'All Of Us Want To Make Sure We're Safe': Secretary Sean Duffy Praises New Aviation Safety Bill

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Sec. Sean Duffy spoke about new aviation safety legislation.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, and I now recognize the Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to give his remarks.

00:06Mr. Secretary.

00:07Thank you, Senator, and first I want to thank you and your Senate colleagues for taking a bold step.

00:15There's a few tweaks we may want to make with you and give you some feedback and insight,

00:19but by and large, this is the right approach.

00:22And we're here today because of the tragedy in January at DCA, and that should not be the story.

00:34Focus on safety should have always been the focus.

00:37And I think in the past, people became complacent.

00:41Leaders became complacent.

00:43And we had warnings of near misses in the DCA airspace.

00:50Unacceptable.

00:51And so I think at this moment, by the way, because of the great partnership of the families,

00:56and I couldn't ask for better partners, constructive, insightful, helpful,

01:02you know, paying this forward to make sure no other family goes through what they went through

01:05has just been a godsend to make our skies safer, and I thank you all for your effort.

01:13But this is the right step.

01:15This is the right approach.

01:16And by the way, Senator Cruz is a Republican.

01:20This is not partisan.

01:22Safety is not partisan.

01:24It is Democrats and Republicans, House, Senate, DOT, FAA, the President's administration.

01:32All of us want to make sure we're safe.

01:35And so, Senator, I commend you for this bold effort and rallying the forces in this body to make sure we lead

01:43and make sure our skies continue to be the safest in the world.

01:46And this is one giant leap that's going to help make that happen.

01:50And I look forward to working with you and your colleagues to advance this cause.

01:54So thank you for driving.

01:58Again, 22 years ago, the NTSB recommended this.

02:01By the way, sometimes people get concerned about cost, and I don't think we should be concerned about cost when it comes to safety.

02:10But I was talking to the administrator of the FAA.

02:13The cost to deploy this technology is not that great for commercial aircraft or for the military.

02:20We can drive safety way higher and also at a very affordable cost.

02:27That's the benefit of the advancement of technology over the course of the last 22 years.

02:33And so this is doable.

02:35And I think the American people expect this from this body, this administration, to keep them safe.

02:42And so with that, thank you for having me and look forward to working with you, Senator.