Transcripts For CSPAN Secretary Chao Testifies On FY 2018 Bu

The subcommittee drugs the subcommittee will come to order. I know a lot of our minds are elsewhere because of the incident yesterday at the base of field. All of us are praying for obviously the whip mr. Scalise, the two brave officers that were ofured along with the member the staff, and a former member of the staff who were injured so do not forget them and we do not forget them and we wish their full recoveries. With that, this morning we welcome secretary chao to testify for the fiscal year 2018 department of transportation. I dont have to tell it have you that secretary chao comes to this edition with one of the most impressive records of Public Service that anyone will ever seen. Having served as chair of the maritime commission, the deputy secretary of the department of transportation, director of the peace corps, secretary of the department of labor, not to leadershipumber of positions in the private and and notforprofit sector. Complex led large and organizations. All of us think we are fortunate does someone of your expertise and experience and knowledge as the dot had as we face some challenges. Of course we always face challenges but nobody is more prepared than you so we are grateful you have agreed to once again, again come back to Public Service as you always have. Thank you for your service to our nation. I look forward to work with you to improve a maintain the safety of our Public Transportation is all the wild and sharing our Infrastructure Investments improve the daytoday lives of the American People which is really what we are talking about. 16. 3dget request was billion in Discretionary Authority for a total of 75 resources total including obligation a limitations for Public Service transportation and aviation services. Public transportation is the top priority with dot and im glad and programscurity consistent with the fast act continuing with many of the safety priorities in the , as i thinkbills that is frankly very good news. In addition to focusing on safety of our transportation network, we must make sure we grow our economy. And be fiscally responsible with transportation and vestments. We must make sure we do not leave Rural America in economically distressed areas behind. As we make tough decisions that es for the 2018 and beyond 2018 budget and beyond. I want to to know i want to work with you. We want to work with you to make sure we continue to give service to small towns and remote communities and i want to make sure we address the Passenger Rail needs for our Nations Community and take a look at transit as an important component of our transportation network, it just is. We must make obviously tough choices and spending. We all have to do that. We all have to be willing to do that. I have some concerns about the administrations determination to terminate work on several different transit projects but i look forward to working with you and through all of those very difficult issues. I look forward to a spirited discussion about the administrations proposal to transfer Traffic Control operations and facilities to a corporate, nongovernmental entity. Monopoly,ling with a whether it is a monopoly controlled by the government or the monopoly controlled by somebody else. It will still be a monopoly. I have not been shy saying i believe we should maintain air Traffic Control system that is accountable to the public. It is on by the public and should be accountable to the public and i do not see any other way to achieve this and to continue our congressional oversight role and i believe that preserving the public voice, frankly, is the only way airspace as a National Asset and protect access to all users. General aviation, commercial aviation and new entrants such as drones and commercial Space Operators that frankly in many cases we do not even know what they are but it is happening now, it is starting to happen now so we must do the maximin extent possible protect the right of the traveling public as well. It is not super hard. Complexpace is the most in the world with an unmatched safety record. We can continue to build on that safety record. I look forward to it. And open the airspace to more and more users. Not limited but open it to work more users as technology ranges, some of which are beyond our current imagination but starting to happen right now. Secretary, just know i look forward to discussing this with you not only today but continuing these discussions in the weeks and months ahead. I appreciate your attention. And, the attention me president has given to infrastructure last week. Improving our nations infrastructure is an area where we can find Common Ground and make real improvements to the daily lives of the American People. Not only the ability to get around but also frankly to help our economy. So i really really look forward to working with you and my colleagues of the subcommittee to make smart investments, to go after waste, to go after red tape, and to protect the expat. So again thank you for your service to the nation, thank you for appearing before today, and with that, would like to yield now to my Ranking Member mr. Price. Youre recognized, sir. Mr. Price thank you mr. Chairman, thank you madam secretary, we are glad to have you here this morning. I want to associate myself with the chairmans remarks about yesterdays tragedy and the concern we all have for our colleagues, Steve Scalise of course and in particular i want to knowledge david bailey, one of the Police Officers who was injured and we are very proud of him. He is a North Carolina Central University graduate and we have followed his progress over the years and we really have come together as we must come together, as an institution, and as a country i believe in facing good will hope some come of it but in the meantime we are dealing with real personal difficulties, tragedies that command our attention and our good wishes. Toare here this morning examine the 2018 budget request for the department of transportation. The system that we are funding facilitates the flow of commerce, in impacts every american and we know investing in transportation infrastructure keep the same, improves our economy, facilitates jobs. We also know we are not doing so objective ofg to servers such as the American Society of civil engineers, whose 2017 report card gives americas infrastructure a grade of only d plus. The report indicates we need to bring our infrastructure from poor to good condition. We learned a lot recently about the need to reduce your category tape, encourage more investment in transportation projects. These are laudable goals but they will not deliver the transformative results we need without a core of robust federal funding to maintain and modernize and improve our nations transportation system. We must take bold steps to reduce the backlog of deferred maintenance, move our transportation of rejection back to good repair. We must make transportation safer and more efficient. The challenge is clear. It will probably get worse part ofaction on the congress and this administration. I have to say think his Budget Proposal falls short of that mark. The result largely adheres to the funding levels agreed upon in the fast act for programs that in dollars. Trust fund to move forward with construction, and dooming many to failure. Eliminating the federal matching dollars. It would have exactly the that effect. Equally concerning is the proposal to zero out tiger funding. Youre too, i can point to successful projects in my district and state that leveraged funding from other sources. This is a very successful Grant Program. Supports innovative projects. Multiregional projects of significance. They are difficult to fund programs. Deral tiger grants are awarded on a federal process and everybody here knows how competitive the processes, how far the demand exceeds the supply. Congress approved 5 million for another round of funding and it is zeroed out in this budget. The department ceased to end it routes for more than 50 and the request cut,ses a 20 print 28 incredibly, for the heavily traveled northeast quarter. Meanwhile amtrak is breaking records and more americans are looking to rail for transportation. Demand has been affirmed by members of both parties, including the most recent longterm transportation reauthorization bill and we have strong validation from North Carolina where traveling from charlotte to raleigh or the other way has become a model of a petition, wasnt, transportation of efficient, pleasant transportation. You said transportation must remain a minority, yet this will type in several important areas. Operations, research, safety and operations of the federal Railroad Administration, the Pipeline Safety account of the Pipeline Safety and Material Information and safety activities within the faa operation accounts. I am puzzled by these cuts and i hope they do not represent a lack of commitment to key safety options. We need to know how the department claims it will maintain safety with fewer resources at its disposal. Quickly now, air Traffic Control. The administration has endorsed the outlines of chairman schusters privatization proposal. Concerns about this, ive said that repeatedly. This would sever faa aviation controlnd coach of a components. The governmentsponsored Corporation Model envisioned by president schuster and trump would reduce oversight while allowing for fee increases. Anwould represent unprecedented evil way of assets to an untested entity and it would threaten progress we are making, threaten efforts to modernize under next gen. It has accelerated over the years, and so the budget request not only unrealistically assumes a quick transition to a private entity, it also defers investments into infrastructure for the upcoming this goal year. That seems to be directly at. Dds with the notion there is a much discussed Infrastructure Initiative that has potential. We do not have enough to work with. It is a sixpage document. Rather vague. Federal and nonfederal investment. Evened more detail to assesses. Before we close, we need to knowledge we still have no budget resolution, no topline spending number, no midi locations. There is talk of assembling a republican hope in a. Epublicanonly even if we reject the ricardian thehe appropriations joy akoni and cuts, and the talks are at a risk of completely breaking down. We have seen this happen in past years when we lacked bipartisan budget agreements. By patterson legit agreements are required given the agreement. If we are going to have workable cooperation so we can write transportation hud and other appropriation bills, we want to work in this cooperative fashion but we also know what must happen to enable us to do that. I look forward to your testimony today, and working with you to make sure vital programs are adequately funded. Thanks thank you mr. Price. I am particularly honored to welcome one of the most busy members of the program. Thank you very much. It is a pleasure to welcome back secretary to another stint serving our public so well. Thank you so much being here madam secretary, we look forward to your testimony. Let me add on to what dr. Price and mr. Ds said. Many of us were shocked to the core yesterday. Recoveryor the quick for those who were badly wounded and may i say, we raised the profile of our important capital police. May i say, a lot of what you do secretary, is you have within your and your review and outside the men in women who protect our harbors, our trains, our airports, our stations. Sometimes we pass by them and we acknowledge them but sometimes we do not expect at some point they might have to put their lives on the line. I would like to take his opportunity to recognize their profile. Raise their todays hearing is an important part of our oversight duties to the committee. After all, the power of the purse lies here on capitol hill. Responsible for maintaining our nations infrastructure and protecting it as we pursue policies and programs to grow our economy. So too must we grow our infrastructure to support it. In that context i would like to bring up a critical project for our national economy. The gateway project and the hudson tunnel project. As you may know, the northeast corridor encompasses over 50 Million People between the District Of Columbia and boston. Over 3 trillion in output equal to 20 of our Gross National product. Railand reliable Passenger Service is essential to that Economic Opportunity whether it be the east coast, all west coast, or somewhere in between. The hudson tunnel is of vital importance. Given the clear benefits of these projects and the consequences of the action, i am concerned about the budget provisions limiting funding for Capital Investment grants, commonly referred to as new starts. Thise eager to hear in setting or outside this room how the Department Plans to support this vital infrastructure proposal for the new yorknew jersey region. I have also taken note of the Administration Proposal to take money on targeted federal investments to leverage resources so the and result is 1 trillion in infrastructure spending. I would like to hear more about this proposal on how it will improve our infrastructure planning. Above all, we welcome you madam secretary and we thank you, mr. Chairman, for your time. Thank you. Obviously your full written testimony will be submitted. Your recognize now for five minutes. Thank you so much. Elaine chao now im transportation we share the same goal, to ensure our transportation is safe, dependable, and ready to adapt to new innovations. A bold infrastructure. Administration has carefully studied our current spending pattern and taken a closer look at programs that might not be meeting their intended purposes, have outlasted their usefulness, or might be replaced with new initiatives that might better address future infrastructure needs. The request fully funds surface transportation programs including the fast act and provides a steady state funding for the majority of other transportation programs. The budget provides new policy areas. On in several key our transportation infrastructure is crumbling and in need of attention. To address this concern the president has proposed longterm reform to change the way Infrastructure Projects are regulated, funded, deliver, and maintain. The plan will create incentives for additional state, local, and funding. It will make sure it is leverage to maximize investment. The president has identified a total commitment of 200 billion Infrastructure Improvement of which a portion will be directed toward world america. The 2018 budget also includes a proposal that represents a major faa. For the despite spending billions of taxpayer dollars over decades of effort, the government has not been able to fully implement stateoftheart air Traffic Control technology. Air Traffic Controllers still use paper strips to keep track of flights and pilots. Guided by using 1960s radar technology, for example. Congestion and delays cost more than 25 been dollars annually. Higher fuel costs, lower productivity, lower quality of life. Control willraffic be over 1 billion annually. It are for a expected to double of the next three decades. Drones and Unmanned Systems will have to be integrated into the air space without change, the current air Traffic Control system will be unable to keep up. Administration has proposed moving operations to a nonprofit, nongovernment, independent cooperative. The safety Regulatory Oversight functions will remain at faa. This would also involve and solve a longstanding conflict of interest issue with the operating entity airTraffic Control regulating its own safety. More than 50 Countries Worldwide currently have this structure of separating out airTraffic Control and air safety regulations. Finally, the president calls for reforming some of our other thesportation programs like Capital Investment Grant Program, discretionary portion of the essential air service and amtrak longdistance routes. The president also recommends we revisit the tiger Grant Programs, the infrastructure programs outlined by the president will highlight alternative ways to find worthy projects using a different funding moving forward. It will also recognize the Administration Commitment to revitalizeca as we our transportation infrastructure. Thank you very much for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the president ial budget. I am actually 20 seconds ahead of time. More than glad to answer your questions. Thank you madam secretary. With the rounds alternating side