The subcommittee will come to order. Our minds are elsewhere because of what happened at the baseball practice field menn of one to once again mention those two Brave Police Officers ever injured with a member and former member of the staff so we do not forget them and we wish there full recovery. Still with that be welcome secretary chao with fiscal year 2018 budget secretary chao comes to this position with frankly one of the most to impressive records of Public Service having served as chair as the Maritime Commission the department of transportation director of the peace corps not to mention in leadership positions in the private sector and not for profit you have large and complex organizations were fortunate to have somebody of your expertise and experience and knowledge facing deity as we face some challenges but nobody is more prepared than we have agreed to come back to Public Service has to always have. I work look forward to working with you to maintain the safety of our Transportation System those that lead to Economic Growth and this is what we are talking about. The budget request 16. 3 billion of that total revenue and resources and aviation programs so with that top priority i am pleased the of budget request has priority and those that our consistent to continue those priorities with the previous 17 bills sold in addition to focusing on safety we obviously must insure to grow the economy to be fiscally responsible transportation investmentssure to make sure that we dont leave Rural America in economically distressed areas behind. With that 2018 budget and beyond we want to be sure that we continue and i want to make sure we address the role communities also to take a look at san important component of the Transportation Network we can and must make tough choices with federal spending. I have some concerns aboutrt the administrations proposals on transit projects but look forward to working with you through those difficult issues eyelet for jury spirited discussion to transfer operation facilities to nongovernmental entity whether the monopoly controlled by the government i have not been shy that is itcountable to the public and i go see any of their way to achieve this then continue that oversight ruled that to preserve the voice frankly as a National Asset commercial aviation or general aviation that in many cases and though no where they are. So we must perfect the rights of the travelling public as well. s not a it isnt a secret we have an unmatched Safety Record ill look forward to it and open the air space to more and more users some of the of which is beyond our current imagination such as note forward to discussing this issue with you today end continuing that conversation i appreciate the attention given to the infrastructure it is an area where we can find common ground. That only with the ability to get around the reallyly look forward to working with you and the colleagues to make Smart Investments tost cut red tape and protect the taxpayers so they give for appe service to the nation and with that of a bite to yield to the Ranking Member. We are glad to have you here first of what to associate myself with the chairman three marks about the tragedy yesterday in the concern we have for our colleagues and in particularleyo one of the Police Officers who was injured we are very proud of him and he is a graduate of North Carolina and we have followed his progress over the years and we have come together as an institution and as a country i believe. I hope some good will come of it but with those tragedies that command our attention and our good wishes. We are here this morning to examine the 2018 budget commest for go the system impacts every american lenos investing in transportation infrastructure creates jobs and keeps a safe we also know that were not doing so well according to objective observers the 2017 report card gives a great defoliate b . The report concludes we need to invest for a half trillion dollars we have heard a lot recently to reduce bureaucratic red tape these are laudable goals with a lot deliver those transformative needs withoutnta funding to modernize the to his vacation system we must take bold steps to defer the backlog to put a back to a state of good repair to make Strategic Investments to make it more efficient and the challenge before us is clear it will only get worse without action on the part of congress this Budget Proposal falls short of that market and the resultly adher adheres to those funding levels the relies on the trust fund dollars but cutting 16 percent following these reductions falls upon discretionary accounts with other into removal projects prot critical to the transportation and future. For example, the Investment Grants Program for all that lack full funding despite the fact it was increased to zero months ago in the omnibus package to lot bin the dozens of projects across the country including those said monday home district of North Carolina. Wardt and then to think it is no longer enough to afford with construction. We should be purging more state and local investment akeley concerning is to drop the tiger funding those successful projects thatro leveraged funds from other sources it is a very successful Grant Program. Multi jurisdiction projects the of regional and national significance. Tiger grants are awarded on a competitive basis in Everybody Knows how competitive it is they and the demand exceeds the current supply for girl there was 500 million ready for another round has been she rode out. Passenger rail period fares poorly in the National Rail of amtrak by more than 50 but also proposes 20 percent cut for the heavily travelled northeast corridor. Greenwell amtrak is breaking writer shepherds and isob breaking writer ship records both parties including the most longterm trends rotation reoffer recent reauthorization bill that is a model of the efficient transportation. You stated on several occasions but that cuts funding and will quickly tick them off. Nd research accou, the safe and realizations account at the federal railroad, the Pipeline Safety administration, and aviation safety activitied within the foo faas accounted. Im puzzled by. We need to know how the department will maintain safety. Want to shift gears and address air Traffic Control. The administration has endorsed the outlines of chairman schusters privatization proposal. I have grave concerns about this, said that repeatedly. This would sever faas aviation safety and air Traffic Control components. The model would reduce transparent and i and oversight and allow for fee incorrections, diminished as sees to the National Air Space and antipress dented give away of Taxpayer Fund its assets to an untested private entity and then the progress were making, threaten efforts to modernize delivering billions in savings to airlines and customers. So the budget request not only unrealistically assumes a quick transition to a private entity and defers Capital Investment inside faas that is directly at odd midst notion of improving atc operation. The other and also the Infrastructure Initiative and this is something hat has potential for bipartisan support. But we dont have enough to work with. Its a sixpage document, rather vague, mentioning 200 billion in federal outlays that supposedly would leverage 800 billion in spite of nonfederal investment. Of course we need more details about this to even begin to assess it. Before i close we need to acknowledge that we still have no budget resolution no top line spending number, no subcommittee allocations. Theres talk ol rushing to assembly a republican only omnibus package would represent a complete abandonment of the regular order. Even if we reject thed a meteorologists draconian cuts to discretionary funding the appropriations process is at risk of completely breaking down if were forced to write our bills to sequestration limits. Bipartisan budget agreementers are required given the requirementeds of the budget control act. If we have workable allocations to write transportation hud and other appropriations bills. I know we want to work in this cooperative farc but cooperative fashion. I look forward to your tim today. Work with you to ensure that Vital Transportation programs are adequately funded. Thank you. And thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you mr. Price. Now im, toly honored to pleased to welcome one of the besidest leaders, the chairman. Mr. Frelinghuysen. Itsits. Its a pleasure to walk welcome secretary chao to another stint serving our public so well. Thank you very much for being here, madam secretary. We look forward to your testimony. Let me just add on what dr. Price and mr. Mr. Bollaad. Were shocked to the core and pray for the quick recover for those wounded and we raised the profile of the Important Role of our Capitol Police and may i say a lot of what you do as sect is you have within your purview or out your purview the men and women who protect our harbors, our tunnels, our airports, our train stations, sometimes we pass by them and we acknowledge them but sometimes dont expect that at some point they might have to put their lives on the line. Want to take this opportunity to recognize their role and raise their profile. Todays hearing is an important part of the oversight duty idea of the commit. The power of the purse resides here on capitol hill. As secretary of transportation youre responsible for maintaining and improving the nations infrastructure, and protecting it. As we pursue policies and programs to grow our economy, so too we must grow our infrastructure to support it. In that context, id like to bring up a critical project for our national economy. The gateway project and the hudson thumb tunnel project. Over 50 Million People between the District Of Columbia and botts has 20 of the Gross National product. Safe and reliable Passenger Rail service is essential to that economic opportunity, whether it we the east coast, west coast, or somewhere in between. Were build thing hudson tunnel is a vital importance to our region and my home state of new jersey. Given the clear benefit of the im concerned about the budget provision limiting funding for Capital Investment grants, referred to on the committee as new starts. And iger to hear either in this setting or outside this room how the Department Plans to support this vital infrastructure proposal for the new yorknew jersey region. Also taken note of the administration residents proposal to spend 200 billion on targeted federal investments to Leverage Private sector resources so the ends result in at least 1 trillion in total infrastructure spending. Like to hear more about the specifics and how it will improve our infrastructure planning for state and local governmented but above all we welcome you, madam secretary, and thank you, mr. Chairman, for the time. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Madam secretary, youre full of written testimony will be submitted. Youre recognized now for five minutedful thank you. Discuss the president s fiscal year 2018 budget request for transportation. My colleagues and i share your thoughts and prayers for those injured in yesterdays incidents and were so grateful that the Capital Police were there. On transportation we all share the same goal, to ensure that our countrys Transportation Systems are safe, dependable and ready to adapt to transformational new technologies. The president s 2018 budget represents a bold vision for our transportation infrastructure, the administration has carefully studied our current spending patterns and has taken a closer look at programs that may not be meeting their intended purposes, have outrafted their usefulness or could be replaced with new initiatived that will better address future transportation needed temp request ising and 76 bill decide for transportation. This request fully fund surface transportation programs, including the fast act, provides steady state funding for the majority of other transportation programs. The budget provides new policy direction in several key areas, first, our transportation infrastructure is crumbling and in need of attention. To address the concern the president proposed longterm reformed that change the way Infrastructure Project are regulate, funded, delivered, and maintained. The president s plan will create incentives for additional state, local, and private funding, and well ensure that federal funding is leveraged to maximize infrastructure investment. The president has identified a total federal commitment of 200 billion for Infrastructure Improvements of which a portion will be directed towards Rural America. Nest the president s fiscal year 2082018 budget has a proposal that represents a major shift for the faa. Despite spending billions of taxpayer dollars and decades of effort the government hat not been able to fully implement stateoftheart air Traffic Control technology. Air Traffic Controller still use paper strips to keep track of flights and pilots are guided using 1960s technologies, radar, for example. Congestion and delays cost more than 25 billion annually and higher fuel costs, lost product different and our quality of life. By 2020, air passenger traffic will soar to over 1 billion annually. Air faith is expected to more than double of the next three decades. Drones and Unmanned Aircraft systems have to be integrated into the National Air Space. Without change the Current System will be unable to keep up. So this administration has proposed moving air Traffic Control operations to a nonprofit, nongovernmental, independent cooperative. The safety regulatory joe e oversight fungses will remain at fa and this would resolve a longstanding conflict of interest with the operate air Traffic Control regulating its own safety. More than 50 Countries Worldwide currently have this structure of separating out air Traffic Control and air safety regulations. Finally, the president calls for reforming some of our other transportation programs, like ftas Capital InvestmentGrant Program, the discretionary portion of the essential air service, and amtraks Long Distance routes. The president also recommends we revisit the tiger Grant Programs, the truck infrastructure principles outlean i but the high lights alternative ways to fund worthy projects using a different funding formula moving forward. It also will recognize the administration residents commitment to Rural America as we revitalize our transportation infrastructure. Thank you very much for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the president s budget. Im actually 20 seconds ahead of time. Id be more than glad to answer your question. We try to keep on time so we approximately proceed with fiveminute rounds. I want to thank the members of the subcommittee. Were pretty strict and trying to keep to the timeline. I get help doing so. With that, madam secretary, as i mentioned, ive drawn a very bright line to really my opposition transferring air Traffic Control system to a what in essence is a corporate monopoly. That will remain a monopoly. The question is who will run it. Im wide open to finding ways to improvement the way the faa makes changes and how i can even do my job our our job better. Always subject to doing a better job. The problem, though, is that im concerned that proposal would reduce or eliminate the publics voice in some as criticalling a the national air Traffic Control. Im open and i have for decades been open to privatization and competition. This isnt privatize as, its monopoly and all the assets have been paid for by the taxpayers will be transferred over to this other group, and i think it potentially could frankly create great risk if we were to hand the decisions over to an unaccountable corporate board, and so thats the only level of accountability im hearing in this bill, through this board of directors. Just dont see how a board of directors made up of good people from Different Industries while do anything other than support the issues of their industries, of their special interests. So, yes, agree our Current System, like everything else, is imperfect, but it does give a guaranteed voice to the public interest, and so thats one of the issues i want to continue to talk with you about. And in addition, to basic accountability to the public, i also want to make