COMMITTEE ACTIVITY

The hearing focused on AV trucks and how these vehicles could address the estimated shortage of 78,000 truckers. In his opening statement, Chairman Rick Crawford (AR) listed several benefits of autonomous trucks, including increasing efficiency, enabling route optimization, improving fleet utilization, creating new high-paying jobs in the trucking industry, and reducing roadway congestion.

Rep. Crawford also addressed safety concerns surrounding the use of AV trucks, pointing out that 94% of all serious vehicle crashes are due to driver factors, such as speeding or driving while fatigued, impaired, or distracted. He went on to say, "autonomous vehicle trucks, like AV cars, help us with anticipating road dangers and mitigating or removing human error from the chain of events that lead to a crash, thereby reducing the number of accidents caused by human error."

Additional information about the hearing is available here.


Use and Regulation of Autonomous and Experimental Maritime Technologies

(Rep. Van Drew at the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation hearing.)

In September, the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation held a two-panel hearing focused on the use and regulation of autonomous and experimental maritime technologies. Members of the Subcommittee had the opportunity to question representatives from the Coast Guard, the National Academy of Sciences, Triton Submarines, Sea Machines Robotics, Inc., and American Maritime Officers.

The hearing focused on the increasingly automated and experimental technologies in the maritime industry and examined both the commercial and the United States Coast Guard’s uses of these technologies. As the global market for autonomous and experimental technologies has increased, Congress has enacted several legislative provisions to support the Coast Guard’s efforts to leverage and regulate these developing technologies. Hearings such as this allow Congress to stay up to date on any regulatory changes necessary to ensure the safe use of these technologies.

Additional information about the hearing is available here.


Clean Water Infrastructure Financing

The Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a September 28^th hearing on financing clean water infrastructure. Clean Water infrastructure construction and maintenance is integral for local communities nationwide. Subcommittee members had the opportunity to hear local and national perspectives on the current state of clean water infrastructure financing, including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program, and analyze recent changes and current issues in clean water infrastructure financing, including changes and additional funding provided under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

Additional information about the hearing available here.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell testified before the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. Members were able to ask Administrator Criswell about FEMA’s response to recent disasters like the wildfires in Hawaii, Hurricane Idalia, and others.

Rep. D’ Esposito (NY) brought up FEMA’s role in addressing the migrant crisis and asked the Administrator if “resources that should be utilized in other areas of FEMA focusing on its original mission are now being taken away because of the issues that we are facing because of the failed policies of Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden?”

(Rep. Chavez-DeRemer questions FEMA Administrator Criswell.)

Subcommittee Vice Chairwoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR) used the hearing to speak with Administrator Criswell about how the high turnover at FEMA has negatively impacted her district. In 2020, Oregon experienced its worst wildfire season on record, and three years later, a county in her district is still waiting for FEMA’s response to its applications to obtain unobligated funds for a water treatment plant. Rep. Chavez-DeRemer said the county “dutifully completed their paperwork and met FEMA’s engineering requirements. However, high turnover at FEMA has forced the city to re-explain the application and re-justify each aspect of the project multiple times.”

Additionally, members raised a number of other issues related to FEMA programs and bureaucracy that are impacting their districts and the Nation.

A recap of the hearing is available here.

Additional information about the hearing is available here.

(Rep. Rick Crawford)

 Rep. Rick Crawford is an Army veteran and six-term Congressman representing Arkansas' 1st Congressional District. In his capacity as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, he recently wrote a letter to Secretary Buttigieg expressing concerns over the lack of effective cybersecurity requirements in the Biden Administration's National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. The NEVI program was established by IIJA, and Rep. Crawford, along with several of his T&I colleagues, have expressed concern over the Administration's willingness to leave the development of NEVI cybersecurity protections up to the states without any substantial or uniform guidance. In the letter, Crawford asks, "as the Department continues its deployment of the NEVI program, we strongly urge you to provide guidance and move quickly to address these potential vulnerabilities to protect the security of Americans and our Nation's grid."

In addition to his role on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Crawford serves on the House Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

(Rep. Marc Molinaro)

First-term Congressman Marc Molinaro is a native New Yorker representing New York's 19th Congressional District. At this month's T&I oversight hearing with Secretary Buttigieg, Rep. Molinaro questioned the Secretary about the implementation of IIJA, saying that "despite the fact that we are now in the third year of IIJA's implementation, projects are yet to come to fruition," and asking the Secretary what the DOT is doing to move along projects. He also asked Secretary Buttigieg about Amtrak's lack of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Of the 385 stations under Amtrak's control, only 30% are in ADA compliance. Rep. Molinaro went on to comment that money has been set aside to make transit stations more accessible and that "IIJA itself included an additional $1.74 billion." He then requested the DOT commit to more aggressively enforcing Amtrak's necessity to meet the ADA requirements.

Rep. Molinaro serves on the House T&I Committee, the Committee on Agriculture, and the Committee on Small Business.

Rep. Molinaro’s full exchange with Secretary Buttigieg is available here.

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