Ranking Member Mike Quigley Statement at the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request Hearing for the Department of Transportation

Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcomittee's hearing on the fiscal year 2024 budget request for the Department of Transportation:

Thank you, Chairman and welcome Mr. Secretary. You and I have had the pleasure of connecting over the last couple of years in your capacity as Secretary. You have been a great partner and I look forward to continuing our work together in my new role as Ranking Member.

Overall, the budget request dedicates more than $108 billion to sustain our transportation networks and protect the safety of our airways, waterways, and railroads. This investment includes:

• Hiring 1,800 additional air traffic controllers
• Nearly $3 billion to expand bus and rapid transit to help everyday Americans travel to work, school and health appointments; and
• $4.8 billion to prevent collisions, improve worker safety, and perform signal and track upgrades on our rail systems.

There was a derailment again in Chicago last night, top of our minds.

These investments will ensure that whether it rolls, floats, or flies, our transportation does so safely and efficiently.

Now, the enactment of the 2022 bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) makes great strides to advance the safety and modernization of this nation's modes of transportation.

The IIJA included more than $660 billion over 5 years to accelerate improvements to ports, roads, bridges, airports, and rail lines – making safety, resiliency, and mobility improvements possible in this decade.

Funds in IIJA prioritize lengthy and costly capital backlogs that propel the sophistication of America's transportation networks. Due to their size and scale, these projects are not meant to be fully funded through this subcommittee's annual appropriations bill, which is why IIJA was so desperately needed.

What the annual spending bill can do is provide the steady investment our nation needs to move beyond a state of good repair for our transit networks and ensure these networks are as safe, resilient, and as efficient as possible. In essence, it gets us closer to closing the funding gap, leverages other public and private resources, and helps put shovels in the ground.

This is a responsibility our subcommittee must meet annually. Every single program dollar must be supported by federal staff. Having the necessary resources, workforce pipeline, and information technology is critical to the success of not only IIJA but the annual appropriated funding provided by this subcommittee. Revisiting the emergence of these needs each year is critical.

Mr. Secretary, what you have put forward builds on the progress we have made in fiscal year 2023.

This work takes time, diligence, foresight, and great leadership. While I believe every accident is preventable, you continue to rise to the occasion to ask for and deploy timely resources and reasonable solutions when emergencies and catastrophes arise.

I look forward to working with the Chairman and you, Mr. Secretary, in getting to a budget agreement that does not reverse or harm the progress we have made.

I want to ensure DOT has the support necessary to meet its mission to advance the world's leading transportation system in the most safe, equitable, and sustainable way.

I look forward to your testimony today.