At a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) questioned Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy about the status of planned infrastructure projects.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I am going to, as Senator Gillibrand, to state her question.
00:03Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
00:05Mr. Secretary, the Department of Defense is required to consult with the Department of Transportation prior to deploying counter-UAS systems.
00:12You and I have talked about this.
00:14I've partnered with Senator Cotton on the Counter Act to update DOD's counter-UAS authorities and ensure that all bases, in particular, are covered.
00:22Our bill will lead to an increase in the volume of requests to the Department of Transportation for real-time execution and pre-coordination of counter-UAS packages.
00:33Unfortunately, DOD has lost numerous staff who focus on the Spectrum Engineering Office.
00:40Will you commit to increasing staffing for the Spectrum Engineering Office so the DOD is not holding up DOD's counter-UAS missions?
00:49And if not, what's your plan?
00:51So, I think we can be more efficient.
00:56I think we can do more with less.
00:58But we are mission-driven.
00:59And so, if I see staffing shortages that will prohibit us from meeting the mission, and too many people have taken a deferred retirement program, I'm going to, no doubt, hire more people in.
01:11So, just so you understand the legislation, what Senator Cotton and I are trying to do is give authority to the Department of Defense for the four corners of any military site to be able to take them down immediately so that we can actually assess who they are.
01:25Why are they hovering?
01:26Because the incursions over Langley, you should brief yourself, you should get a classified briefing, highly concerning.
01:32Second, we then want to be able to track and trace that drone when they leave the base so that we know who's launching them, from what field, who owns the field, from what ship, who owns the ship.
01:46That's where we need your coordination.
01:47But it has to be instantaneously, like within the 30-minute window, or we will lose that opportunity to arguably take down or get information about an adversary.
01:57So, first, I appreciate your work on this.
01:59This is, this gets to be very complicated, but this is incredibly important.
02:04Yep.
02:04If we just look at what's happening in Ukraine and Russia, what's happening with drones is probably a wave of the future.
02:11I do think we have to think through how do, how do we allow the commercial side of drone use to expand, and how do we still protect critical infrastructure with no-fly zones, restricted airspace?
02:23And the department has, the FAA has been working on that now to think through how we do both of, of those missions as part of the equities of FAA.
02:37I ask you also about the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
02:41We've talked briefly about this.
02:43What is your plan to modernize it?
02:46Are you prepared to ask for the funding that you need?
02:48And are you committed to making sure our Merchant Marine Academy is on par with any other service academy in the United States?
02:55Listen, I appreciate the question.
02:56This is in Kings Point, New York.
02:58It's a beautiful place with rotting infrastructure.
03:03I was talking about this with you earlier.
03:06The midshipmen went four months without hot water, taking cold showers at the academy.
03:11They eat off paper plates because their dishwasher was broken.
03:15They have mold in their dorms.
03:17This is, this is not a facility that deserves to have the name America associated with it.
03:24And there, we would ask for some flexibility with how we use the money that's been given.
03:29But I think we have $170 million that's been appropriated by this committee that I don't think has been effectively used.
03:38There's been roadblocks, I think, at Marad and at the academy.
03:41We're going to work with the Army Corps of Engineers to develop a plan on how we use the money that's been given.
03:48Yeah, I'd be grateful if you would submit the plan to me in writing into the committee so we can study it and be helpful.
03:54Absolutely.
03:55And then one point of interest is DOD has these annual reports on the incidents of sexual assault in the military.
04:05And it's been a useful barometer of are we providing oversight and accountability?
04:09Is the military justice system worthy of the sacrifice of our men and women?
04:13You are due a report within the next couple of weeks to have the annual sexual assault and sexual harassment report.
04:18Will you commit to making sure that gets to us?
04:21Yes, I'll see where the status of that report is and will no doubt try to be timely on that to the Senate.
04:29Capital investment grants.
04:31In the fiscal year 2025 continuing resolution and the bipartisan infrastructure law,
04:36we provided $3.8 billion for capital investment grant programs for new transit projects.
04:42There are six of these projects that are national in scope of significance.
04:48They are already signed, signed full funding grant agreements.
04:54Do I have your commitment that you will move forward on these projects?
04:58Are these are these announced grants?
05:02So Los Angeles, the West Side Subway, Section 3, Illinois, the Red Line Extension, Minneapolis,
05:07the Southwest LRT, New York, the 2nd Avenue Subway Phase 2, New York, New Jersey,
05:12the Hudson Tunnel Gateway, and Washington State, Linwood Link Extension.
05:16So if you're asking me if I plan on canceling those grant agreements, I do not.