads benefit directly and indirectly from the governments efforts to assure high safety standards, and so therefore its appropriatefor the railroads to bear some of the cost structure of ensuring that safety. Thank you. I want to shift gears now and go to some of the Traffic Safety grants, and i want to thank you as a First Responder myself for the announcement to of the department for the First Responders Safety TechnologyPilot Program, the v2x. Longtime coming. Love to see that its here. I appreciate that knowing particularly the number of officers and citizens that we lose every year as a result of highspeed response. And so i would like to ask, the in last years budget, we had asked for the highrisk vehicle events study that would really kind of go along with this, i believe. Any idea where that study is at right now . It was to look at, you know, the fact that we had a 22 spike in officer fatalities and citizen fatalities. I am not quite sure. I know that were working on this. In fact we have a 38 million multimodal First Responders Safety TechnologyPilot Program. So let me take a look at that for you, because obviously i wasnt sure if the program grew out of that study or not. But because i havent seen the study. But let me take a look at this, because i certainly talk about this a lot, about the need to help our First Responders who are putting themselves in harms way. Absolutely. We really do appreciate that. And if i could, i want to talk a little bit about our maritime industry and the tremendous support that florida has received from your office. And recognize specifically the jones act, the fact that 154 billion in total economic output annually from this program, 41 billion in labor income for American Workers every year, and in addition to that, the jones act ensures that our defense capabilities are not in readiness, not being outsourced to foreign nations. And in my district alone, some, you know a 2 billion annual impact from our playeri time industries. Not only do we have the operators, marine terminals, shipyards, all the workers that are engaged as well. My question is do you see any risk or sense that the jones act is in jeopardy of being weakened or dismantled . From our point of view, the jones act is a law. We need to comply with it. So there may be disagreements from time to time within the interagency Work Task Force on this, and i think you would know which group which departments would be at odds. And but from our point of view, we are strong supporters of the jones act. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. Miss watson kobin. Thank you, mr. Chairman, its good to see you, madam secretary, and is certainly is good news about the portal bridge project. Id like to know what sort of the next steps and if you could give us any end case whindicati time frame to see money, dig a hole and make a new bridge . Right now the fta administrator Jane Williams is talking with portal bridge people. And i think the details are important. I think its a very, very positive development that theyre the rating for portal bridge has been changed from mediumhigh. I have to give new jersey a lot of credit, because they worked with us on this, and they were listening. Thats why the rating. Now it is poised, and jane is talking with them on some of the details. So theyre on the path to engineering. Were going to, if all goes well with discussion of those details. And then with engineering that is a path to financing. Theres no way of telling us if were talking a year in advance, two years in advance . This has been such an important project and such a dangerous bridge. Well, theyve crossed that hurdle. It will not be lack of trying on our part. From time to time it would be help ffl we could at least in new jersey delegation get an update on where we are on this project. Of course. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for the information regarding this sort of new thinking as it relates to the hudson tunnel. I like really have a couple of questions. Number one is, i dont understand how the tunnel could be repaired while its still in service. So i dont understand what would be happening. And i really believe that this is new to us, and im going ask if you would provide a detailed briefing on your plans to sure. The new york and new jersey delegations as soon as possible. Of course. And the third question is, since were not fully embracing your idea, that this one tunnel is sufficient, one of the problems with the issue for the hudson tunnel, well, there were two. One was that there was a contention that the financing wasnt in order. But thank you, new jersey is doing its fair share. But the other issue is the Environment Impact statement has been waiting forever and ever. The last time we had an update there were like 27 items that were supposedly identified that needed to be completed in order to have the eis done appropriately. Id like to know where we are on that as well. Of course. We wanted to be responsive on the hudson tunnel. Even though the hudson tunnel, despite a lot of discussion, has not been able to re to amend work on their plan, so that it meets the mediumhigh rating. This is not a rating that the noncareer people do. It really is a career process. Yeah, i understand that. So were not talking about one tunnel either. If theres anything i dont want come out of this hearing, it would be that secretary chao said theres only one tunnel. Were not saying that at all. What are we saying . So we are still in support of whatever, of course, because as chairman lowy mentioned, we need to increase the capacity. But right now that plan is to fund the second tunnel, which would take seven to ten years to build, assuming good conditions, and we know that projects are always delayed, so thats actually a pretty optimistic viewpoint, then come back and fix the existing tunnel. We actually took a page from governor cuomos plan. He has a project called canarsi, and he hired he asked the dean of the schools of engineering of ill wrap it up of cornell and columbia. We want to piggyback on his idea, get those experts to come and look at the hudson tunnel to see how we can, in the interim, repair it and so, because safety is a major issue. I have 31 seconds. Sorry. With that in mind we very much want a briefing on that what means. Yes. How that would be accomplished, when it could start, how long it would take. Yes. But at the same time we really want to understand our outstanding obligation with regard to the eis on the tunnel, on the hudson tunnel. And so we need a briefing on that as well. Because there were specific things that were laid out that were not sufficient, but weve got no update. And i think we need to have the information in order to know when and where we need to go next. Well, there seems to be great kids grooemt as to what the status, so well up date you. We cant do anything unless and until that rating by hudson tunnel gets improved. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. If i had more time i would ask about positive train control, i hope if i gottene dont get a chance someone else will. Thank you very much. If you can stay around, thats good. If not, submit a question for the record, well cover it one way or another. Thank you. Mr. Womack. Thank you, mr. Chairman, madam secretary, for your service to your country and your leadership. Im going to kind of throw just a general question out on the table. As you know interstate 49 runs right through my district, and we were the beneficiaries of a 25 million build grant in the last couple of years, that was critical to getting the missouri portion of this interstate connected with the arkansas portion of it. Still much more work to be done in the southern part in the area where theres unmet needs and a major bridge over the arkansas. Help me understand the president s policies toward and his interest in making sure that we get funding out in the rural parts of our country. I know hes made it a priority. Its a priority of your administration. What can we do to ensure that Rural America, which is in desperate need of having the vitalization to build economies and those kinds of things, and theres a lot of good things going on in Rural America, but what more can we do . You know, i come from Rural America. I actually used to be from new york, but im a now a kentuckian, a proud kentuckian. And Rural America is not looking for a handout. Rural america is just looking for equity and parity. And in previous administrations, the rural areas of our country have been long neglected. In the prior to 2017, 70 of transportation dollars went to urban areas. 19 of our population live in Rural America. And yet 46 of fatalities and accidents occur on rural roads. Even though theyre in Rural America, 44 of urbanites, urban residents, travel on rural roads. And the majority of our Freight Movements occur on rural roads. So it is absolutely essential that the needs of Rural America be addressed. Plus bridges that are in poor condition, the predominance, the preponderance of them, are in Rural America. Bridges with weight limitations are in Rural America, predominantly. So we need to be making sure that Rural America is not overlooked. We have so for the first time in since in the last decade, we are now ensuring that Rural America is not overlooked and that there is parity in attention and resources. Well, i certainly appreciate the fact that the administration is putting a premium on getting these funds out into the rural parts of the country, because they desperately need them. I have a real quick question about contract tu wer program. It continues to be one of the fas most important. Especially for Rural America. Thats the case in my district. I got northwest national airport, some other smaller airports that have contract to you wer partnerships going on. Will this continue to be a priority of the administration . Absolutely. The faa has fully funded all towers participating in its program, and they have also received six additional applications, all of which are being evaluated. So this is a very important part of what the faas Rural America may i assume that it fits within the safety umbrella . Absolutely. Of the administration. Again i want to thank you for your time here today and for the opportunity to visit with you personally in the office, and i look forward to continued dialogue, as we Work Together to make these issues possible. Thank you. I yield back. Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Miss lawrence. Thank you, madam secretary. When we last met, i discussed the importance of the bill grants. Yes. Thank you. To urban areas, which i represent. I appreciate the equity that we talk about, there should be no preference put on rural or urban because america is all of that. While im pleased with the departments recent 1 billion budget request, i remain disappointed with the Departments Administration of the over emphasis on rural projects. In fiscal 2019 the rural michigan did not reeve zero bill grants and only received funding for rural projects in fiscal year 17 and 18, while other states received multiple awarts in both urban and rural communities. Additionally in fiscal year 18 and 19, the department opted to not distribute any planning grants. Time and time again, cities in my district tell me how difficult it is to prepare for large projects, and often ask for help in securing funds to assist in the initial staging. Madam secretary, can you briefly discuss why the planning grants were not utilized in the past and discuss the departments strategy to ensure that communities are well equipped to take advantage of these in the future . It has been this administrations position not to have planning grants. There have been so many entities which have been receiving planning grants for such a long time. So we would like to see more action versus them planning. Hoping that the local entities, state and local, can also step up to the plate. But im always willing to talk more about that with you because there are certain areas that do have specific specific needs. And challenges. And challenges. Yes. On the issue of grants, i wish that it were as let me just say the grants are very competitive, so we never have enough money. And in most of the grants, the monies that we are allotted forms only 1 out of like 11 requested. If i can ask, madam secretary. Sure. If we have 50 states, and we have a limited amount of money, how is it that certain states, and i dont want to start beating a horse here, but certain states get multiple grants, and other states get zero. Thats very hard for me to understand how the administration is placing a priority on a certain state. And other states just get totally nothing. We dont actually place priority on states. Well, you do have on your Administration One person assigned to your home state. Thats not true. I dont know how the newspapers made that up. I certainly didnt ask that person. Thats not true . Thats not true. Okay. He happens to be from that state, but i never asked him to be that, to do that. So i think theres a so that is not true. But they have reaped the benefits of him being on that on your Advisory Board or commission . No, hes kentucky has received the highest . Thats not true. Its 29th in population and received like 32 ranking in terms of grants. Michigan has gotten none. This is a process. This is a very competitive process. What kentucky gets, what you look at illinois, for example. Illinois is 12th in the nation in terms of population. Theyre number three in terms of grants. Okay. So there are many examples of where theres disproportionate share, and a lot depends on the i dont want to say this. A lot depends on the quality of the project, whether its supported by the entire delegation, how it rates through the what is truly a meritorious process. So were always interested if i can make my plea then, the planning part grants that has been not a focus of this administration, obviously michigan is not doing something right, because for us to not get anything, and even the planning grants, even our Rural Community projects, we only received them in 17 and 18. And so i will be aggressive in seeking to sit down with you, madam secretary. As you should. To discuss this issue, because for me to answer to my constituents how this entire state of michigan has received no grants from this, and we celebrate and say we fund the bill grant, and theres nothing left. Lets continue talking. Mr. Hart. Thank you, chairman, secretary chao, its been good, great working with you, especially on some National Security issues like in west texas, the bill grants that texas has received has helped a part of texas that has a disproportionate number of traffic fatalities, and its a region that has truly allowed us to be energy independent. And that goes a long way for our National Security. As youre aware, my home state, the Ranking Members home state, we only get 95 of the rate of return from the Highway Trust Fund. And that means texas is the only state year to year that is consistently a donor state. I know the Texas Department of transportation and most of the texas delegation is not all the texas delegation would love to see that 100 rate of return, like every other state is getting. Can you im welcome some thoughts on how we can Work Together to remedy this unfair burden that texas has to share or shoulder. I understand your concern. And your concern with texas being a donor state. The fast act basically determines all of that. And the current appropriations formulas are all in the fast act. So we dont really have very much discretion in setting those formulas. And then also with about with you know surface reauthorization coming up, that will be the opportunity to relook and reconsider. Ill work with chairman priets o not that. Its a very contention issue. Im sure our Ranking Member will have an opinion on this topic when that reauthorization comes. Secretary chao, you also most of us select people for the merchant marine academies, texas a. M. And galveston is looking to purchase a new merchant marine ship, part of that for training for Disaster Preparedness which marines are having an increasing role in. My understanding is that in the president s fy 21 budget that 300 million is allocated to that. I want to confirm, is that your understanding as well . The 300 million is for the fourth ship, which should go sh texas. And my last question, my second to last question, secretary, you know, San Antonio International airport, my hometown and airport is slot constraint airplane and giving the san antonio military city usa is also the point from which most of our Border Security and men and women traveling to from texas and the border of the fact that is we are restricted from flying directly into Ronald Reagan airport is difficult and to rectify this, we are not able to address this issue unless the protectionist beyond the slot, rules is changed. Dow you have any suggestions of how we can go about addressing this issue without hamstringing current operations. Thank you for raising this. I know it is an issue thats raised by congress. Dot authorities in this regard and this area is limited. We have historically defer to congress on the appropriate number of slots for service to and from that airport. Are you aware if some of these rules were changed whether it will have impact on the pensions of airlines, companies that have previously working for airlines or receiving pensions from airlines. I am not aware of that. Thats something in previous debates changing rules have been implied and i have not been able to confirm that information whether thats the case but i appreciate your perspective. Chairman, i yield back my remaining of 18 seconds. Thank you. Thank you mr. Chairman and secretary chou, it is great to see you into our committee. I want to thank for the call that you made to me regarding the grants that were funded to the port valley and long beach. The port of valley and long beach are not in my district, however, theyre a critical in frol infrastructure in my district. We should Pay Attention not only to the ports but the 35th congressional districts that i represent. As i host all the infrastructures, imagine the impact that the ports have in the quality of life for my constituents that are driving 40 or 50 Miles Per Hour one way to work and the congestion they had to go through and competing their way to work with big trucks. In the morning, at 5 00 or 6 00 a. M. , parents are going to work and children are being left at the front door of their school, often unattended because schools dont open until 8 00 a. M. Two or three hours spent on highway on a one way of work is too much to ask of the commit tie that hopes this huge economic engine for our entire country and thats why i was delighted to receive your call that you are looking to the community and you are looking to helping to find port activities and i am disappointed that funding was zeroed out and we are going to look at the bill and grants to fund that. I think losing focus on specific port funding is a mistake. Thats my opinion. I hope that you will not lose that focus on in land ports or marine ports. I also want to tell you that dot funding is important. We dont want to create this desert communities where the suburbs that i represent where there is little economic activities. Tod grants are critically important for that. I represent a cost committee. For any grants are critically important for us. My city does not have a staffing thats required to adhere and apply for many of these grants, you have to have fulltime staff in order to report back on how they spend money. It is this huge government bureaucracy, you have to figure out a way to streamline some of these processes to ensure communities of mine are able to apply for that funding and be able to accept that funding. Finally i want to say that this committee made it really clear that urban sprawl and overwhelming traffic in areas like my district are challenging. That should be directly address by our National Transportation priorities. Can we expect the Pilot Programs that have it authorized to encourage transit planning and mixed use of developments with major transportations, projects specifically the 10 million that was provided for competitive Pilot Program to be stood up and to be available for communities to apply for . I dont know the timetable so i will look into that for you. I understand your concerns. It is common sense. You need to have transit to supply communities with resources and getting jobs and go to school and send their kids to school. Railroads and all of that, that grant was for the alameda corridor. Railroad is important in the district. We have had many, many cases, deaths as a result of people not appearing to signs or the lack of signs and Railroad Safety is a huge problem in the district so i think i have got to say here and come back for my other question. I hope you will stay focus on that. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Nice to be with you secretary chou. Thank you for coming. I want to echo chairwomans concerns of the Capitol Investment grant and note that i am glad to see the funding in the program for your request. Yesterday i had meetings with governor bakers staff and i know he shared in a recent meeting with you that mascot is going to be applied for green line transportation, we are hoping to engage in that process with you and your staff. Here is some not so fun facts. B boston is ranked the eight eighth common place of flooding. This is not just boston but neighborhoods and my communities and my district as well. The entire neighborhood of my district can be in water includes ports and airplanes. We know super storm can be such a tremendous flooding and significant damage to our infrastructure. This committee provided a Million Dollars in fy20 appropriation for the department to work with Research Board on effective way to measure the resilience of the transportation system. This is an area that we take seriously and we hope that you do as well. Can you share how you use that Million Dollars and how you tie transportation funding to resiliency effort . In our current budget, we have in our Service Reauthorization which is under going clearance right now, we include provisions for resiliency and infrastructure. Thats the first time it is ever been included and i think it is a positive development. Under 1 million grant, i dont have that handy. I would certainly look into it for you. Are there areas that you can point to where you are working to build resiliency and leveraging your grant . I am sure there are a lots. I was briefed on this and i cant remember. Well, i am sure you will get back to me. If i can, thank you. Moving onto natural infrastructure, major base solutions which is great to help us build theyre very much Cost Effective and sustainable solution. I am pleased to see that you released guidance on major base solutions for coastal highways back in august. How can we support you in the amplification and promotion of these solutions and how is federal highway incorporating them into its own projects . I am pleased to answer that. I found the answer to your 1 million. It was fiscal year 2020 appropriations bill. And it was directed for the Transportation Research port. That effort is currently in development and the funds are transmitted to rb for their use. We have a Resiliency Working Group to answer the other part of the question established to kind of collaborate all mode because that was always an issue. Obviously this issue requires the overall cooperation and collaboration. The University Grant program, we have 37 designated centers involved over 150 colleges and universities and excess of 70 million annually to carry out research on resiliency. As i mention service transportation, it will include resiliency language for the first time. Your question was if you can repeat the second part. You gave a partial answer and i have 30 seconds left. I want to return to the u. S. Merchant marine academy. Every year we talk about this, two most recent, 70 of sexual contact occurs on the ground at usmma at kings point new york. There is a request of jurisdiction with new york state. Can you tell me the status of th that . We are concerned with that. Kings point is working with the National District attorney and National Commissioner and reaching out to discuss what are the responsibilities and extending existing coherecurren that effort is initiated and ongoing. Do you have timetable for completion . Thats a good question, well look into that. Thank you, i yield back. Madame secretary, i want to return to the question of your over site of your opening statement. I realized the relationship because the faa predates the department there. There are some unique features here, none the less you clearly are the head of the department c which faa is housed. It integrate the work of aircraft and flight standards. Could the Department Requires the faa to justify issues of organization, destination authorization of oda. What actions have the department taken to foster a safety first culture at faa. When the faa makes a decision to return the max to service, what questions do you intend to ask of the faa. I realized those are broad questions. I hope they give you a chance to elaborate the iapproach you pla on taking on this manner. There is no timeline for returning boeing 737 max to service. Our number one priority is safety. The faa has the statutory responsibility to ensure its review of the airplane is to its satisfaction before any action is taken on this. My responsibility is to ensure that the faa process is one that is free from outside influences that they have paying attention and i wish they are. To this the faa is responsible of the director thatll be used to address the safety concerns that led to the grounding of the max. The faa is the Agency Responsible for descending grounding order and requirements on working with the international community. I fully expect the faa to conduct a thorough review of the max aircraft prior to its on grounding. This will include examining the recommendation from the various task forces and review boards which i have been studying this issue and secretary transportation, i reserve the right to require the faa taking additional safety actions if needed. Thank you. Thats helpful. Well monitor this carefully and want to work with you to make certain these decisions are responsible and they are adequately justified and that comes to the faa needs over site needs that the budget fully reflects that. Let me quickly turn to question or budget execution for the past three years. We appropriated nearly 16 millions as you well know significant portions of these resources provided for pending grants. In fiscal 2019, the committee provided 670 million for four Passenger Railroad improvement including chrissy and the federal state partnership for the state of good repair programs. Because of the department have been unable to award these grants in a timely manner, the fiscal 20 bill directed you to make these awards by may 1st of 2020. My first question is are you on track to meet that deadline . We certainly are very much aware of that. We hope soto. I will take that to be an affirmative answer. We got to move forward with the 2020 awards. Here we are talking about 2 million in the 2020 bill for 10 competitive Grant Programs including chrissy. I appreciate the dot has initiated six grant cycles over these ten programs. But i am concerned with the pattern of fia program so my question here has to do with the way these investments are going to be expedited. Do you need more and fra in particular . They need more resources and staff and over site. Whats your assessment . We are hopeful that well need these for deadline. There is a broader problem that we need to address. There are so many grants now in the department of transportation, i was here 27 years ago, we did not have so many Grant Programs. We now have 69 different programs. It has really required agency to respond in a way it has not before. Fra was primary a safety organization. Now theyre a grant making organization. So we just got grants out this week. We are making a priority to be responsive and understoanding that the committee wants all of us out and funding opportunities. Thats very important because that sets parameters for how applications are submitted. If we write them badly, it creates havoc and uncertainty and confusion with the Grant Application community. And since december of 2019, the department has issued 30 out of 48 total possible funding opportunities so based on our progress to date, i am pretty confident and i never want to over promise that the departments ability to complete this first phase which is the no fold is proceeding according to schedule. We have a tight timeline. We hold all the modes and not only faa. Thank you for that expression of determination. Your perception is absolutely right, this subcommittee is stuck in this. I have been grateful for what that Program Harassment to my home state, i know firsthands state of the repair grant and critically important. The activities have stepped up and have changed overtime. There needs to be adaption on the part of fra of other agencies to take on this role and we need to know if whats at the root of these challenges is staffing, is funding, we need to know that and deal with it sooner rather than later. I understand. Mr. Chairman. Before my question i want to make twopoints. First, i believe it was r rutherford mentioning the courts. I thank you madame secretary, you need to be thanked but i also need to thank the chairman. That was a program that started in this subcommittee when i shared it and however it has continued under the leadership of chairman price. Thank you and all of us owe you also a sense of gratitude for that. Second place and i think it was mccarthur lawrence, she mentions something. There is been so many press report out there and we kind of read and assume the truth. I want to thank her bringing up the issue and you clarify some of the facts on some of the things we have read. I just learned now for the first time that illinois population is 30 grants. Somebody who may have worked with somebody whos a third cousin who once drove by the door or maybe one of your staffers or maybe adam or anne. If there is, who happens to be from illinois, you are going to get a story saying that you got bias i am glad you got the opportunity to clarify that. It is a highly responsible report. Thank you. The senator from kentucky complained as to why kentucky is not getting more. I am not going to go there because i imagine you are right. You must have heard that. Let me talk a little bit about your budget request, you highlight a major new large truck crash to be conducted. The Safety Administration and the national highway traffic administration. I understand that the last of study was done nearly two decades ago. Madame secretary, what led you to decide to under take this new major study. What do you hope to learn how that may benefit road safety and just give me some thoughts about that. Thats a very important in a new major under taking. Thank you for that question. It has been more than 15 years since the original study. There has been a lot of changes and technology and Vehicle Safety and driver behavior, road way designs that impact how help a driver performs. This new study will help identify factors thats contributed to the growth in large truck crashes. And january 14th of 2019, fmcma p published information of how best to design and conduct the study. Thank you for bringing it up. Have you had the opportunity to figure out and i mean if anybody knows yet of how long it will take or what the cost it may be . I dont know yet. I will go back and ask that. I am grateful. I cant speak for anybody else. This subcommittee but also the full Committee Chairwoman is one who reminds us of the importance of safety. It is something that i am interested in and if you can stay in touch with us and as you progress and things moving forward on that. It is important. I want to commend you for bringing it up. I did not realize until i saw this recommendation that you are looking at that it has been that long and you are absolutely right. Technology is totally different than it was two decades ago. I thank you for that. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Miss lawrence. Thank you madame secretary for being here. The Automotive Market is shifting towards electric vehicles. The discussion about either in my district that local communities are grow goioing to building just electric vehicles. Can you discuss the dwopt strategy to develop a robust ev infrastructure that expand electric grid and designate proper charging siing signage a please discuss how you are working with the Energy Department to ensure that this infrastructure is upon us already. It is a matter of consumer choice. Electric vehicles are currently 1 of the current cars sold. This is an issue where infrastructure is being talked about. We have to deal with it and service authorization, proposal is the one, a proper place before that. We discuss with the automakers all the time and other interested stake holders on this. It is a huge and major part of infrastructure. It needs natural consensus. We need to all Work Together on this. We cant support and so just to make sure, mr. Chairman, i would like to yield the remainder of my time to my colleague. Miss torres. I know your time is almost up. I appreciate you being here. As part of the fast act, the regional Demonstration Program was thorsauthorized to assist entities and developing priorities and financing and strategies for projects eligible for funding under tifa. I secure 12 million in the fiscal year of 20 to stand up this program. Can you tell me what the timeline is for what it was issued so we can take advantage of that. My concern is california has passed the gas tax so we have some money where we can utilize with matching funds if necessary so this is a critically Important Program for my district. We recently went out with the request for information to get ideas from state holders and i think that was important because we wanted to get information of how the structure can best be refrstructured. Is it possible for my office to participate in that. Input that received or get some information. Then just quickly going back to Railroad Safety. According to the National Strategy strategy, the Department Plans to conduct summits specifically to the local surrounding communities and issues related to deaths on railroad property. Can you tell us what the timeline is for those Committee Meetings or stake holder meetings thatll eventually happen. You may remember that i was Department Secretary transportation way back and almost 30 years ago. This was highway rail crossing safety issues where it is a huge issue then. I was very concerned about that. One of my first priorities coming back as secretary is focus attention on this. We have done and we continuously try to get information out to engage in Educational Program to have the faa to work on railroad and local government communities to focus on this issue. I think that has actually reduced fatalities about 60 but it is still too high. We have about 400 annually, we want to work with you on this. It is a huge issue. I am going to yield back her time. Just madame secretary. Just waniting you to know that will be following up on what we can do better. Thank you so much for showing up. Means a lot. Thank you, a lot. I wonder whether or not the whole issue have been addressed madame secretary because i know there is a 2020 expectation of completion but i dont think all the transit agencies including the one in new jersey are necessarily to complete in that amount of time. I am wondering what you are doing to get them there or what can we expect in having the time to do it necessarily because it is an important issue. We have been focused on this. We have a good report card. The fra is in charge of doing this. We want to work with you. If you have particular entities that are having problems. I dont think we have done everything that we are supposed to do in new jersey. So the president s budget request is 3 million supporting fra continuing monitoring fiscal year 2021. All 41 railroads, deadline for fully implementing the ptc systems or certify that theyll implement in the system no later than december 31st, 2020. Prior initiating tining the com rail service, of 2019, tex rail is included in all of this. Ptc is in operation of 92 of the 57,855 required route miles and only about 25 of 236, 10 inch railroad achieved it. Challenges remained. This is a very important focus. Will we achieve the 100 , all the 58 . It is certainly our goal but there will be railroads and short line and entities thatll not be. The fra is watching and we are looking at it closely. The other question, i guess the concern is when theyre not meeting the deadline, if we then impose a civil penalty, it takes from money that possibly accomplished the intended goal of being in compliant. Are we able to wave thive that well . Gosh, i dont know. It seems counter in toetuiti. Thank you, i yield back. Thank you, we appreciate your appearance and time here madame secretary. I know we do have a hard stop which we have arrived at. I want on the way out to signal a concern of my own regarding truck safety, maybe you can give me a quick answer on this or if not well await your answer. This has to do with truck under rides. Our fiscal 2020 bill did direct the department to implement the 2019 gao recommendations with respect to truck under rides. I wonder if you have any timeline you can report on this morning as when you will be able to comply with these requirements. We have talked about this just yesterday so this is a priority. We do have a timeline and let me get it all to you. May i just add, i could not believe i will talk with representative lawrence personally about this but michigan has received other grants. I will talk to them. They received 533 million in discretionary grants including infra grant. I will talk to her about it. Please do that. There is more information of that sort and clarifications, we welcome that as we compile the hearing record. Our staff will be in contact with your staff and if you can return that information from 30 days from thursday. We would appreciate your cooperation in that regard. Thank you very much mr. Chairman. I dont. Thank you madame secretary. The hearing is adjourned. Thank you so much. Tonight on the communicatorcomm Consumer Technology gary shapiro talks about political ads on social media platforms. Hes interviewed by bloombergs government reporter rebecca kern. I dont think it is fair to put something on facebook or others to say that you make this decision. I think there is a way to deal with it that does not involve editori editorial. Thats not what congress to make a decision on. Some of the traditional media who are jumping up and down saying thats unfair. You know what the First Amendment protects everyone and protects political speech. We have to be really careful. The First Amendment is torn up in College Campuses and torn up on facebook. If the First Amendment is so essential, i hate to see it eroded. Watch the communicators tonight on 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan 2. Federal Health Officials testified before the Senate House Committee regarding coronavirus. Watch live tuesday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan 3 online at c spc span. Org or listen live. Secretary chad wolf testifies about the president s 2021 budget request and asked about Coronavirus Preparedness and immigration and travel ban. The