During a House Transportation Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) asked U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about parking access for truckers.
00:00Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you, Secretary Duffy, as well, for being here today.
00:05We appreciate the good work you've been doing at DOT. It's good to have you back in the People's House.
00:12Mr. Duffy, the first thing I want to do is congratulate you on your new role as acting NASA Administrator, as well.
00:20As the representative of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and the chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee,
00:28I know you're going to be doing a great job. Once you get settled in your new role, though,
00:33we'll be asking you to testify on the budget requests from Office of Management and Budget.
00:39And in the meantime, I would like to have your assurance, if you can, that you will not take any actions pursuant to fiscal year 26 budget requests
00:50until Congress acts on OMB's proposal.
00:54And as an example, such as layoffs, program terminations, et cetera.
00:59Listen, I'm going to follow the will of Congress.
01:02And just as you know, I'm the interim administrator.
01:06I imagine the administration is going to nominate someone.
01:09I do think it's important that, and you would agree, we have to start to move forward.
01:12There are very critical timelines that we have to meet.
01:15And I'm happy to work with you and your committee and the Congress to make sure we're doing that.
01:22Good to hear. Thank you.
01:24And turning to Department of Transportation, the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation,
01:29which goes by the acronym AST, issues licenses for launch and reentry activities for commercial space launch providers.
01:39Can you assure me that AST will prioritize launch and reentry licensing rather than activities beyond its statutory bailiwick,
01:50which was a real problem over the last four years of the previous administration?
01:54I can commit to that.
01:56Absolutely. Thank you.
01:57Thirdly, I also proudly represent the 36th District of Texas, which includes the Port of Houston.
02:04We boast the largest port in the state of Texas by gross tonnage,
02:07an industry that supports 1.54 million jobs throughout our state.
02:13And as you might guess, port infrastructure issues are critical to my district
02:17and indeed to the entire coastline of Texas, which hosts six deepwater ports.
02:22Secretary Duffy, as Congress continues with important work reauthorizing infrastructure programs this year,
02:30can I count on you to work with us to ensure that our ports have the support and the resources that they need?
02:37A hundred percent.
02:38Amen. Thank you.
02:39Time permitting, I've still got a few seconds.
02:41Mr. Secretary, the lack of safe and accessible truck parking has been a top concern for many in the trucking industry for many years.
02:50The department recently highlighted truck parking infrastructure as a priority.
02:54Can you elaborate on what specific actions, funding mechanisms, or guidance would include to address the nation's severe truck parking shortage?
03:03I would just note that I don't think this was a past priority.
03:07I think, I don't think, I know this administration does care about truck parking and the safety of truckers and our traveling public.
03:14So we've already deployed one large grant agreement with Florida.
03:19We have others in the works and we're going to continue to work with all of you to make sure that our truckers are treated fairly and our public is safe.
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