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Source: Congress.gov
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All right. The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will now come to order. Now to ask unanimous consent that the chairman be authorized to declare recess at any time during today's hearing. And without objection, that is so ordered. As a reminder, If members wish to insert a document into the record, please also email it to documentsti at mail.house.gov. I now recognize myself for the purpose of an opening statement. Today, I look forward to the hearing from members sharing their transportation infrastructure priorities for the 119th Congress. The T&I Committee has a very busy agenda this session, and looking ahead, we have multiple legislative priorities that the committee has to reauthorize. A top priority is the reauthorization of the nation's surface transportation programs. And as we plan for a new reauthorization bill, we're going through the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act carefully and looking at what works and simply what doesn't work. A priority of mine is returning the surface transportation reauthorization back to a traditional infrastructure bill that focuses on roads, bridges, and movement of freight. The portal for members' offices to submit priorities to a surface transportation reauthorization bill went live on Monday. and will be open until May 30th. I look forward to working with everyone on this must-pass bill. In addition to the surface transportation bill, we're also going to be working on pipeline safety reauthorization and the water infrastructure bills. Throughout our busy schedule, we're going to continue to prioritize implementation of the five-year Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, that was signed into law just last year on a very bipartisan basis. As we advance our legislative agenda, it is important for both myself and the ranking member that we gather input from all the members of Congress. And again, thank you for being here today, and thank you for testifying on the transportation infrastructure needs of your district.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome to Committee Member's Day hearing, everyone. It's an opportunity for our House colleagues to testify before the committee about transportation and infrastructure priorities that are the most pressing for our constituents. Twenty-eight members have signed up before the committee today. This robust participation from members on both sides of the aisle as witnesses demonstrates, as the Chair and I have said multiple times, the issues before this committee are are not about which team you're on. They're about solving problems for the people in your district, solving the transportation infrastructure challenges that they face, and creating opportunities, economic opportunities, for people we represent. The enthusiasm of members seeking to testify today is not surprising. Thanks to the work of this committee, we are seeing real and sustained investments in our nation's roads, bridges, rail, airports, and water infrastructure. The bipartisan infrastructure law is delivering results for communities across the country, and it's essential that this committee continue to build on its success. The testimony of our colleagues that they delivered today will no doubt help us in that effort. The investments we authorize and oversee on this committee promote a safer, a cleaner, a greener, more accessible transportation network, create jobs and opportunity for everyone. enhance our global economic competitiveness, build capacity in our communities, restore and protect the environment, and increase the safety of transportation in the United States. Today's hearing will help inform our upcoming surface transportation reauthorization legislation, which is vital to maintaining a safe and efficient transportation system. This bill offers us an opportunity to enhance safety, improve our roads, bridges, transit, and rail networks, and invest in our communities to ensure America's economic competitiveness. I'm confident the ideas we hear today will help us accomplish these objectives. I want to thank the chair as well for his commitment to working in a bipartisan manner to see this legislation, as well as Coast Guard authorization, pipeline safety, water resources legislation, and most recently, a FEMA reform bill discussion draft that we released last week, and working to get all these things over this finish line in this Congress.
including a wide range of perspectives is essential to ensuring the work of this committee and that this committee meets the needs of the people from across the country. Making sure our members can directly advocate for the districts is an important part of this. I want to thank the members who've made time to come before the committee today and eager to hear your testimony.
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