Sector. This is just over one hour. Id like to welcome our online audience and cspan. Meridian is a center for International Diplomacy and leadership and we been working since 1962 try to look for ways to strengthen cooperation on Important International issues and the issues in the secretarys portfolio are some of the most important domestic and International Issues and you will hear more about that later. Our board chair who is a mutual friend of many of you including the secretary on forcefully couldnt be here but sends his regards. Now my pleasure to introduce one of our trustees, the honorable mweghan byer who is a dynamo. She is the head of a fantastic program that brings arts and culture through our ambassadors residence is and beyond to people around the world. She served as president obamas chair of the commission of arts and humanities. She has been active also in switzerland where she and her husband, now congressman don buyer served representing the United States. She launched a lot of bilateral initiatives with switzerland. She has a long history of doing the right thing and giving her time and megan, i like to have you come up and welcome the secretary. [applause] good morning. I am megan buyer and i am so proud and honored to serve on the board of trustees at meridian. We are the american residence for diplomacy in washington. Our mission is to strengthen engagement and relationships between the United States and the rest of the world. We are nonpartisan, we are nonprofit and like at any residence and i know we have many ambassadors with us today, you will find global, academic, government, Corporate Leaders here at meridian, diplomatic engagement, cultural connections, events and people that expose us to different sectors, perspectives and cultures. But with whom we all share a certain moment in time, a time that is unique, presenting technological, environmental structural, geopolitical and economic challenges but also opportunities. Meridian helps leaders find ways to work generally together to meet their moments. Insights at meridian is a monthly series of our center for diplomatic engagement. What you will find today is we have our special guest who will give a presentation. Afterwards, he will join our charming and insightful ceo stewart holiday, for an engaging fireside chat. But where you come in his after that, we want to hear your insights, the connections you make in your mind as you listen to the presentation and the conversation. Please do join us and think about what you want to contribute after this fireside chat. Tackling complex issues is at the heart of the meridian mission. Today is no different. If you arrived a little late today, you are forgiven because im sure you were behind a construction project on the road. [applause] [laughter] president bidens bipartisan infrastructure act and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act are the largest government investments in the history of american economies. Its a dramatic remaking of our transportation networks. Rodney might think its a little late. If you think about it, having waited, there are some opportunities. We can leverage the power of our new technology. What was a speculative Climate Change on the horizon has is made manifest and we can better navigate those challenges. This over 1 trillion Infrastructure Investment upgrades our roads and bridges, or trains in transit and airports and airports, everything, everywhere all at once. Its it transportation transformation nation. What better person to drive us into this uncharted territory than a young mayor who surprised us by transforming the city in the the heartlands of america in a single decade. Rhode scholar, Harvard Mckinsey trained, navy lieutenant, 2020 candidate for president , youngestever, history making, boy wonder, secretary of transportation. [laughter] please help me welcome our honorable secretary of transportation, pete buttigieg. [applause] sec. Buttigieg wow. Thank you for the kind introduction and for your friendship. It is great to be reunited with you. I am delighted to be referred to as a boy wonder, because strangely, i have noticed every day i seem to be older than i was the previous day and the pattern has not reversed itself yet. It is a real treat to be with you and to be with secretary slater, who has been such a great source of insight and somebody who is i often look to in pursuing our work. Ambassador, thank you for hosting us. Thank you to everyone at meridian, including fred who encouraged me to come and im sorry he cannot be here today. But i know he would if he could. I will be exceedingly brief in introductory remarks because i would like for us to make the most of the conversation that we are about to have. But i thought i would mention a few things to help illustrate the relevance of International Relations and relationships to the work that were doing at the department of transportation. And i would start by noting that while of course we are a largely the mess tickly oriented agency, it also seems that so many of the challenges that we address that define our work are not challenges that are confined to national borders. Whether we are dealing with supply chains, Climate Change, health, or safety. All of these are manifestly interconnected and so often require International Expertise and cooperation to confront them. I will, though, start by offering of the bit about the domestic context in terms of that bipartisan infrastructure law that we are now fast at work implementing. If you think of the administrations tenure here as a four year arc in this term, year one was really focused on getting that legislation passed. Then it took much of the next year to establish the programs that would make it possible to deploy the 1. 2 trillion made possible by that law, about half of which is for transportation. Which means that years three and four which we are in right now is the dynamic season we were all waiting for. If year one was about the bill passing and ear two was about the program logic, years three and four are about the money moving in the dirt flying, and that is very much happening around us. Just to those street i will share that a bit about my week. Tuesday morning i was on the i5 bridge in vancouver, washington that links washington and oregon across the columbia river. It is what i would call one of the cathedrals of our infrastructure, a massive structure that is 107 years old and very much in need of replacement. But it has not been possible to assemble the funding to do that until now because the president s infrastructure plan made it possible for us to bring a 600 million grant to go towards the reconstruction that you need to undertake. But what i really want to convey is the range of activity that is going on because the same programs that are contributing to that grant are also helping us add Truck Parking in sites around the country, tennessee, wyoming, that are probably not regarded as among the iconic structures of u. S. Transportation, but critically important to our supply chains. Because Truck Drivers are not finding enough places to park which presents an issue that touches safety as well as the fluidity of our goods. Yesterday i was in charlotte where we announced 27 million in funding to contribute towards renovations and upgrades that they are doing at one of the major growing hubs on the east coast, one of the biggest hubs in the United States aviation system. But that same program, the airport terminal program, is also Funding Investment at an airport in north dakota, 48, where i cannot even say we are renovating their terminal because they dont have a terminal. We are funding them to get a terminal, to have an actual building. Which, even though there are not large airliners going in and out of the airport it is incredibly important because one of the missions served by their general aviation airstrip is air ambulance flights that go to the nearest hospital. And the pilots and patients will finally have access to a building that can be erected with a sixfigure grant. So whether we are talking about multibilliondollar projects let the hudson river tunnel that represents one of the largest public works Infrastructure Projects in the United States in our time, or whether we are talking about a sixfigure grant that is going to transform streetscape in a town that has been plagued with too many traffic deathss. All of it adds up to a season of infrastructure where we have 30 40,000 projects and counting making transportation better. And we are putting hundreds of thousands of people to work in the process, which of course is one of the reasons we were so energetic about this legislation in the first case. It is why it is called Infrastructure Investment and jobs act, with emphasis on the jobs. All of this is connected to the work we are doing around the world and what we can learn from our partners around the world. Supply chains is a term i think was not a household term three or four years ago. Now it very much is Kitchen Table talk, especially after the congestion, blockage, and disruptions we saw in 2021 as a consequent of covid. And International Cooperation is very important there. We have worked with asean to find ways to ship more smoothly and we are keeping mariners a safe and supply chains running in light of what is taking place right now with threats in the red sea. Meanwhile on the aviation side we have been working with International CivilAviation Organization in the Aviation Industry directly to standardize Public Health measures during covid much to strengthen security measures in response to russias unprovoked invasion of ukraine, to reduce global emissions through the use of Sustainable Aviation fuels, and so many more efforts that could only be done in cooperation with our partners. Which brings me to the third point i want to mention, which is that many areas in which, in all humility, we recognize that the United States can learn a great deal and improve a great deal through International Engagement and partnership. I will mention two areas in particular. One, project delivery. If we can figure out a way to be 1 more efficient on a 1. 2 trillion infrastructure bill, that represents 10 billion of value that will have been unlocked. Or to put it in the negative, every 1 that is spent less efficiently than it could be because of things taking too long or costing too much, that is 10 billion worth of value we will not get unless we get this right. And we know that there are many countries around the world, including countries whose commitment to labor and environmental protections are certainly no less robust than our own, who have found ways to deliver infrastructure more quickly and efficiently. And we want to make sure that we are learning from that. The other thing i would note is the crisis of deaths on our roadways print we are just starting to see the numbers begin to go down just a little bit. But that is only after reaching a high of about 40,000. That is on par with the level of Death Associated with gun violence in the United States. Or to put it in a different perspective, at a time when we are rightly moving heaven and earth to address aviation safety because of a quality issue that led to a plug door being blown out on a 737 max9. I would note that in number of people that is equivalent to a full 737 is lost on a daily basis on our roadways. We have seen how other countries have been able to make remarkable progress in confronting roadway deaths. And it is a particularly important moment to do that because of the technologies that are emerging. We need to find ways to make the most of the safety potential of automation that is on the horizon, while addressing the safety concerns that are associated with this technology today. And this is not a problem or a set of solutions that will be confined to any one state. So, having offered just a few examples i will end with this. This is a moment when the u. S. Is very focused on taking care of the basics. Making sure that the basics of everyday life are not a concern so that people can spend their energy on more purposeful questions, on whether there is going to be a glass of clean, safe drinking coming out of the tap, or whether internet is available, or whether there is a hole in the road on your way to work. We do that because not just that is what government is for, but also in the recognition that that is inseparable with our commitment to democracy. Our approach to government as a society is bound up with our ability to deliver those concrete aspects. And that is part of why i am so excited about the investments that we are making, but also mindful about how much depends on our effectively delivering them here in the u. S. And in dialogue with our national partners. So with that, i will show myself to my seat and i am very much looking forward to our conversation. [applause] mr. Holliday first of all mr. Secretary, go navy. Sec. Buttigieg amen. [laughter] mr. Holliday before we get started, this is such a great country, where people can build an amazing future, an optimistic future. And since we have so Many International distinguished guests i thought it would be interesting to note that your father came to the United States from malta. Now, i am sure when he came he did not expect perhaps that his son would be a cabinet secretary. But im wondering if you could just share a little bit about that and what that means to you and your family. Sec. Buttigieg yeah, my father was born i cannot even say a multicitizen, he was born a british subject, because malta only gained its independence later on. And immigrated in the 1970s as so many people did for educational opportunities, and then he became a citizen and settled eventually in south bend, indiana, which is where i grew up and became mayor. And i do wonder sometimes what the level of Culture Shock might have been for somebody from malta, especially settling in indiana. This may be apocryphal, but it is said that the inuit people have about 50 different words for snow, because they have so much experience with it and very subtle differences call for different vocabulary. Maltese does not have a word for snow. They use ice. When i overhear my father talking on the phone to his family in malta, as he would often around christmas, he would say there is a lot of ice out there, meaning it is snowing. But like so many who come to america, he found a great life here and ive always had the good fortune of being my fathers son in mind. Mr. Holliday it is a great story and a great reminder with all the negativity in the news that we are bombarded with, that these kinds of stories happen in america and they are just amazing. Obviously in your career, through your work, your vision, took that to another level. So i wanted to ask you before we get into the macro issues, the president today is traveling to East Palestine, ohio to show support for the community there. One year after the train derailment. Your agency obviously has some meaningful work going on to deal with train safety and these kind of issues. I am wondering if you could share a little bit about what the president is hoping to do and what you are working on as a relates to that. Sec. Buttigieg the president is there because the mayor of East Palestine invited him to visit. It is especially important right now because it is a chance to demonstrate that our administrations commitment to the people of East Palestine did not end when all the cameras and the media and political firestorm around that place ended a few weeks after the derailment. That we are in it for as long as it takes. This will also be a chance just to show support for a great community. When i speak to people who i got to know when i visited about a year ago who i have kept in touch with, i hear two things. One, the community does not want to be defined by this. But two, they do not want to be forgotten, and they expect and deserve support for as long as it takes. And i think the president s visit goes to show that. In terms of what we have done since, our agency was on the ground within the first few hours. But the main part that the department of transportation has had is in responding to what happened by applying lessons with regards to railroad safety. And that led to focused inspections of thousands of miles of track. It led to new regulations, including one we recently issued that has to do with emergency escape breathing apparatus for personnel who are on trains. It led to a lot of pressure from us on the Class One Railroad companies which they have been partially responsive to, to improve their practices. And what it has not led to but should, is a Bipartisan Railway Safety act. It has been filed and proposed within weeks of that disaster. It is still waiting its turn in congress. And again, it was bipartisan, and yet that is just sitting there. Mr. Holliday what is holding it up . Sec. Buttigieg great question. [laughter] mr. Holliday we could ask that about anything today. Sec. Buttigieg the Railroad Industry is certainly resisting this distillation. What is more frustrating to me is that members of congress are resisting this legislation who had a lot to say in the immediate aftermath of the crash but are nowhere to be found when it comes time to get them on the record. I think now would be a good time. Yesterday would have been a good time, but now would be a very good time to get it together. Again, it is bipartisan, and it