mention for their videos. and maya, david and ali won $750 for their winning videos on money in politics and poverty and homelessness in the united states. a special thanks to our cable partner, comcast cable, for helping coordinate these visits in the community. and you can view all the winning documentaries at studentcam.org. >> now, transportation secretary anthony fox with an update on implementation of the new infrastructure law known as the fast act. he testified to the senate commerce committee. this is two hours. >> good afternoon. this hearing will come to order. mr. secretary, welcome. great to have you here. thanks for joining us to discuss the implementation of the fast act. we've just passed the six month anniversary of the enactment of the first long-term highway bill in more than a decade, and after 36 short-term extensions, the

fast act provides a certainty and reforms necessary to improve our nation's infrastructure and spur economic growth. the fast act was a significant bipartisan achievement showing once again the senate is back to work for the american people. this committee's work, which accounted for more than half of the text of the bill, helped to enhance safety, increase transparency, reform regulatory structures and improve planning for free with reforms covering everything from railroads to cars to trucks to ports as well as research and technology, this legislation was a true team effort to reduce congestion, protect passengers and improve our nation's multimodal supply chain. ..

protect lives on our nation roadways by promoting greater consumer awareness and corporate responsibility for safety. i'm please that had the whistle blower act is now the law of the land. this law which i introduced with ranking member nelson and others incentivize to blow the whistle when manufacturers sit on important safety information. other provisions in the bill also sought to address a lack of confidence in handling of recent recalls by creating strong incentives for the agency to get house in order. inspector general published a report identifying serious lapses including questions about the agency's ability to identify and investigate safety problems. i understand that nitsa has made

some progress called for by the inspector general posing eight of 17 recommendations. clearly there's more work to be down, however, and you can't pressure to increase agency efficiently, i'm also proud of the impaired driving provision that is we worked to enact. a program which originated in south dakota while maintaining maintaining the grand for states with stronger ignition inner-lock laws. i'm glad to hear about implementation of highway safety grants but the department needs to improve on highway safety so stakes can tackle their safety challenges. as i note today vehicle safety the fast act include rail title by wicker and booker, overhauls finance program to make it

efficient and accessible and most importantly raises the bar on rail safety. i commend to meet the deadline set in law. some of the reforms are tied up with the creation of innovative finance bureau, i hope the department can nonetheless take quick action to increase transparency of the program, provide stakeholders with greater certainty concerning eligibility and program terms. i look forward with coming actions meeting requirements of the act including distribution in risk data to states. 244 individuals died at railroad crossings, second most cause after trespasses. i expect this will entail

collaboration on most effective uses. i also look forward to the fra's coming amendments to implement camera on passenger trains with recommendation and helping railroads better monitor cruise and tack conditions, this one of several fast act requirements. in addition to new safety measures the fast act provided 199 million to accelerate the deployment of this important safety technology. i think it's also important to know that this bill builds upon freight planning efforts from the authorization map 21 to ensure that freight planning is truly multimodal. railroads and ports bring goods to our shores and across the country. ensures that planning considers the whole supply chain from farm

to truck to rail to port. the port performance working group will ensure that we achieve efficiencies at our ports by capturing and analyzing performance metrics. our economic competitiveness is dependent on our ability to compete with our foreign competitors and it's more expense because transportation is more expensive, that means that competitors are going to win. mr. secretary, i would like to thank you and the committee understands that this comprehensive legislation includes many new program reforms, safety mandate and reports and greatly appreciate your efforts thus far to help this legislation deliver for the american people. there's much work to be done over the next four and a half years and this committee will conduct rigorous oversight to ensure the success of the vital transportation programs but we really are off to a good start. the fast act as implemented and as this congress works faa, pipeline safety and reauthorization in the future, i

would like to thank you personally for your continued partnership in improving all aspects of our nation's transportation network. it's been great to work with you and your team and i think we have achieved some very meaningful and long-lasting results. thank you, mr. secretary. it's great to have you here. we look forward from hearing from you and at this point i will flip it to ranking member from florida. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you for having the secretary here and i will echo with the chairman has said with regard to the fast act that otherwise we refer to as the highway bill but it's got a lot of other things in it other than highways including the 11 billion to improve freight across all types of transportation and an additional 8 billion to repair the nation's passenger rail network.

and so you all are going to distribute a lot of this money through these grants and for the economic engine of the country to keep purring along we have to keep the engine of transportation going. now, mr. secretary, one area that we've got to do better is vehicle safety. over the last couple of years we have seen this saga play out on the tekata air bag recall and now in excess of 70 million vehicles being recalled because of effective tekata air bags that have killed over a score of people and have injured hundreds.

and so part of the work of this committee has released a report just last week that assessed the auto makers progress in recalling and replacing defective tekata air bag inflaters and i would like mr. chairman to insert in the record the 14 companies that we wrote seeking this information and i will tell about that information that we received a little later. >> okay, without objection. >> and so what we find is some alarming facts that the completion rates range from as high as 57% to less than 1%. these defective air bags are still being produced, still being produced, this is with the ammonium nitrate and installed

as replacement inflators in the recalled vehicles, meaning that millions of consumers are going to have to replace their air bags not once, but twice. but the most shocking part is the discovery that four automobile makers out of all those letters that we sent, four responded that we know of that they they're selling new cars with defective air bags that are on a schedule to be recalled in two years. and so that means that a new car buyer is going and buying a new car and then they're going to find out that it has an air bag

in it that's going to be on the recall list scheduled from two years from now. that doesn't sound very good to me except that nitsa found itself in. it can't make enough of the replacement air bags and so it's going after the ones that they think are the most defective which are the once that the am onia nitrate has sat around for several years it's been exposed to moisture and they can't produce enough of the air bags with the moisture absorber in the compound of ammonium nitrate that absorbs the moisture. so they are selling defective air bags in new cars and what i'm going to be asking you is

not only your ability through nitsa to stop the sale of a car license the law says you can't sell it, the law says you can't sell it if it has a recall item and in this case it's going to be an item that's going to be recalled in two years. and at the very least i'm going to ask you, mr. secretary, shouldn't we at least let the buyer know that they're going to have an air bag that's going to be recalled because they're getting less than what they think they're purchasing if they're purchasing a brand new car that has an air bag that is going to have to come in and get replaced.

so that's the -- where i will be going with my questions. [laughter] >> thank you, senator, nelson. secretary, welcome. please proceed and we get into a chance to give our members to ask some questions, thank you and welcome, good to have you here. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me also respond in light manner to say to you and the committee how much of a pleasure it's been to work with you through the last three years, you all have taken your role extremely seriously and the partnership has been very strong so thank you very much. mr. ranking members, members of the committee, i i want to thank you for allowing me to testify today. mr. chairman, when i was last before you, one of our points of discussion was the need for congress to pass and provide for certainty to states and pass a

long-term surface transportation bill. while the fast act is not everything we need, i want to thank you for heating our nations and our department's call by passing this bipartisan long-term measure. it is removed the cloud of uncertainty hanging over our surface transportation system for the better part of a decade and as a down payment for building a 21st century transportation system, i also want to applaud this committee for including for the first time inner city passenger rail programs in a comprehensive multimodal authorization bill. mr. chairman, since the fast act was enacted last december we have been laser focused on distributing much of the resources congress has provided as possible to state and other guaranties through form whrea dollars and discretionary opportunities. we have always identified five key program areas to focus on implementation efforts and i

will talk each of them in turn. safety, project delivery, freight, innovative finance and research. first as you know safety continues to be our top priority and we have taken a number of steps to implement fast act provisions in this area as quickly as possible. for example, in march we issued a rule that raises maximum fines against noncompliant auto manufacturers from $35 million to $105 million. we also moved quickly to solicit nominations for mfcsa's assistance program working group to analyze the formula for the program which provides much needed support to state agencies. in the coming comes we will seek public comment on new authority to prohibit rental car companies from knowingly renting vehicles that are subject to safety recalls. this provision gives an important tool to protect the

safety of u.s. motorist as rental agencies operate some of the larger fleets in the country . second, to further speed review and permitting processes while still protecting our nation's environmential and historic treasures. just last week the public comment period open to review fra's survey of categorical exclusions used in railroad transportation projects. we also have a number of additional guidance and rule-making documents underway to implement provisions that eliminate duplication of environmental reviews. third, there's a number of freight programs and related provisions in the fast act that addresses challenges and beyond traffic study released last year. as our study indicates, it is estimated by the year 2045

freight volume will grow to 29 billion tons. the freight program in the fast act provide dedicated federal funding that will allow us to freight projects to deal with growing needs. we just closed the application period for the freight and highway competitive program we call fast lane last money which will provide $750 million. i wish it were billion in grants for critical projects. fourth, i am thought that congress sought to build by establishing national transportation and innovative finance bureau in the fast act. in the next few months we will

provide updated guidance for the program that incorporates changes provided for under the fast act including revised application processing procedures and an application dash board. and finally something that goes hand in hand with all of the department's efforts is research and innovation. we have received 212 applications for the 35 grants available. i'm proud of the work the department has accomplished in such a short period of time but this is just the beginning and it will not be possible, i would like to repeat, without the work of this congress on a bipartisan basis. we will continue our aggressive schedule to competent -- execute, wasted time is

something none of us can afford. and so with that, mr. chairman, i want to thank you and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you, mr. secretary. and i will lead off and then we will open up to members in the order in which they arrived. your testimony noted that the federal railroad administration is making progress in a number of important initiatives from streamlining the permitting process to reforming the rift program and i would like to get just a little more specific if i might about the expected implementation timelines. in particular, you mentioned that fra plans to propose expedited procedures this week. do you plan to finalize those procedures before the end of the year? >> that is my plan, yes, sir. >> and when does the department expect to have a functional innovative finance bureau and what rift program reforms can be implemented as the bureau is set up? >> we are using a belt and suspender's process by basically two-tracking everything and get it up and running, i expect that

we will have the bureau office space up and going by the middle of the summer. i also expect that we will issue, and i think we may have already done so, job decryption for the executive director of the bureau as well. so my goal is to have it fully operational no later than the end of the year but you will see the rolling out steadily over the next six months. >> okay, can the rift reforms get going in the meantime? >> yes, they actually already underway, there's a lot of work to try to consolidate a lot of the program structures of the rift program and the tifa program and i think the work is underway and i think you will start to see steady rolling out of the outside as well. >> okay, the 24/7 sobriety program is something that the fast act made some significant reforms to and it has a number

of highway safety grants that provide more flexibility so the states can qualify for the grants and address their own unique highway safety challenges. and this new grant aids states with a 24/7 sobriety program is something that we were focused on while maintaining the all-offender alcohol interlock grants. you have a grant that's proven to be effective but we believe the 24/7 sobriety program is something that will enable states to use all the tools that are in their tool box to combat the significant problems of impaired driving and i think as i pointed out in the past that south dakota has been ib -- innovate and proved domestic violence arrest in a county level, could you give us an update on the probes the department has taken to work with the state to provide more

flexibility as you go about the process of implementing these grants? >> yes, on may 16th of this year we issued final rule on the ignition inner lock on 24/7 sobriety program. at this point a lot of the work is working with the states to get the word out so that they're aware of the flexibility they have. we will be doing that in the summer and hope to have a robust given the possibility. >> okay. thank you. there were a number of senators supporting, the department should consider the burden of regulations as the cost of implementing regulations under a per capita basis is higher. i'm told that current proposed performance rules require all states to file reports for all parts of the national highway system. and the question really comes back to states really need to

prepare reports to show, for example, that railroads are operating at the posted speed limit? some of the posting requirements seem to be strain. >> ly take a look at it, senator and perhaps maybe respond in rfq or in a letter back to you on some of the questions related to this. >> i would just simply say that it seems to me at least that a more targeted approach to these reporting requirements would make some sense and it would make some money for investment in transportations as oppose to reporting, i would encourage you, mr. secretary, to look at those and be more skeptical about some of the proposed requirements may work and how they would impact rule errors of the country. finally, let me just talk a little bit about csa, the jao and dot reporting reported that was badly in need of reform.

while there's broad support of the intent of the program, the focus limited enforcement efforts on the least safe truck companies, congress expressed concerns about the quality of analysis used to develop scores from more carriers, the fast act required the scores to be fixed before they could be publicly held out as safety data. and we appreciate that the scores were removed on the date of enactment and the factual data was restored after adjustments to the website were made, so the question is when will the program be reform so scores can be returned with confidence at the analysis is appropriate and represents the risk of an individual carrier? >> based on our prelim assessment, it's going to take a while to do revised analysis of this and i would expect it would have to be maybe a year or two, probably more like two years before that information will be posted back up. >> okay.

my time has expired, senator nelson. >> okay. >> mr. secretary, on what i had talked about before, back in march we sent out letters to 14 automobile makers involved in the tekata recalls and we said we want you to identify all the new models that are equipped with the defective tekata air bags that are offered for sale or are contemplated being offered for sale. now, some responded and some didn't. and we put that into a detailed report which we released last week, but a bunch of them refused to answer whether they are currently selling new

vehicles that contain the nondesiccated, in other words the ones that don't have the moisture absorbent desiccant, so this is a failure of informing consumers and i think your regulator ought to be getting answers from this. i can tell you that this senator and i think i can speak to a lot of senators up here, intends to get answers, that's why i put in the record the 14 letters that we have just asked again for complete disclosure of any new models with those defective air bags. and i'm expecting them to give

us complete answers. now, let me go to my question under current law whether it's the law or fast act or whether it is the amended tekata consent order, do you have the authority to say number one, stop selling a new car with a bag that is going to be recalled in two years and the second question is do you, in fact, have the authority to require the disclosure to the buying consumer of that new car, that it's got to a bag that's going to be recalled? >> well, first of all, senator, i want to thank you for persist iens -- persistence and i share your frustration with tekata, we have been doggedly pursuing this issue from day one.

we've gotten a consent order from tekata as the environment continues to change. the questions that you've asked, i think on the first question we are bound by our authorities to act where there is clear evidence that an action can be taken and absent that it would be something of a victory to recall vehicles without have been the substancuation and people would not have to be in those cars. >> let me interrupt you here, then, what i think you're saying is that whereas the law says, because the fast act, it say

that is you cannot sell a new vehicle with a recalled item, but the fact that they're selling a new vehicle with an item that's going to be recalled in two years, you're saying you don't have the authority? >> correct. >> how about disclosure, protection of the consuming public? >> within our consisting authorities, i do not believe we have that authority. i will ask our lawyers to share that for me and will share the answer. without a consent order we have able to contain and what i would like to do is pursue getting the disclosure requirement within the consent order and within the remedies that we've been able to obtain from, takata.

>> and therefore, if your lawyers determine that you do not have that authority, then would you tell us what we do so that the buyer can be aware, so that the buyer knows what they're buying? >> yes. >> if they're buying the full pack only of what they think they're buying, they have to go in and have it recalled in two years. >> yes, we will work together on this sthosh get that to the bottom oift and i will pledge that to you, sir. >> great. and will you also please help us if any of the automobile makers dragging their feet not responding to the 14 letters that we just sent out, will you help us? >> i will help you, yes, sir. >> maybe you ought to call a prayer session with them. >> we did that back in january, maybe we will do it again.

>> thank you, mr. secretary. >> thank you, mr. nelson, good line of questioning, hopefully we can get some follow up. senator fisher. >> good to see you again and i do thank you for your good leadership in this very critical area. in order to maintain competitive we need policy that enhances the efficiency rural and mile connectors. in fact, dot's strategic plan freight flows will increase by almost 42% by the year 2040. in your perspective, what is the status of the implementation freight plan and how do you think the states are doing at designating those very critical

rural and urban corridors and how is dot providing any kind of assistance technical assistance to the state so they can move forward quickly on that? >> this is an enormously important issue to our country as you know and what the fast act has done both on the policy side and on the resource side has really been to pivot the country toward focusing on this much more. i want to speak on your question to two things. one is the the formula-based freight program. we have provided guidance to the states as of this winter to help them understand how to access those resources and our experience to this point is there's been a lot of interest and excitement at the state

level to implement on the formula side of the effort. the period is closed as i pointed out in my opening statement for the discretionary freight program which we will hope to make announcements on that program in the summer time but our goal is to continue not only putting the resources out there but things like the expedited, permitting and categorical exclusions and all of the work that's involved in trying to get projects teed up. we are moving on accurate accelerated basis, that's just two proved points. >> i know there's resources out there in states like nebraska, i believe, are ready to move on this so we can start some good progress.

that's to help with transparency and consistency but also with the public being more involved in the rule making on that. i understand that next week the department's motor carrier safety advisory committee is going to hold a public meeting concerning the implementation of that section 5203 of the fast act and that would require the fmcsa conduct regulatory guidance that's currently on the book. in relation to this meeting, how does the fmcsa plan to continue the process of reviewing regulatory guidance so we can look at the consistency and the necessity and also creating gater transparency as we move near the future? >> i'm please today report that

fmcsa have conducted above -- around the country and this is helping us understand the perspective of industry. perhaps even policy and regulatory approaches going forward. in addition to that, we have created a regulation evaluation division as of last year. this division is working to increase the use of available data and has advanced the agency's effort to technical issues and we are using in regulatory evaluations which is also of great interest to our stakeholders. we are also committed to advancing -- advance notice of proposed rule making or proceeding with the negotiated

rule making with considering major rules that require sufficient technical or scientific information. so these are just some of the process changes that we are working through in response to the language that you were good enough to put in the bill. >> do you think that will help you to respond quicker to stakeholders when they are dealing with that so that the agency can have a formal response in a more timely manner? >> i think it will help us -- >> time's money when it's building roads. >> i think it will help us with speed and i think it will help us with transparency because the more you're not communicating in a vacuum, the more people are constantly having communication with us, the less surprises there are on both sides. >> exactly. we want to see commerce continue and the fmcsa is important in making sure that our stakeholders are able to do that. thank you, sir, it's good to see

you. >> thank you, great seeing you. >> thank you, senator fisher. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. thank you secretary foxx, i know you were there in spirit but we dedicate it had erpass that you helped with the tieinger grant. i know we've talked about that. that's in his district and it's going to save a lot of lives. >> that's great. >> i want to thank you and the department for that. some really fast questions here related to the fast act and the map 21 in the fast act and trying to reduce delays. what progress has dot made in implementing the project delivery reforms in the fast act, how are they going to communicate with state government? i talked to some of the state part-time and how do you plan to monitor and assess the effectiveness of the reforms? >> so we are doing a number of

things including fra, fta and the highway division. with the highway division specifically on project delivery we are looking at the expanded use of categorical exclusions. we have through our bureau alluded to earlier, we are also working on speeding up the permitting process by incorporating concurrent reviews in the work so that there are fewer documents flowing between agencies and government, we're using one table to make these decisions which actually helps speed up the time. those are two of the proof points of what we're trying to accomplish and there are many more and i would be happy to give you a more elaborate answer. >> very good. i'm going to move on from the safety issues with rail but we've just gotten a statewide rail director appointed who is coordinating these efforts, and so i hope your department will work with her.

i put a provision in there about the rail crossings and obviously you and i have talked about this in the past but it's something continues to be of concern. takata, i've been long called for a recall. we have a woman in minnesota who was blinded. she was a passenger in the car. i guess my question there is related to how can we make sure consumers what cars are under recall and what better job we can do with that because there's people still confused about what to do? >> we are working with the industry to ensure that when we have a consent order or a coordinated recall effort that we are using every tool available to us and to the industry, and so i've got a long list of various strategies that we are trying in relation to takata that include a recall

campaign of safe cars, save lives, proactive use of internet, social media, there's a lot of things that we are doing to try to get the word out in some unconventional ways. our goal is 100% compliance and we are now tiering and holding the manufacturers accountable when we do a recall and establish a consent order to gets 100% compliance. >> what more can we do to make sure they're available as soon as possible? >> so, the unfortunate reality is that there's only so much surprise, i think the recall activity has actually triggered some additional suppliers to come out of the wood work, so to speak and as that supply comes online, we will try to continue tiering toward the risk as best we can. i think we are doing everything we can within the universe of supply that's there and hopefully we will see more

suppliers come into the market. >> thank you. last, distracted driving. i think the chairman and ranking member for including the provision i had with senator hogan. as you know there was a huge, a big priority of yours as well as predecessor, there were grants available to help states to educate drivers. it's more and more of these deaths and injuries that are occurring because of distracted driving. it has not slowed down and yet we had a pot of money sitting sitting there that no one could access, only the state of connecticut. that happened one year. so we've made changes to make it easier for states to get in compliance to access money and i just want to make sure you knew that as well as the graduate programs, we have made changes there and you could comment on distracted driving. >> it continues to be a issue.

it's really across all demographics. in may of -- may of this year, we issued an interim final rule implementing the fast act des tracted grants. >> thank you, you did that quickly. >> absolutely. and so there will be comprehensive distracted driving grants as well as special distracted driving grants that will be available to states and we'll move that money expeditiously as possible. >> thank you, i appreciate for your good work, secretary foxx. >> thank you. >> further west. >> and way warmer. [laughter] >> thank you, mr. chairman, thank you secretary foxx. i wanted to follow up with you on transit oriented development.

included as eligible prompts, tod and i wanted to get your view on how we are moving along in terms finding projects that are appropriate. i heard some concerns expressed from the private sector exactly what the eligibility requirements are and i want to get your assurance that is we -- assurances that we are moving along. >> first of all, yes, sir, we are very, very excited about this new flexibility for our long programs. we have exactly, fhwa released tifia guidance that, tod fast act and we expect fra to follow shortly with the riff program and we don't have any to date any applications but we've heard a lot of interest in this program and if there's anyone

who has a question, i would really urge that you or others direct to our build america transportation investment center which can help them figure out not only how to make use of that tool but any of our other creative financing tools for transportation. >> great, thank you very much. we've talked a lot about complete streets and i really appreciate the department's focus on transportation generally speaking. that it's not the department of highways or the department of rail. it is the department of transportation and we really need to be thinking about how to move people around in as safe of a way as possible and i've been working with senator heller and others on complete streets, and i wanted to first get your sense of how we are moving along. we wanted something a little more prescriptive in the statute, we weren't able to achieve it, but on the other hand, i think you've been able to work with mayors and

transportation directors for state government and aarp and other stakeholders. if you can give me a quick update on how we are going moving along with respect to this because whether the statute read exactly how i wanted it to or in the compromised version, i think the key is implementation at the sort of the administrator level so i want to know how we are doing and i know you have a special perspective having been a mayor. >> i think we are moving along fairly well. we did initiative which brought more than 200 mayors from across the country to share best practices on how to implement essentially complete streets designs. our federal highway administration is also creating greater flexibility in the design of federal aid highways, so that there's at least the possibility that states and local governments can use those

roadways and i think this is an area where it is not just the local governments, it's also the state and federal governments have to work together to lay out best practices in all three levels of government will be involved in execution. >> sure, if you're using fast act funding in urban honolulu versus south dakota, obviously you're going to have a different set of priorities. i do want to recognize senator heller for his leadership on bipartisan basis. i have one concern that's been expressed to me and it has to do with a rule which aims to establish major accomplishments and congestion, that all makes sense in a vacuum but to the degree and extent that those metrics create an incentive that sort of ignores the question of multimodal, ignores potentially the question of location efficiency and the department is

working on transportation systems and being smart of all this, you don't want to create a rule which basically establishes a metric that says if you're a local dot director, you say, look, that's all nice, they're encouraging to do this, but they're paying us to do that, which is one more highway lane, one more boulevard lane and thinking in sort of transportation and sort of channel -- the old army corp. of engineer, blow as wide of a hole and move that water as quick as possible. certainly there's instances where you want to move every car as quickly as possible and other instances where you want to encourage people to not take the trip because something is right now door nowadays. i know you understand that. i want you to take a look at the rule from that perspective. >> we will do, sir. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. chairman. secretary foxx, always a

pleasure to see you, thank you for being here before us today. the fast act does a lot to incent vise the development and deployment of a very innovative transportation technologies, particularly in the space of automobiles. and i want to before i go on to the questions take the time -- take a moment rather to thank you for your work in this area. you have been a real advocate for the exploring how we can really fully utilize some of the exciting new technologies eventually lead to go autonomous vehicles and as you know i sponsored a bill that was signed into law as part of the fast act that would allow states to use existing surface and highway transportation funds to invest in vehicle to vehicle infrastructure, the dsrc technology. which can help deliver a real critical information to those vehicles on the road, it's going help reduce traffic congestion as we heard from previous

speakers as well as dramatically reduce accidents. section 6004 also directs department of transportation to provide grants to localities to establish advanced transportation and congestion management deployment sites and i think that that solicitation process is going forward as we speak. and i also know that the department of transportation is finalizing selection of mart city's challenge winner and one of the criteria for the challenge is to integrate advanced technologies in the management operation of the city which includes the deployment of connected and autonomous vehicle systems. mr. secretary, what role do you see the vehicle to infrastructure dsrc technology as well as other dsrc technologies playing in deployment sites and eventually dot smart city that will be granted? >> well, i think that -- first of all, we are -- we are at the very edge of a wave of

technology that will enter into the transportation space. and it is -- i think there are areas that we know are going to be areas of opportunity. the advent of connected cars, the advent of autonomous cars, i think those trends are coming and they're unalterable in that sense and we have the responsibility to be ready for that. the vehicle-to-infrastructure component follows along with that. and what that means is a lot of things. in some respects, you have some of that functionty today with the coordinated signalization, but it also could in the future do things like your street lights are coordinated according to the movement of automobiles, when there's no automobile on

the road the street lights are dim and when cars appear, a certain distance away they come on and that could create energy savings and not compromise safety. there are a lot of opportunities in this space, how they actually get deployed is one of the questions the smart city challenge is asking. we've tried not to be prescriptive with the cities to tell them you have to have the street lights coordinated, you have to do this and you have to do, it's more a question of the vision each city has and technology relate to that vision. it's been an exciting opportunity to see 78 cities apply to see seven finalists and see this process moving forward, but i think this is the beginning of that conversation, not tend of it. >> right. well, it is exciting and i think a critical part of that is the ability for ability for vehicles infrastructure to communicate back and forth having dedicated spectrum. and as you know, there's

discussion on whether or not the spectrum should be shared. could you speak as to how important it is to make sure that the spectrum is available and unfettered in the transportation systems? >> yeah, i think, again, understate or over state how important it is to be very sure that spectrum sharing is safe, we are -- we are supportive of the safe movement of vehicles and i think the thought process to this point has been to reserve the 5.9 band for connected vehicles with the thought being that if you shared it, you would compromise safety. we're now in the throes of research project with the fcc to determine whether you could actually share spectrum safely and if you can, i'm sure we'll be supportive of it but we need to know before we do it. we don't need to know before we know.

>> do you feel that that is working well? >> yes, sir. there were some early hiccups perhaps on both ends but i think we are in a very good place now and working well together. >> great, it's great to hear. i have a few other questions i would like to submit for the record for the secretary, but my time has expired, thank you, mr. secretary. >> thank you, senator peters and make sure that the questions get submitted and hopefully responded to. next up is senator heller. >> mr. chairman, thank you for holding this hearing and secretary foxx thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be here today. we have the las vegas metro chamber of commerce in town this week and they held a function last night in the kennedy caucus room unlike function ever been hold in that caucus room before. it was interesting the dynamics

of bringing las vegas chamber of commerce into washington, d.c. las vegas is a can-do city. anything you want, anything you think can happen in that town, in that city will happen. to have them come to washington, d.c. where nothing happens was quite a dynamic. and i would hope that they could come more often, maybe they would have influence on our -- on our city out here in washington, d.c., but here's my question, you know, there's a couple hundred of them and at that event last night, their interest obviously the i44 corridor legislation that i pushed in the fast act and i don't have to tell you the importance of it but two largest cities in america phoenix and las las vegas without a freeway in between them. it's not just the connection of las vegas and phoenix but all the way down to tucson and all

the way to the canadian border. that's the plan, and they want to know. i have to meet with them tomorrow. if you were meeting with them, the first question is how long they're going to take to get to that corridor from phoenix and las vegas, what's the answer to that. >> today? no pressure. >> that's the question i'm going to be asked. >> your leadership on moving the process forward has been gone absolutely critical and i'm sure you're aware that map 21 did provide a portion of it being designated and the fast act as you pointed out through efforts designate the portion between arizona and nevada. there is a working group that we have been part of convening that is looking, i think the biggest

constraint to be honest with you is not just the planning and design but it's also identifying the federal and state funding sources for the project and we are going to continue being at the table with arizona and in evidence until we figure that out with them and identifying flexibilities that may support the advancement of the 11 corridor, so we are working with them. i think that something like a tier neepa analysis is under discussion. we are going to do everything we can to get things forward. getting the planning is part of it but getting the resources is going to be the biggest challenge. bolder city bypass. tell me a little bit more about the working group. how do they prioritize the

high-priority corridors like the i-11 and other projects? >> well, we -- we always work based on what the local jurisdictions want to do and in this case you do have a demand that is coming from both states and getting them coordinated and figuring out how to jointly plan a project of this magnitude and how to joint i will go through the permitting process and using the levers we have to try to accelerate that, that's some of the work that is currently ongoing. again, i think some of the biggest challenges are going to be each state looking at its -- it's complement of transportation projects and figuring out how it can fit in the resources to do these projects and, of course, where we have the ability to help on the funding end we're going to be looking for ways to help out. >> okay, okay. because i'm just trying to figure out is there any way of streamlining this process. >> yes.

>> get through this neepa program. i guess the question is i don't have an answer yet. 2 years, 10 years, 20 years, how long has the project -- we haven't produced a new federal highway to this extent? decades, why? >> i would separate the planning and design elements from the funding element and i would say that, you know, we can move as fast as the locals can move as they work through the alignment issues. we are already trying to help accelerate the neepa process. we will continue to do that type of work, i think on the funding side of it, we are constrained of what we have available. in theory, this could be considered for that. we have guidance that we put out this year and to the extent our discretionary programs could support and help, we will obviously consider any opportunity to help. >> mr. secretary, thank you for being here. mr. chairman, my time has expired.

>> thank you, senator heller, by the way what does one take to get invited to the las vegas capitol -- >> you were invited. >> i thought one of those happens in the caucus stays in the caucus events. >> you had to be over 21 years. maybe you didn't meet that criteria. >> all right, next up is senator cantwell. >> good to see you mr. secretary and thank you for your leadership on freight and the fast act and you obviously brought that up and certainly look forward working on what is a very important tool for us to keep u.s. product moving and getting to its final destination. so thank you for that. one area where i think that you and i may not have seen eye to eye in the past and definitely got point put on it last friday and that is the colombia george rrail derailment and explosion and it seems like it just came

from the pacific northwest and everybody knows how much oil is moving through area. and so i've heard since last friday from practically every major city or region of our state about their concerns about the continued movement of this product. that's primarily because this product moves through every major, it goats through spokane, all the way to refineries in the northern part of the state through seattle. every part of our community because you have the problem trying to fix on freight, the rails are close to the ports and urban centers, part of our challenge is the explosion and derailment that we saw on on this gorge situation the thermal jacketed 1232's. so under your rule will take something like 2025 to be

basically phased out. more specifically, though, to me because this issue is the product itself is not being popperly regulated. the volatility of balkan crude is over the standard by which almost every other thing is set, you know, people who are moving this product into pipeline said vapor pressure which is volatility of the product, below 10. the market doesn't take contracts on products unless they're 10 or below and yet we are letting the shippers self-determine to ship balkan crude at over 13% revaipor pressure. even the best tank cars that we are going to implement in the future, the thermal jacketed at

117, at 18 miles an hour can still have a puncture. so to me while we're improving the rail safety and railcars we also have to improve and lower the volatility of this explosive product. we can't have product shipping through tunnels in seattle with light rail transportation system. we can't have it right next to hotels in vancouver, we can't have it going through neighborhoods, a thousand of people in spokane. would you consider an interim rule, you have study done as it relates to the transportation bill to look at the volatility of this and doe and dot are working together. but why not given this most recent explosion look at setting an interim rule on volatility given the hazards this material is showing to our communities across america and certainly we just witnessed in our region of

the pacific northwest? >> senator, i want to, first of all, say that i -- i actually feel the the same sense of urgency that you do around this issue and our department has been working since the day i came in, it happened within just a few days of my taking office in this role and it has been a real -- real push almost every day. we've taken a bunch of actions, but i don't think we are at tend of the cycle of continuing work at this. i think we still have a lot of work to do here. i would say that on the stabilization/volatility issue that that is an issue that's within our sights, that's one one of the reasons why we worked

with the department of energy to formulate a study to -- i understand the dimensions of this material and to have a definitive study out there that really allows us to set policy around it. i will certainly take your recommendation back to our staff and provide you with a formal response from the department. but i'm taking any and all suggestions about how to deal with this going forward. i think we are -- we've made a lot of progress. we are safer today than we were three years ago. i hope that over the next several months and years we end up safer than we are today. >> well, i just think for us we do not want to see a loss of life before we see a regulation of this vapor pressure and with the volume of crude moving through our state, like i said, every major population center is too big of a risk, we won't let

a propane unregulated vehicle move through downtown seattle. the people who are moving in pipeline are asking for lower vapor pressure. and so while i appreciate all of our efforts on dot and the lines that we are going to do to improve our rail system, i just think fundamentally we have to reduce the vapor pressure, thank you for considering that and look forward to your formal response. >> thank you. and also thank you for your leadership on freight as well, senator, i don't know that we would have as much of the conversation if it hadn't been for your efforts. >> i think we all know freight can't wait. [laughter] >> thank you. >> thank you senator cantwell and i mentioned in my opening remarks the work that you did on freight components and aspect os -- aspects of this. a lot of reforms in railcars and

refitting the protective measures and safeguards that are in here will be helpful and we want to make sure that we work with the department to make sure those things get put in place in a timely way. so thank you. next up is senator ayotte. >> thank you, chairman. secretary foxx, as you know, new hampshire was recently -- welcomed the news that we received the tifia lown, 200 million-dollar loan and thank you for that, for the i-93 improvement project, which will widen 19.8-miles of interstate 93 from 2 to 4 lanes between our largest city manchester to salem and this is important to our state's economy and transportation, so thank you for that. under the fast act there was established the national surface

transportation and innovative finance bureau to happy streamline the application process for states and local and obtaining federal financing or assistance for large service transportation products, i know you briefly mentioned in your written statement dot to get bureau up and running, but i wanted to -- could you please provide a detailed update for the committee regarding regarding the department's work to implement the national transportation and innovative finance bureau and you been able to identify an executive director yet and do you expect the bureau will be operational by the end of the year? >> on the last question, yes, i do expect it to be operational by the end of the year. we expect to open the doors of this new bureau in the middle part of the summer and we actually have gone through a pretty extensive exercise in identifying some of our existing resources, human and otherwise

that could be placed into the bureau immediately. so this will be a steady ramping up over the course of the years but will start strong in the middle part of the summer. we have a solicitation out for executive director. we hope to get that person on board before the end of the year. >> great. once you get this up and running and i'm glad to hear that's moving quickly, how would you -- thinking about the bureau over the long-term, how would you envision the bureau supporting the work of our states and communities in moving forward with larger projects like i93? >> yes, i think one of the biggest things that the bureau is going to do is to bring our innovative financing resources under one roof and one-stop shopping for the project responsors at the state and local level as well as the private sector. in addition to that, you will find that projects that are

moving within the bureau are going to have a level -- almost level of support as they move through other aspects of the project delivery including the permitting and other spaces that have to be -- >> i'm sure states would like to have a sherpa. >> absolutely. [laughter] >> i expect this is going to be a very successful effort. we have some very good early experience with the build america transportation center that president authorized us to do and we're going to keep building on it with the bureau. >> great, thank you. i wanted to follow up too, there are have been safety concerns that have been raised related to the flammability standards for children's car seats and wondered if you're aware of these concerns and what's being done to address them. >> so safety standard for flammability currently does not

require flame retardants. adequate time for caregivers to help children escape a vehicle in the event of a fire. and we know that about 194,000 vehicles fires occur annually in the u.s. resulting in 300 fatalities and 1250 injuries and of these 20 fialties and injuries are children. we know also that foams used in child seats can exacerbate fire. therefore child seat materials are required to prevent flames from spreading. nhtsa is initiating to evaluate the issues involved in this area including flammability requirements and flame retardants for child restraints and so that work is ongoing. >> very good.

focus on additional steps for n nhtsa to take, and in new hampshire we are seeing like other places in the country a heroin epidemic and ep oid epidemic and i know the roadside survey has recent shown that there has been increase. now that data goes from 2007 to 2013 and '14. if new hampshire is any measure, we are anything from 14 up like this. any brief thoughts on what we can do in terms of action in dot thinking about drug-impaired driving and the challenges we are facing with it? >> we actually -- this is on our radar screen. there's a lot of activity going onto study drug-impaired driving. i think the hardest nut for us to crack is going to be how do

you stet a standard, you know, you have a standard for alcohol, for instance, but how would you -- >> how do you measure it. >> exactly. you have on my word that we will work as expeddish lousily we can to get answers. >> thank you. >> thank you. thank you senator ayett. >> i want to pursue the line of questioning that senator nelson raised and begin by saying i think the american public will be appalled that recalls have not been extended to cars on lots right now that they are buying that in, effect, are subject to same safety defects as the cars under recall.

or to put it differently that they're buying defective cars simply because they haven't been told they're under recall. if there's a need to change the law or start an education campaign, i say this to you mr. secretary because i know that your heart is in the right place and respect the diligence that you brought to the department department of transportation during your tenure there. shouldn't the consent order be amended again right away or other tools used to stop the sale of these cars with these potentially deadly safety defects? >> well, we did have a pit of this qollyqy before.

>> why not? why not put them under recall? >> because we don't have the basis to do so. >> why not? >> because the evidence isn't there. >> why not? >> because it doesn't exist. were why not get it? >> we have a sense of what's unsafe and that which is unsafe has been recalled. and we will continue, we've never said this takata thing has been realized and the dimensions that are unsafe. >> these products are the very same ammonium nitrate air bags that have been sent shafts and chards of metal into people's faces. that's why i say the american public would be appalled and i sat at this very table and heard

from takata, not ten years ago but within the last couple of years that they simply lacked enough parts and equipment to provide the substituted air bags that would be necessary. and i called then for them to share proprietary information with other air bag manufacturers, so this recall could be done much more expeditiously and so if that conversation never happened. >> i don't think that's true. i mean, this recall is the largest recall in this nation east history history. >> and i give you credit. >> 70 million recalled, and by the way, we don't know whether we're done yet. and if there is a way to use the concurrent consent order to

amend it, to ensure that people who are buying cars are notified, we are -- we are willing and hopeful to pursue that. but i don't think this is a closed book, but our agency within existing authorities has to use evidence available to us. and we do know that these cars will eventually be recalled in which case -- >> i agree with you that they eventually will be recalled. >> yeah. >> and i take at face value the representation that you feel you lack sufficient authority now. i would like to pursue with you the potential for amending the consent order or interpreting creatively and aggressively your existing authority and for

increasing that authority if necessary because i think it is vital to public safety and health. and i know you share -- [laughter] >> trust me. i really do credit you and applaud you and thank you for your focus on this issue. i want to shift to rail and again another area where you have been very importantly creative. we need to make long-term, robust investments well beyond what we are doing now. i know you're working closely with my colleague senator booker and others from new jersey and new york on a plan for the hudson river tunnels. i'd like your commitment to work with me in developing a long-term plan to rebuild the northeast corridor beyond just those tunnels, specially the aging bridges and tracks that we have in connecticut, the need

for positive train control. there's $199 million in a measure that we just passed, the amtrak rail has positive train control in all but new york to new heaven and i would like your commitment to it that you would work with me in applying those moneys and that commitment to investment in that northeast corridor. >> absolutely. and by the way on the other piece that is you mentioned on the takata issue, i want to work with that too. we all have shared interest to make sure the american public is as safest as possible. >> i agree with you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you for your dedicated work. >> thanks, senator blumenthal and i appreciate the commitment on that.

granted the air bags that are not effective yet and therefore the issue and i appreciate the dilemma that you face about prioritizing those that present the greatest risk in public safety and health hazard at the moment and starting there. but this is something that we are going to have to continually stay involve with. >> yes. >> next up, senator sullivan. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, good to see you again and i really want to thank you for coming out anchorage, alaska and meeting with your native leadership. it was an important meeting. i know they very much appreciated it. i want to follow up on an issue that came in that meeting that i senator and don young had written you about. and that's the issue, as the alaska claim settlement act and consistently federal laws it's been clear under federal law

that alaska native corporations are eligible to participate in the disadvantage business enterprise program, certified by the sba further the dot regulations have been implemented that recognize the anc eligibility based on the certification of the sba and since 2009sba has recognized self-certification process is appropriate for anc's given their consistent federal law designation as minority and economically disadvantaged businesses enterprises. what we discussed in anchorage, what we followed up and wrote you about is the process now that's beginning where some of the states are not recognizing the sba process that's creating kind of 50 different bureaucratic hurdle and in response to the letter that congressman young and senator sent you, you stated that dot will consider guidance to states

on the anc participation and we appreciate that but your response note that had the department has chosen not to recognize sba certification process in particular self-certification. so as you can imagine, this is a little confusing to me because your own regulations recognize sba certification in the sba is recognizing self-certification as appropriate but then there seems to be a recent internal do, -- dot policy change that doesn't recognize what the sba is doing. so can you work with us to iron out that internal inconsistency, it certainly seems like there's something amiss where two federal agencies are not talking to the same sheet of music and in your development of guidance and consideration of this issue, i would like your assurance to work with us to make sure that there's uniformity across the 50

states in recognition of anc eligibility which the sba clearly already does and federal law in a zillion different statutes require. >> we will work with you to clarify this. >> i know it's a bit specific and we raised in anchorage and in a letter and there just seems to be this internal inconsistency between the is ba, personal law and what you're doing so i appreciate your commitment on that. >> good. >> let me turn to another topic, senator blumenthal focused on it. in a hearing several months ago you and i talked about how long it takes to permit a bridge in america, which is a disaster, six to seven years. recent articles and i would like

to submit for the record, mr. chairman. >> without objection. >> and another by law -- lawrence summers why americans don't trust government. these lay out bridges that are being permitted not new bridges but just to be repaired, so the bridge that connects new jersey to statten island five years just to raise the bridge. just for the permit, i'm talking about. i think there's so much more that we can do. as you know, mr. secretary, 61,000 structurally deficient bridges in america and one of the reasons our economy is not moving clearly is because we

can't build infrastructure because it takes five to ten years to permit a road or permit a bridge, even a tblaij we just want to to repair, not even expand. there's a lot of different ideas . you're not hitting the ecosystem of the environment. are there areas that you have in terms of what you can do in the fast act which i think is a real problem for america and you were able to streamline pirmting of deficiencies, you would probably get 90% approval from most americans. what are some of your ideas and would you be in favor of waiving neepa requirements for just maintenance on bridges? >> well, i tell you that one of

the categorical exclusions which is one way to move through the process. >> it's very narrow. >> we've actually gone pretty substantially, i may get this wrong but i will send you the rfq that will give you the actual number but i believe it was something like 93% before and we're closer now to like 96 or 97%. it's not always clear whether it's state or federal permitting requirements that tie these things up. >> yes, sir, i couldn't agree with you more. >> also technology that states are using. i will give you one example, in massachusetts they were able to install i think 14 bridges over a weekend because the bridges

were prefa bring -- and i think it is absolutely true when the government promises a project and it happens relatively quickly, the public gains confidence and when it takes decades to get projects done, people lose confidence. >> thank you, mr. chairman, i'm going to submit ft. the record additional question on section 5403 of the fast act which is focused on making sure our veterans get expedited into the commercial trucking industry and i will have questions on how we are doing and follow up on that. thank you, mr. secretary. >> thank you, senator sullivan. >> thank you for being here but more important thank you for public service in relationship that you've exten today me and my staff. >> thank you.

>> let me bring to your attention an amendment that's included in the fast act that i offered. it's section 5523 but what it does is allows for manufacturers of trailers to deliver them to their dealers and that provision preempts state law but it's my understanding that apparently many states are still attempting to enforce their own provisions, and so i raise to you this particular issue of education of states either specifically, i guess specifically to this issue but more broadly the department is doing what to make certain that our state department department of transportation and enforcement agency know where their jurisdiction now lies? >> let me come thank you with a formal response, senator. it's an important issue and i want to make sure we -- we answer the mail on this, but i

would suspect and we will verify that we are actively working to educate the states on this but let me give you the detail. >> you would welcome the follow-up. we have a number of trailer manufacturers in kansas and, of course, they exist across the country and this is an important provision in getting their product to their retailers. >> sure. >> secondly, the fast act has required a national academy of science and gao study in regard to the ecp brakes on railroad cars, an issue that you and most of us are aware of, has the gao provided you any status report as to the progress they're making with their study, part of that study is for national academy of science to do testing and have you seen any results of the testing that you can share with us? >> i do not know the status of the gao study. i know that the nas is in the process of standing up the committee that will be part of

evaluating the testing. we are also working on a concurrent basis to get the testing ramped up and started, so that work is under way but that's the current status. >> when you say you and the department are in path to ramp up the testing, are you talking about assisting the national academy of science or -- >> as i understand the national academy of science's method -- it takes them a while to ramp up their committees. they have a formal process by which they do that, and given the back-end timeline that we have to move all of this, we actually started moving forward with some of the development of the testing. my hope is they're able to move quickly enough so that we don't get too far before that happens but we are worried that we may blow the timeline if we don't start working. >> and, again, i'm being repetitive but i'm trying to make sure i understand.

is what you're ramping up your own testing or you're assisting the national academy of science in their testing? ..

so that a manufacture all of us can understand what had standards are. can you bring me up to date in that regard? j well there's work there's underway to do the interim halfway report on the cafe standards. and i think things are going in a more harmonious direction than perhaps you think they are. but i expect that that work will continue forward and hopefully we'll be able to report out something in the fall. >> do you have any specifics i'd be glad to have you share that information with me when you respond to other item.

i'm always looking for harmony so thank you. >> yes, sir, thank you. >> all right thank you senator maran. mr. danes. >> thank you chairman, that brought up in mosher, oregon, the rail incident just a reminder that bock and crude can travel to keystone pipeline that's another way of transporting oil. one of the mis?urls in the keystone pipeline all canadian crude 1,000 of crude would enter the balken part of a building out a robust infrastructure. secretary fox thank you or for visiting montana recently you were up there in god's country northwest part of our state not far from confederate tribes, and that was on the historic meeting by the way you were the first secretary transportation ever to step foot on the reservation there. so i don't know if you knew that -- >> i didn't. >> but you did.

tell me what lessons you learned from that visit in travel transportation are. >> you know, i think there are several number one is that you have a remarkable community. and they have a real idea of how they want to grow their economy. and you know tourism is, obviously, a big part of it. and there are also agricultural product it is that are coming from the area. i found that people were very interested in multi-- transportation very interested in having the ability to walk or or bike to work. you know, there's a trail that they're trying to get fixed down out there. and then i'd say the other piece is that there are concerns about some of the rail commodities moving by rail within the reservation.

and so those are some of the observations i came away with. >> one of their major concerns thank you for that that i hear from the cskt as well as the spell, anybody up and down highway 93 is regarding the safety on u.s. 93. i've experienced it. grew up in montana,, in fact, i remember up bumper sticks that we've seen they're still out there says pray for me. i drive highway 93. [laughter] what steps is d.o.t. taking to help the cskt and others complete projects on u.s. highway 93? >> so when i was over there highway 93 did come up and what i offered was -- was or our technical teams to come out and try to help -- i can't remember where the project is in terms of planning but there's a gap in -- in the project where they're

trying to get it finished. and we also offer technical assistance on grant writing side as discretionary dollars become available to move the project forward. we certainly want them to be as competitive as they can within the scresh their programs. >> tourism is a huge part of our economy in canada a beautiful corridor for -- >> beautiful state is. >> driving up to glacier national park on highway 93. senator sheldon brought it up as well in month monzula three are considered structurally efficient. most is the russell street bridge over 460,000 cars cross these bridges, they were constructed back in the 1950s back when my dad was going to school at the university of montana there in monzula. in your testimony, you mentioned reducing bureaucratic red tape

to expect project delivery. what additional steps are you taking to expedite work on these most at risk bridges? >> well i'd say that the biggest impediment has been uncertainty about funding levels now that fast act has passed states ramp up their afnghts in term was rehabilitating bridges, repairs bridges even replacing them. as they do that work, we're trying to find creative ways to help them move projects through very quickly. i'll give you one example of a case study. we were able to work with the state of pennsylvania not only to get the projects moved through permittings process quickly. but they actually pooled a group of i think about 500 bridges to make use of our innovative financing programs none of the

individual bridges would have qualified or made since to do by financing but they got them pooled and able to move 500 bridges through the system quickly. so we're looking everywhere we can toe help move through the permitting process as quickly as we can. >> well that's good news, getting them through in broke if you would take a look at adding russ the street bridge for that list. [laughter] >> okay. i greatly appreciate it. thank you, appreciate you. thank you senator danes and mr. secretary. i have to depart here in a moment but i want to say again thank you for being here and thanks for all of your good work and been a great partner this committee and congress has acted on highways, rail freight reform, pipeline safety is coming and hopefully coming back from the house and i guess encourage you to the degree that you can encourage our house clogs on faa and deal with aviation in much better position

if we enact something that is longer term and more permanent reform than doing in short-term extension so i'm hopeful that we'll be able to get that done here in the near future and address the transportation in the country. so senator wicker. >> thank you mr. secretary with i want to reiterate -- what maran said in regard to regulations as i understand that -- automanufactureers don't know where they are. they can build a fleet that might satisfy requirements of one federal program. but not another agency. or it might satisfy the frat requirement. but not a state requirement. so i understand you say work is underway. you hope to get us something in the fall. will that be a legislative recommendation or will it be a

change in a rule or regulation? >> well, this is, i think, there's a interim report that is due as a part of the work on the cafe standards. it was a ten-year program. and in year five there's work underway to do a review of progress to date. i think that our teams both epa teams and d.o.t. teams do not believe there's inconsistency that actually work pretty hard to ensure that d.o.t. cafe starpdz and epa green house gas starpdz are as harmonized as possible and working to keep advised as we go forward on the process. >> so in august of 2012, and i realize that was almost four years ago the administration and

i quote continuing the national program ensures that automanufacturers can build a single fleet of u.s. vehicles that satisfy requirements of both federal program as well as california's programs. there are self discrepancy that allow one agency but not another so perhaps that's changed since august of 2012 or perhaps theed administration statement was perhaps hyperbole except that the manufacturers tell us that they simply want to know what to comply with. so i hope you'll commit to having to work with us on harm monoization change hads. so the manufacturers can know exactly where they are. let ask you you said something about a proposed commission in

charlotte a while back. there's already a southern rail commission with mississippi, louisiana, and alabama. have you given any thought to the -- the advantages of perhaps expanding that southern rail commission to include states that might be in the southeast rail commission? as opposed to having a southeast right u up next to a southern rail commission? again that for secretary. >> senator, i think -- i think the more states in the south that work together on establishing strong inner city passenger rail the better. i wases speaking about the fact that there is an existing compact between north carolina and virginia and the other contiguous states there, south carolina, and georgia who would

be critical to connecting that part of the southeast. >> now, you wouldn't limit that to intercity rail, would you? >> well, that's what the conference was about that i was speaking from. and i also know that there's a gulf coast working group working to reestablish rail service between louisiana and orlando. which is also very important. so -- >> what a nice segue. [laughter] to my next question as a matter of fact that was established. >> it was. >> how's that going in your opinion? fra done an complengt job in leading the group work and developing a plan to fund and operate rail service throughout the gulf. so what can you tell us about the progress in the past six months or so? >> been very good progress. gulf coast working group convened on february, 2016 for the first time in new orleans. we sent our administrate to that

meeting as an indication of how pornt the work is. and that was appreciated. meeting monthly and call-in meetings as they work at the options getting up anding. very important service, though. >> i do hope that your team can be as enthusiastic about this as i am and as my team is. so thank you very much for keeping us a prize on that. let me -- let me move to a really tough situation. in may, we lost two children in mississippi. vurt as a result of heatstroke because of being left in automobiles in rear seating

positions. it just is heart brag. today is national child vehicle heatstroke prerchtion day. i don't know if people are apprised of that . but having witnessed two of these tragic losses in the last month i wanted to ask about this. section 24114 of the fast requires d.o.t. to research into effective ways to minimize the risk of hypothermia and hypothermia to children or other passengers in rear seating positions. u do you have any information for the committee about this -- is this study being conducted? and what -- what information can you give to the and to the committee at this

point on this tragic series of events? >> senator, first of all, it's a tragic loss any time you lose any life but our young people particularly, and if you wouldn't mind i'd like to submit for the record on that and give you a thorough response to that. to that question on the status. >> all right. i had to come in late -- how are we doing on the am track board of directors? did you discuss that earlier? >> we have not discussed it. >> what do you think on that? will the administration putting forth nominees to ensure that the amtrak board of directors has full representation? >> that's my hope. ly need to maybe respond back to y'all, try to call you in the next couple of days to give you a sense of that. but i -- at the current present i don't know specifically. >> let's think of national

system when we do let's think long distance interest when we do, sir. >> absolutely sir. >> very good from all accounts, you have done a marvelous job, and i think it is now following to me to say that hearing record will reare main open for two weeks. during the commit any questions for the record but receive the witnesses requested to submit written answers to the committee as soon as possible. >> so with that said do you have anything you had like to add? >> mr. senator i'm recall aring some of the colloquy weave had about our ticata situation and it's a serious decision and tried to work with the committee today to ensure that we're doing every single thing we can do to ensure the safety of the public. i want to make it very clear,

though, that we have done an awflt awful lot to try to push this issue into the public lighd make sure takata is doij -- doing everything to get this right to the point when i was just talking with senator blooming thatthal i made a commi don't to get miscon strewed about the safety of these cars today. takata is under consented orer to prove that air bags are safe, and if they cannot demonstrate that proof, those air bags cannot be used in the future in cars. based oned evidence today we don't have a basis to prevent those -- air bags from going into new cars today but we know that

those air bags will be recalled at some point in the future. it's a very complicated issue but i wanted to make sure the record was clear on where i stand on that. and hopefully we will continue working together on this. >> thank you for clarification and not having been here for that exchange i won't follow-up. but perhaps we might follow-up with questions on the record. i want to thank you secretary foxx for appearing today and if there's no objection from any member of the committee, this hearing is now adjourned. >> thank you, sir, thank you. [silence]

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for the bureau what's your timeline this summer do you mean for august, or o how do you think it might be up and running? >> i don't know that we're ready to announce a date but i would say before august. but after june. [laughter] >> you do the math. so this is going to be within d.o.t., how many staff members are you thinking might be there? >> it will start with something around 50 or so. but we'll have a lot more to say about it as we throw it out. you know, we'll have a little splash with it so it's a pretty big deal. >> that update, he said within coming month, would that also? >> look, i think on the riff

sort of riff and tip what are harmonization so we -- i think it will take some time to get them fully consolidated if you will. but you know, i think in the next several weeks, we'll have some steps that we will have taken that we can talk about, and then we will continue making progress from there. >> one takata so about 20 million inflaters that they have not disclosed what vehicleses are going to be recalled between now and 2019. so is that something you'd like to see autocompanies do now disclose them or wait until recalls go down over next three yearses? >> i think as much information as we can give companies as possible as soon as possible is good. and you know, frankly i share sentiment with members of how urgent this issue is and how important it is.

so we're going to use every bit of authority we have we're going it use every bit of leverage we have in the consent order but we sure do need help and cooperation of the autoindustry. >> do you think congress needs to stop in on that to give you or more power to demand that kind of disclosure? >> i think they have authority would be helpful because a lot of our authorities are based on sort of concrete verifiable evidence so when you have situations like this where there's -- some evidence but not, you know, evidence that you can take to the bank, so to speak, to the space here where you want to be able to take more action and right now we can't. we're sort of either you do it or you don't and if you do it, you have to have a lot of backup

to swit withstand possible lawsuit from whoever opponent is. >> so clarify that evidence to the fact they're on the market -- or that when you haven't -- haven't been out long enough to -- >> right. >> to have that physical proof. >> exactly right and it's sort of an issue of time but also an issue of position under which the vehicles are offering, and we know that -- that after a few years these things to come more dangerous and that's where we focus. >> one more minute -- coming up we've got that economist guidelines and are they still going to be out in july and have time? >> that's the hope. i need to sit down with administrative and see where we are with it. but i know we're making progress. and then -- >> the report is due by end of

june. sticky p.a. at the cafe is that some time do you think? >> work there is ongoing and i don't have the latest on how we're matching up against the timeline. but i know everybody is working hard. [inaudible] >> won the the city challenge? [laughter] >> were you pumped? >> you don't want to tell us now? wherever you're from. [laughter] >> tomorrow -- i like it. exactly. all right. thank you. >> faa any thoughts you mentioned maybe doing -- >> well, you know, intervening events have conspired and fact that the white house issued i think is pretty much where we are as an administration so that's where we are.

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>> yesterday speaker of the house poling ryan ordered flags be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims of saturday's mass shooting in orlando, florida. the deadliest mass shooting in u.s. history. we'll hear from reaction from administration officials and congress throughout the day and right now we have an update from this morning's washington journal.

>> we're playing the president's remarks he mentioned there he met with homeland security and national security advisors yesterday in the wake of that incident.d what's had the top priority in that meeting? what's the biggest unanswered question that those federal officials are going through there?e?thro >> i think it's fair to assume that the president regardless of who it is this president or prior president first question of the president of united states obtained is what could we have done to stop this? what are we not doing we should be doing or could be doing toul prevent the next orlando. the next san bernardino? i think part of the answer to that question is going to be one of resources director comey has said repeatedly he has terrorism investigations in all of the the 50 states and he doesn't have the resources to cover all of those threats and investigations equally. i think what we've been told is that they can only o cover in terms of 24/7 about somewhere between 45 and 50 of those and

certainly a resource issue. second question is, while the fbi, obviously, operates under the constitution and laws of the united states, but internal justice department guidelines like the attorney general guidelines that restrict them from looking at material when they're making judgments about which threats are are aspirational that is you know people who are just talking about it. versus threats that are operational when this guy mateen been on fbi radar went and bought asawflt rifle and pistol a week ago he clearly that was an indication that he was turning from aspirational to operational so you want to make sure that we had the investigators have the tools they need to be automobile too pick up that change had and act on it.t. fnght when you talk about that change from inspiration to aspiration, how much are they going to go back to review meetings that took place of the attacker in 2014 and what clues will they be