During a House Transportation Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN) asked U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about audits on several federal departments.
00:02Secretary Duffy, it's great to see you again.
00:05You're doing a great job in baptism by fire the first days.
00:09You really did a tremendous job, and we all thank you.
00:13Earlier this year, the president made fiscal responsibility a priority,
00:17and he asked our department heads to conduct audits of how their agencies were spending taxpayer dollars.
00:24My colleagues on the other side of the aisle and the media decided to fearmonger
00:29and spread misinformation about what this was meant for the projects across the country
00:36to review them and look at the spending.
00:38Could you take a moment to share what the goals of this audit were and what you were able to achieve?
00:44So at DOT, again, the last administration put in a lot of requirements around social justice
00:51and around the green priorities, which, by the way, the Congress didn't put those priorities in.
00:55The last administration did.
00:56So what I've done is tried to pull those out, and it's important because that means that you can put more of that money
01:03toward building the project as opposed to all the requirements around the money that the Congress didn't contemplate.
01:09And so that has been a key part of it.
01:11You know that we're trying to do more with less in our department, streamline our staffing,
01:15all the while protecting the safety positions.
01:17But can we do more with less and save the taxpayer money?
01:20We've done a lot on contracts.
01:21We've saved a billion dollars in some wasteful contracts where we don't get big deliverables.
01:26And we've looked at all those, and we want to make sure that people provide great service for the money that we give.
01:32And if you don't, we're getting rid of the contracts.
01:34So I want to be very clear.
01:35So a project like the Blotnick Bridge in Minnesota that connects Minnesota and Wisconsin was never in jeopardy.
01:43No, no.
01:44Those are the type of projects we want, correct?
01:47Of course.
01:47Great big projects.
01:49I just reviewed Blotnick, I think, yesterday or two days ago.
01:51That's a great project, a great bridge that connects our two states.
01:54There was some fear-mongering about that, so I wanted to make it clear.
01:59So in my district, the Duluth International Airport, an airport I know you have flown out of,
02:03has the third-oldest air traffic control tower in the country.
02:07It is in rough condition, and Mr. Secretary, and that's the nicest way I can describe it.
02:11Yet, despite the inadequacies, Duluth International Airport provides a critical role in generating local employment by supporting regional aviation activity, joint civil-military operations, and all businesses located in Duluth, roughly 4,000 jobs.
02:27It also contributes an estimated $1.4 billion to the economy.
02:31First, Mr. Secretary, I would like to extend an invitation for you to visit the air traffic control tower.
02:36I'd welcome that.
02:37And then second, could you share how critical air traffic control tower infrastructure is to your vision for modernizing air traffic control?
02:45Listen, it's critical.
02:46Again, a lot of these, the towers and TRACONs and the centers are becoming dilapidated, and it's our job to actually rebuild them and make them worthy of the greatest country on earth.
02:57And therefore, the equipment we put in is also the best in the world.
03:02Our air safety is a gold standard.
03:04Gold standard.
03:04Yeah.
03:05I hope this Congress can provide the necessary financial investments to make modernization a reality.
03:10Additionally, we need to provide your agency with the flexibility it requires so that towers like Duluth, which is locally owned but FAA operated, are not left behind in your mission to modernize.
03:24And I would ask that you would take that into consideration and this body as well.
03:28100%.
03:28Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for your great work.
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