Business meeting to consider S.1691, to limit the use of facial recognition technology in airports, S.2314, to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force regarding shark depredation, S.2318, to amend the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to require the periodic update to the strategic plan to guide the Manufacturing USA Program to align with the mandatory updates to the National Strategy for Advanced Manufacturing, S.2351, to supplement existing lease authorities available to the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to support research, education, and training, and the nominations of Neil Jacobs, of North Carolina, to be Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, Taylor Jordan, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Secretary, and Harry Kumar, of New York, to be an Assistant Secretary, all of the Department of Commerce, Paul Roberti, of Rhode Island, to be Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Jonathan Morrison, of California, to be Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Seval Oz, of California, to be an Assistant Secretary, Michael Rutherford, of Florida, to be an Assistant Secretary, and Gregory Zerzan, of Texas, to be General Counsel, all of the Department of Transportation, and Derek Barrs, of Florida, to be Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

2025-07-30

Source: Congress.gov

Summary

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation convened to consider three bills, several Coast Guard promotions, and numerous nominees for roles within the Department of Commerce and Transportation. [ 00:23:57-00:24:16 ] Chairman Ted Cruz highlighted the importance of emergency preparedness in light of recent flash flooding in Texas and tsunami alerts in the Pacific. [ 00:24:16-00:24:29 ]

Themes

NOAA and Emergency Preparedness

The committee discussed the crucial role of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service in forecasting and emergency notifications, especially following recent catastrophic flash flooding in Texas and a major earthquake off Russia. [ 00:24:16-00:24:34 ] Chairman Cruz and Ranking Member Cantwell emphasized the need for modernizing NOAA's systems and acknowledged the importance of existing infrastructure like the DART program and NOAA buoys. [ 00:24:58-00:24:58 ] The nomination of Neal Jacobs to serve as Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (head of NOAA) was favorably reported, though some members recorded their opposition. [ 00:24:40 ] Taylor Jordan's nomination for Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental and Observation was also favorably reported despite Cantwell's opposition due to his views on climate. [ 00:24:40 ]

Legislation Markup

Three bills were favorably reported by the committee. The "Shark Act of 2025," introduced by Senators Scott and Schatz, aims to establish a task force to develop solutions for shark depredation, where sharks steal fish from anglers. [ 00:25:26-00:25:40 ] The "Streamlining American Manufacturers Strategy Act," introduced by Senators Blunt Rochester and Budd, seeks to improve U.S. competitiveness in advanced manufacturing by aligning strategic planning timelines for related programs. [ 00:25:42-00:25:56 ] The "Space Exploration Research Act," co-sponsored by Chairman Cruz, authorizes NASA centers to lease unused facilities to states, universities, or nonprofits for space research, workforce training, and public-private technology partnerships. [ 00:26:04-00:26:22 ] The "Traveler Privacy Protection Act" was pulled from the agenda for further review. [ 00:26:47-00:27:05 ]

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Department of Transportation Nominees

Several nominations for Department of Transportation roles were considered. [ 00:24:04 ] Paul Roberti, nominated as Administrator of Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration, was favorably reported despite Cantwell's concerns about declining pipeline enforcement cases. [ 00:35:56-00:36:03 ]

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 Gregory Zerzon, nominated for General Counsel, was also favorably reported, though Cantwell expressed concerns about the administration's stance on aviation regulations. Jonathan Morrison (NHTSA Administrator), Derek Bars (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator), and Michael Rutherford (Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Multimodal) were all favorably reported despite Ranking Member Cantwell's stated opposition due to concerns about enforcement actions and investment priorities.

Coast Guard Promotions

The committee favorably reported the promotion of 20 Coast Guard officers. [ 00:31:11-00:31:30 ]

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 Senator Dan Sullivan commended the committee for its "historic investment" in the Coast Guard through the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which provided nearly $26 billion for recapitalization efforts.

Tone of the Meeting

The meeting maintained a generally cooperative and efficient tone, with bipartisan support evident in the co-sponsorship of legislation and the swift reporting of Coast Guard promotions. [ 00:26:30 ]

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[ 00:31:11-00:31:30 ]

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 However, there were clear partisan divisions on several nominations, particularly from Ranking Member Cantwell, who requested roll call votes and voiced concerns about nominees' climate views, enforcement records, or policy positions. The committee also experienced some lighthearted moments, including a reference to the 50th anniversary of "Jaws" and a humorous discussion about the challenges of scheduling multiple committee markups simultaneously. The Chairman decided to conclude the session early for some nominees due to attendance issues, planning to address them at a later time. [ 00:48:48-00:48:49 ]

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Participants

Transcript

T
Ted Cruz
Good morning.  The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will come to order.  Today we'll consider three bills, several Coast Guard promotions, and a slew of nominees for roles at the Department of Commerce and Transportation, including Neal Jacobs to serve as Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, the head of NOAA, and several key DOT model administrators.   Weeks ago, my home state of Texas was hit with catastrophic flash flooding that claimed over 130 lives.  It was a sobering reminder of man's fragility in the face of Mother Nature and of the need to prepare for the next storm.  Just last night, tsunami alerts were issued across the Pacific following a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia.   The employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service play a critical role in forecasting and emergency notification for these rapid-onset events.  I believe that Mr. Jacobs and Taylor Jordan, who will also be reported out this morning for a top role at NOAA, will improve our systems to better respond to such disasters.  My hope is that they'll have more resources at their disposal.   Ranking member Cantwell and I will soon introduce together legislation to modernize NOAA weather radio warning systems and ensure that every American, especially those in areas with poor cell service, aren't left in the dark when it matters the most.  I'd like to say a few things about the legislation we're marking up.  It's fitting that with the close of Shark Week and the 50th anniversary of Jaws,   We're taking up the Shark Act.  Introduced by Senators Scott of Florida and Schatz of Hawaii, this bill tackles shark depredation, which occurs when sharks steal hooked or caught fish before anglers can reel them in.
T
Ted Cruz
It would establish a task force to develop practical solutions to help fishermen land their catch before the sharks beat them to it.   The Streamlining American Manufacturers Strategy Act, introduced by Senators Blunt Rochester and Budd, will help us better compete with China in advanced manufacturing.  It aligns the Manufacturing USA program with the National Strategy for Advanced Manufacturing.  Finally, we're marking up the Space Exploration Research Act.   This bill authorizes NASA centers to sign agreements with states, universities, or nonprofits to develop unused facilities for space research.  This helps not just Johnson Space Center in Texas, but every NASA center, including New Mexico's White Sands Test Facility, Mississippi's Stennis Space Center, Ohio's Glenn Research Center, and West Virginia's Katherine Johnson Facility.   I thank Senators Padilla, Schiff, Lujan, Britt, and Wicker for joining my bipartisan legislation.  For the information of senators, there are few changes to today's markup agenda.  We will no longer be moving the Traveler Privacy Protection Act from Senators Merkley and Kennedy.  This bill is designed to put guardrails on TSA and stop another government agency from potentially collecting sensitive personal information about American citizens.   My understanding is that some members want additional information about the bill, so we'll keep working on it later.  I know many of you have other markups and appointments, and we have a lot of roll call votes planned for today.  Given attendance, I don't know if we'll get through all of the nominees, so we're going to split this up.   I expect we have time to get through six or seven of our nominees today.  With that, I'll turn to ranking member Cantwell.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  I want to first acknowledge, as you did, the tsunami warnings that we had last night in a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Russia.  Those warnings were made possible because of the incredible work of NOAA, employees, emergency responders.   And to make sure that our coastal communities like the state of Washington, Hawaii and Alaska and California and Oregon and other impacted areas were given warning safely in advance.  We have this capability because of investments we've made in infrastructure.  This includes the DART program, the NOAA buoy positioned in the ocean to monitor for tsunamis in real time and the work of NOAA Center for Tsunami Research in Seattle.   working to improve the models to provide faster and more accurate weather and warning information.  Today, our committee meets to consider seven nominations and the promotion of 20 Coast Guard officers and three pieces of legislation.  Today's bill address include, as you mentioned, the shark interactions with fisheries, aligning strategic planning timelines for U.S.  advanced manufacturing, and providing increased flexibility to NASA's leasing authority to allow on-site research by outside entities.   We consider the Shark Act of 2025 from Senator Schatz and Senator Scott of Florida.  This bill creates a task force to focus on reducing shark interactions with fisheries.  This task force would review partially or fully consumed hooked fish before they can be landed by anglers to seek ways to reduce these interactions.  The Streamlining American Manufacturing Act by Senator Blunt Rochester and Budd aligns timelines for updating both the Manufacturing USA strategic plan, which is   was previously on a three-year cycle, and the National Strategy for Advanced Manufacturing to every four years on the same cycle, this alignment ensures a clear set of goals and synchronized data and reduces bureaucracy for U.S.  advanced manufacturing stakeholders.  And finally, the Space Exploration Research Act by you, Mr. Chairman, and Senator Padilla, Britt, Lujan, Schiff, and Wicker would also allow NASA to lease its property to states, local governments, and nonprofits for higher
higher ed organizations so they can build and expand research facilities with non-federal funding sources.  This purpose is to support activities related to space and aeronautic research and workforce training and education and public-private technology partnership.  And I can just tell you from the Pacific Northwest, we have a very big space industry and we want to continue to see it grow.   I plan to support Dr. Jacobson to serve as NOAA administrator in the face of a rapidly changing climate, increasingly extreme storms and wildfires.

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