GOP Lawmaker Asks Transportation Secretary Point-Blank If Biden 'Racial Equity Pet Programs' Are A Waste

5 months ago

During a House Transportation Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Addison McDowell (R-NC) asked U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about Biden-era safety policies.

Transcript

00:00Representative McDowell. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Secretary, I only have three minutes,

00:05which is not nearly enough to highlight the historic progress that this administration has

00:10made since President Trump took office. So I'll keep it brief. But since January, this

00:16administration has tackled challenges and inefficiencies in our nation's transportation

00:22system head-on. And that's from improving safety in our national airspace system to course-correcting

00:29President Biden's, his administration's wasteful green energy spending initiatives. And you have

00:37shown time and time again, this administration has shown time and time again, that it's focused on

00:42American safety and security above all else. And that's why it's so disappointing to hear

00:48my Democrat colleagues in this hearing today have been focused on paintings hung in your building

00:54and racist roads. Mr. Secretary, you commented earlier on this during Mr. Garamendi's time. And

01:03I'd like to give you the chance to expand on your thoughts. But do you think that spending money

01:07to extend the previous administration's racial equity pet programs is a distraction from the

01:14department's core mission? I think the core mission is safety and kind of as a history lesson in 2009 or

01:2310, the Congress under Barack Obama's leadership spent $800 billion in infrastructure, the stimulus bill. And then we

01:30spent another $1.3 billion or $1.3 trillion in the last Congress, that's over $2 trillion. And I think we look around our

01:37communities and say, where's all the infrastructure? Where's the build? And I think it's because money hasn't

01:42been used wisely, to your point. And I'm committed to making sure we spend money well so taxpayers can see the benefit

01:49of the money that's going into their infrastructure. Yes, sir. I agree. And I appreciate your commitment to that.

01:54But I think the reason to me that it's so disappointing to hear my colleagues drift away from

02:00transportation and infrastructure is because and you know this well, you went to North Carolina to Western

02:07North Carolina, in early February, and you saw the destruction there. And there are real issues that

02:13are facing people in our communities. And on this committee, I'm the furthest west. So I just I want

02:18to speak to those people. Because President Biden, and our former Governor Roy Cooper absolutely abandoned

02:24Western North Carolina. And I'm so grateful for this administration for what they've done on day one,

02:29they were in Western North Carolina, you and the very, as soon as you were confirmed in the Senate,

02:34you were in Western North Carolina, and there are roads and there are bridges that need to be rebuilt.

02:38And I just want to know what the departments, you know, how committed are you all to making sure

02:44that Western North Carolina and places like Texas that have just experienced flooding are rebuilt in a

02:49smart way? So North Carolina, I think I-40, critical artery, we worked throughout government to make sure we

02:58look at that rock that was closer to the roadway cutting off months of the rebuild,

03:04bringing down the cost. But again, I think sometimes when we come from rural communities,

03:11people are forgotten. And I think to that point, Western North Carolina was, I think,

03:18arguably forgotten. President Trump, I'm not going to forget Western North Carolina,

03:22we are not going to forget Texas. We're already providing technical assistance to Texas. And with

03:28all of your help, we're going to provide resources to Texas in regard to their infrastructure that was

03:33destroyed by the flooding. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, I yield back. Thank you.

03:37I now recognize Representative Fushi. Thank you.

GOP Lawmaker Asks Transportation Secretary Point-Blank If Biden 'Racial Equity Pet Programs' Are A Waste

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