Order. [inaudible] thank you, mister chairman, for being here. Great to see you again. Northside rail expansion project to allow the airport to meet its growing needs. However, as you know, a series of challenges stemming from various governmental requirements have endured progress and as a result, the airport is seeking to scale the project to focus on the 24 street overpass. Because the obligation date for the ground as rapidly approaching, the airport is at high risk of losing these critical federal funds. Mister secretary, this project is important to the city of phoenix and to sky harbors future growth. Will your Department Support our efforts to extend the period of eligibility for the ground and work with the airport on this modified project, so it does not lose these critical, federal funds . Our goal, of course, is for every grant recipient to succeed when funds are awarded, in this case. It was 2019 funding. I believe the issue here had to do with being the obligation deadline with the proposed change in scope they had. But well be happy to follow up and engage or staff to explore anything we can do to be supportive in the context. Really appreciate working closely with you to make sure we retain those critically important federal funds. Arizona is one of the fastestgrowing states in the nation, and we have real transportation needs. To made these demands of our growing population, we must invest in our interstate highways. Interstate ten is a key corridor connecting phoenix and tucson. Yet there is still a large section that is only two lanes, creating traffic bottlenecks for the more than 110,000 vehicles per day that utilize it. And we need new highways to move commerce and people like interstate 11, to like the last few metropolitan areas in the country, phoenix and las vegas, that are not connected by an interstate. Arizona has committed resources to the next phase for the environmental work for interstate 11. It is investing 400 million in interstate ten to expand capacity to address safety concerns, improving the movement of goods in people and to increase access to the gila river indian community. But arizona cannot meet these needs on its own, it doesnt need a strong federal partner. Mister secretary, do you agree that the Mega Grant Program should focus on projects of the size and scope, like the expansion of iten, and construction of 11, that cannot be done by the state alone with its in annual formula dollars . To ensure the government is a full partner on these projects that have impacts on regional and National Mobility and commerce. Thank you. Certainly, the intent of the mega program and our goal in administering it is to ensure that projects that are too large and too complex and their scope can be supported through traditional means, very much too large to be shouldered by a state alone. Make sure they get the federal support to help see them through. So, well taken care, of course, not to prematurely comment on any application, i would certainly say that we intend to be supportive of as many qualifying projects as we can. Knowing that the scales you see with some of these efforts are exactly why was massacred of an additional source of funding, as provided in iija, over and above what weve had to work within the past. Mister secretary, i want to talk about one final issue and that is Passenger Rail service. Phoenixs largest city in the United States without access to Passenger Rail service. As other communities have gained access to a passenger, rail they have experience significant new economic opportunity. But my state, unfortunately, has missed out. Im hopeful that will change and there is reason for optimism. Amtrak has proposed connecting arizonas two large in fast growing metropolitan areas, phoenix and tucson, with frequent and reliable Passenger Rail service. Mister secretary, in your opinion, what can we do the best support the tooth on phoenix west valley rail line . Well, the framework that i think will allow us to support efforts like this is the fact that the overall funding for Passenger Rail includes a set of funds that is specifically for looking beyond the northeast corridor. Of course, a lot of the attention is on the northeast corridor. But a lot of the need is elsewhere. So they have issued a framework for a corridor identification and development program. This committed may. The first project pipeline should be issued within a year, next may. And that would be one of the places that i think would be natural to look, in the context of a federal state partnership that got extraordinarily enhanced funding through the Infrastructure Investment and jobs act. I had the pleasure of arriving by train in flagstaff, can certainly understand why there is a need an appetite for that service further south. Thank you very much, mister secretary. My time is completed so, now, the next up will be congressman thank you chairman, Ranking Member graves, i want to thank you for your time today, mister secretary. Mister secretary, despite the administrations best efforts, oil and gas dont seem to be going anywhere but higher. So, if you really wanted to help americans move and move our transportation goods, i would think that you might want to consider, right now, working with the president to combat high gas prices. Thats number one. And doing something doesnt mean blaming president putin of russia or begging the Saudi Crown Prince for relief or calling the oil and Gas Companies of america evil and stifling their production. However, instead of calling on the president , who is your boss to do everything in his power to address skyrocketing gas prices, you prioritize the use of taxpayer dollars to push a message of social justice. Fighting racist highways and equity in transportation. Im struggling to square your priority is with economic realities that were facing in the United States today. You say that communities of color are oppressed by racist roads while, at the same time, youre ignoring the fact that these same people are being disproportionately oppressed by rising gas prices. In fact, its fair to say this administration is directly burdening low income families, since theyre taking the brunt of massive economic challenges that we are facing today. Mister secretary, youve recommended that americans who cannot afford a six dollar gallon of gas should buy an electric vehicle. Im going by the kelley blue book, 55, 000, but even at your statement a while ago at 39, 000, im not sure how you can justify making that ask to folks who can barely provide for their families. Especially black and hispanic households, bringing in an average of 45 and 55, 000, respectively, per year. How would they be able to buy a car that caused almost as much as they make in one year . And i really think that if you want to do something, i think we need somebody serving a secretary that would be laser focused on supporting transportation capabilities and not pushing social agendas in this country. From your position. We have serious issues going on in the United States. Flight cancellations, worker shortages, skyhigh fuel prices, unprecedented supply chain challenges. But unfortunately, i see more headlines about your positions and stances on abortion and on your thoughts on gun rights than i do on plans to improve our transportation and our infrastructure. I think americans want lower gas prices and policies that will end this inflation and this Economic Hardship that we have today. Not a woke social agenda such as a billion dollar Pilot Program that you launched last month to combat, quote, combat racially disconnected roads. Its a billion dollars. Thats a billion dollars right out of the taxpayers money. I think americans know that your administration, the Biden Administration, have mismanaged much of our Natural Resources, or Economic Activities and sound policies. Which has caused this inflation and pushed us to the verge of a recession, which we are teetering on right now. It certainly appears to be a dereliction of duty on the part of many in that administration. To favor foreign nations over our own. Frankly, i dont think the price of gas is an accident. I believe it is part of an agenda, designed to fundamentally change the way our energy and transportation sectors work together. And, unfortunately, that is an agenda that leaves american superiority in the dust. Its an agenda that empowers china and russia in the middle east. And mister secretary, i do have a few questions id like to submit for the record, because were just about out of time. I look forward to your departments response. I want to thank you, again, for being here, i appreciate that. And i think that the American People deserve a lot better than what we are getting right now with our economy. With that, ill yield back. Thank you, ill give the secretary a minute to respond. Sure, i just want to address a factual inaccuracy in your question that i think is important. He began by saying that gas prices have only gone up. Hell be relieved to hear that they have gone down every single day for the last several weeks. I believe that is connected to the aggressive actions that the president has taken to reduce gas prices for americans. Of course, we want that price to go lower, it needs to, were all feeling the effects at the pump. Thats why we dont agree with the idea that its okay to let putin off the hook for his activities or to let oil and gas executives off the hook for their stated intention of not increasing production at a time of extraordinary profits. Ive never suggested that it will be easy for all americans to afford electric vehicles, although again i would point to the fact that the first ev i ever had was about 14,000. But we think policy measures can make it more affordable, and we hope that members in this body will reconsider their opposition to making evs cheaper through tax credits. Thank you very much. Next up will be congressman carson. Thank you chairman. And thank you, mister secretary, for participating today. Also, representing the great Hoosier State quite well. Im curious, mister secretary, im very proud to represent beach grove, indiana. Which is one of the most important rail maintenance facilities in the country. And unfortunately, there have been more reports of efforts to, effectively, downsize or outsource maintenance to improve the quality of passenger service. We need to improve amtraks national fleet, no doubt about it. Im certain and i love to hear for the committee to hear your efforts, sir, to continue to support and strengthen the great work that is being done at beach grove. And oppose any efforts to outsource this work. Are there any particular insights or updates you can share, sir . Well, for anything considering the operational outlook for amtrak, and have to refer you to amtrak leadership. But certainly, i recognize the importance of the work that workers at this facility do to keep our trains operating and operating safely. And would welcome any opportunity to work with your office on providing further information about how some of the funding coming toward in traffic from the Infrastructure Investment and jobs act can be applied in ways that will create a lot of work opportunity, as well as a lot of improvements for passengers. Both in terms of the Rolling Stock and maintenance, and then of course in terms of the daytoday service. Yes, sir. We are also looking forward to working with you on our targeted at reach for the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Especially through our Congressional Black Caucus brain trust, later in the fall. We want to make sure the historic investments you mentioned reach disadvantaged communities and minority businesses. I know our staff are working together on those details. Secondly and lastly, im very concerned about the worsening problems of blocked rail crossings, especially in places like downtown indianapolis. Where major intersections have been blocked for hours. Theres a very serious safety concern that really impacts urban and rural areas. I believe there has to be more that needs to be done, statutorily, to address this issue. Mister secretary, do you agree those additional authorities could help alleviate the frequency of blocked crossings . And what more can our committee do to address this issue . Thank you. We would welcome further opportunities to work on the issue of Railroad Crossings, but with the both the effect that happened when theyre blocked in the safety concerns a present. I want to thank you for the support for the infrastructure law, which provides for the Railroad Crossing elimiNation Program. We are hard at work getting those dollars ready, because we know thats going to have a benefit, as youve mentioned, both for rural and urban communities alike. Where people have had that experience of being blocked or delayed by a crossing. But also, in addition of course to the economic inconvenience effects, the simple safety dividend of having fewer such crossings, highway rail grade crossing incidents and trespassing have contributed to 900 deaths in fiscal 2021, the fiscal year 2021 alone. So, we want to do everything we can to prevent train vehicle collisions and to use the resources that we have to create fewer places where those conflict can happen in the first place. And would certainly appreciate continued attention from congress on this. Thank you very much, mister secretary, i yield back, chair. Next up will be congressman graves from louisiana. Thank you mister chairman, mister secretary, thank you for being here. Good to see you again. Mister chairman, excuse me, mister secretary, you and i have spoken in the past about concerns we have had related to highly administration is prioritizing the allocation of grants. You have large programs like raise that have nearly a billion dollars each, i mentioned to you that i had actually written much of the amendment, had negotiate with other members of the amendment that puts in law the right criteria for prioritization. So, when the administration came out that racial equity, Climate ChangeEnvironmental Justice and enhancing union opportunities were going to be the driving factors, i had strong concerns because those are things that you are all just deciding are priorities, they are not things that are actually in the law. Then i said, okay, we will wait and see how those grants are allocated and decide if it is a problem or not. Mister secretary, i remind, you i represent south louisiana, we have one of the most at risk states for sea rise, we have one of the highest African American populations in the nation, we are at the bottom of the largest watershed, taking in runoff from montana, new york, canada, and everything that is in that water. I think if you go through and look at your criteria, we should be number one, two, and three. Really up there at the top, but when you are allocating funds under the program i think it was 15 of the money. 15 went to the state of california, you had about 555 million went to blue states, only 350 million went to red states. Under the program, 100 and 62 million went to bike and pedestrian paths, i want to ask you a question. If you look at the Navigation Companies assessments of congestion, most congested areas in america, they said new york was number one, los angeles was number two, miamis number three. Do you have any idea what number four is . I do not. That would be the metropolis of baton rouge, louisiana, which puts it ahead of chicago, San Francisco, and a number of other significantly larger places. 62 hours, 62 hours a year time washes sitting in traffic. No one would have expected that that would be the case if you look at the two Grant Programs. One billion dollars each, you would think that with us being the state that should be performing at the top of your criteria, the top of your criteria that i wrote because i am incredibly biased, yet we got one grant. This is what it was, 18. 5 million to improve fare collection for new orleans transit. It is kind of hard to understand, very hard to reconcile, i tried to understand a better snapshot on google maps traffic, but it is normally dark red, this is thems normally dark red, this is the bridge, the only place in america where the interstate funnels down to a single lane, it is not because we innovated and came up with a great idea nobody came and think of. It was idiotic, proof is that we have 62 hours wasted in traffic, here is the last slide, just a picture showing the bridge that looks like a parking lot because people are just sitting there. This is iten, connecting california to florida. I want to ask, how are you prioritizing . How can projects like this not get funded when you are putting money towards bike trails, putting money towards transit systems that got 200 and 63 million under one of the programs, over a quarter of the funds, when we give transit but tens of billions of dollars during the covid relief packages. The highways did not get anything. I guess im just trying to understand, what are we doing and why arent we putting money towards True National priorities that will relieve congestion, reduce emissions, improve time saved in traffic and other things that i think we would share . Our shared priorities are very well served by the things we funded in the program and in the other program, i will acknowledge that for every dollar we were able to give out they were probably about ten that applied. We had a lot of worthy projects, many from your district and your state and from all around the country. They qualified but we were only able to work with the funding that we had. Of course, thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and jobs act we have more funding than before, which means we will be able to say yes more often. We love nothing more than saying yes to a g