[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 31, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S501-S503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to the consideration of the nomination of Elaine Chao to be 
Secretary of Transportation, which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Elaine 
L. Chao, of Kentucky, to be Secretary of Transportation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will now be 20 
minutes of debate, equally divided in the usual form.
  The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to speak in 
support of Secretary Elaine Chao to be the Secretary of Transportation.
  It would be hard to come up with a more qualified nominee than 
Secretary Chao for this important role. In addition to serving for 8 
years as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Secretary Chao has also served as 
the Deputy Secretary of the Department that she has now been tapped to 
lead. Her extensive experience also includes the United Way of America, 
the Peace Corps, and the Federal Maritime Commission.
  The Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which I am 
honored to chair, held a hearing on Secretary Chao's nomination on 
January 11 of this year. To no one's surprise, she demonstrated her 
experience, her thoughtfulness, and her commitment to working 
collaboratively with Congress on the challenges facing our 
transportation system.
  Last week, the Commerce Committee acted by voice vote to report her 
nomination favorably to the floor, and I am hopeful that the Senate 
will confirm her overwhelmingly today.
  The agency Secretary Chao has been nominated to lead plays a vital 
role in facilitating and promoting the safe and efficient movement of 
goods and people throughout the country and around the world.
  Our economy is truly dependent upon a thriving transportation sector. 
Without a robust and efficient transportation sector, rural States like 
mine would be unable to get their goods to the market.
  Increasing the capacity and the efficiency of our Nation's highways, 
rail lines, pipelines, and ports is crucial and will have to be a top 
priority for the next Secretary of Transportation.
  A continued focus on safety must also be a top priority for the next 
Secretary. While our Nation's pipelines, railroads, airways, and 
highways have a strong record of safety, improvements can and should be 
made. Many of the strong safety improvements the Commerce Committee 
advanced as part of the FAST Act and the PIPES Act last Congress are 
yet to be implemented, and we will expect our next Secretary of 
Transportation to work with us to ensure speedy implementation.
  We will also have the opportunity to collaborate on safety 
improvements when we revisit the authorization of the Federal Aviation 
Administration later this year. The next Secretary of Transportation 
will also have a unique opportunity to show Federal leadership in the 
advancement of transportation innovation. V2V technology, autonomous 
vehicles, and unmanned aircraft systems, to name a few, have great 
promise to promote safety, improve efficiency, and spur economic growth 
in this country.

[[Page S502]]

  Secretary Chao will have a momentous opportunity to transform 
America's transportation network by promoting safety and innovation, 
growing our Nation's freight network, advancing needed improvements to 
our infrastructure, and ensuring that all users--both rural and urban--
benefit equally.
  Secretary Chao has consistently proved her willingness to roll up her 
sleeves and address the challenges facing our Nation. That is why I 
look forward to her confirmation as the next Secretary of 
Transportation, and I urge my colleagues to support her nomination.
  I see my colleague from Florida, the distinguished ranking member on 
our committee, Senator Nelson, is here. He also participated, as did 
members on both sides. Frankly, I think every member of our committee, 
both Republicans and Democrats, had an opportunity to ask questions of 
Secretary Chao when she was in front of our committee.
  As I said before, she has been carefully vetted, thoroughly vetted 
through so many different positions that she has held throughout 
previous administrations.
  I certainly welcome the opportunity to work with her, as I know my 
colleague from Florida does, in meeting the transportation challenges 
that our Nation has as we move into the future.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I would echo what our chairman, Senator 
Thune, has said about Elaine Chao. She certainly has the qualifications 
to be our next Secretary of Transportation. Clearly, she is a part of 
the Senate family; as the spouse of the majority leader, we know her 
well--and her government experience as the previous Secretary of Labor 
and Deputy Secretary of Transportation. The Office of Government 
Ethics, which is the independent agency that vets the nominees, has 
certified that she is in compliance with all the laws and regulations 
governing conflicts of interest.
  This Senator intends to vote for her confirmation, as I did in the 
committee.
  Since the Senator from Arkansas, in his objection to the unanimous 
consent request of the Democratic leader, made note of the absence of 
Democratic members from the Finance Committee markup of a couple of the 
Cabinet nominees, I want to bring to the attention of my colleagues 
that indeed, there was new information that came to light overnight in 
a publication in the Wall Street Journal of additional information 
about the nominee for the Department of HHS, which needs to be cleared 
up before the committee proceeds. So I wanted to put that on the record 
and make clear one of the reasons that the Finance Committee members 
objected to proceeding.
  I think it interesting also that this Senator, as the ranking member 
of the Commerce Committee, had some additional questions for Secretary 
Chao--not questions in any kind of defensive or offensive way but 
additional information. Those questions were proffered Sunday night or 
early Monday morning. This Senator, not having heard all day from 
Secretary Chao, called Secretary Chao. She promptly returned the call 
last evening, and, lo and behold, the transition team for the Secretary 
of Transportation had not even given her the questions.

  One of the questions that this Senator had for Secretary Chao was 
this: Given the chaos in the airports over the weekend, was she as 
Secretary of Transportation concerned about the orderly administration 
of those airports when such an unusual order had come down? In 
addition, what about the lost tickets on getting refunds for passengers 
and what about the changing of flight crews that might cause extra 
expenses? These are all items that a Secretary of Transportation would 
be concerned with going forward. What I found out in conversation was 
that the nominee to be Secretary of Transportation had not been 
consulted by the White House--not in advance, during, or after the 
implementation of those orders having to do with the entry into the 
United States of refugees and other immigrants.
  I think we need Secretary Chao as someone who has the experience, who 
has common sense, and will be in a position to offer level-headed, 
good, experienced-based advice to the government going forward. It is 
just the latest example of some of the fallout from this weekend's 
activities.
  I recommend to our Senators that we approve the nomination of 
Secretary Chao, and I hope that upon her confirmation today by the 
Senate, she will be sworn in forthwith.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, the Senate considers the nomination 
of Elaine Chao to be the Secretary of Transportation. Ms. Chao has 
served in a number of roles in both the public and private sectors 
throughout her career, ultimately serving as the Secretary of Labor 
during the administration of George W. Bush. I look forward to working 
with Secretary Chao as we find solutions to modernize and grow our 
country's crumbling infrastructure.
  We can all agree that investment in our country's transportation 
infrastructure means safe bridges, paved roads, completed railways, and 
expanded airports. We can also all support innovative approaches to 
meeting these needs while guarding public health and environmental 
protections. With a long-term vision, Congress is not only repaving 
roads, but it is investing in the future of our vibrant communities. In 
a rural State like Vermont, it is essential that rural communities have 
the transportation options they need to access basic things like 
grocery stores, doctors' offices, schools and churches, and banks. 
These investments are essential to connecting rural America to the 
economic opportunities they need for success.
  The importance of this connection was made clear in Vermont after the 
devastation of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. Entire communities were 
isolated for days and weeks after the storm until temporary bridges and 
roads were able to reconnect us. It was because of substantial Federal 
and State commitments that Vermont rebuilt and improved our dams, 
roads, wastewater facilities, and rail lines across our State. As 
disruptive as the storm was to the rhythm of our everyday lives, it 
provided Vermont an opportunity to assess our State's vulnerabilities 
and to invest in upgrades. But it should not take a category 4 storm to 
allow a State the opportunity to improve its transportation services.
  That is why I was encouraged by the Obama administration's continued 
investment in programs that were formed as a response to the financial 
crisis of 2008. The Transportation Investment Generating Economic 
Recovery, TIGER, grant program is providing funding to States for 
multimodal programs not considered under traditional transportation 
programs. Vermont has received several grants through this program. 
Under Secretary Foxx's leadership, there has also been a renewed focus 
on transit investment, not only in facilities, but in technology. 
Vermont has relied on these programs to enhance our services for the 
elderly and disabled, as well as to launch new programs like Green 
Mountain Transit's mobile phone application that delivers bus arrival 
times and schedule information. Finally, Vermont has 12 State-owned 
airports that continue to contribute to Vermont's economic engine. If 
not for the commitment to rural airport investment, Vermont would not 
have been able to fund our airports' expansions and improvements 
necessary to grow and add to our State's commerce and tourism.
  America is starving for infrastructure investment. I hope that 
Secretary Chao will work with Congress to establish a long-term 
investment plan that propels our transportation infrastructure and 
technology in both urban and rural areas into the 21 Century.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of the 
Honorable Elaine Chao to serve as the next Secretary of Transportation. 
She has proven she has the experience and the drive to help her 
accomplish President Trump's goals to address our nation's 
infrastructure needs heads on. I have known Elaine for many decades as 
a dedicated civil servant and a talented negotiator and have no doubt 
she will again prove to be a highly effective asset to the Executive 
branch. Elaine Chao was born in Taiwan and, at the age of 8, came with 
her family to America by cargo ship where, at the age of 19, she became 
a U.S. citizen.

[[Page S503]]

From those humble beginnings, she went on to receive degrees from Mount 
Holyoke College in Massachusetts and Harvard Business School.
  Elaine Chao began her executive career at the U.S. Department of 
Transportation in 1986, as Deputy Administrator of the Maritime 
Administration, then as Deputy Secretary from 1989 to 1991. She served 
as the Director of the Peace Corps, in 1991, where she brought the 
Peace Corp programs to the liberated countries of Latvia, Estonia, and 
Lithuania; and as president and CEO of the United Way of America where 
she helped restore fiscal responsibility to an organization that had 
been damaged by mismanagement.
  In 2001, she become the 24th U.S. Secretary of Labor, the first Asian 
Pacific American woman to be appointed to the President's cabinet in 
American history, in President George W. Bush's cabinet. During her 8-
year tenure at the Department of Labor Department, she proved she has 
the skills to manage large multifaceted organizations as well as to 
initiate needed reforms and new programs that help create jobs and 
competiveness in the workforce. Quite frankly, she was the best 
Secretary of Labor the United States has ever had.
  During her tenure, the Department updated the white collar overtime 
regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which has been on the 
agenda of every administration since 1977. The most significant 
regulatory tort reform of President Bush's first term, the new 
regulations provided millions of low-wage vulnerable workers with 
strengthened overtime protection.
  In 2003, under her leadership, the Department achieved the first 
major update of union financial disclosure regulations in more than 40 
years, giving rank and file members enhanced information on how their 
hard-earned dues are spent. The Department set new worker protection 
enforcement records, including recovering record back wages for 
vulnerable low-wage immigrant workers. The Department also launched 
comprehensive reform of the Nation's publicly funded worker training 
programs, to better serve dislocated and unemployed workers.
  I have complete confidence in her abilities and look forward to 
working with her in her new capacity as the 18th U.S. Secretary of 
Transportation.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I support the nomination of Elaine 
Chao to be Secretary of Transportation.
  Ms. Chao has proven a capable manager. She has served in several 
administrations, including as Secretary of Labor and Deputy Secretary 
of Transportation. Her experience will serve the Transportation 
Department and the Cabinet well.
  At the Department of Transportation, Ms. Chao will be responsible for 
implementing one of President Trump's most ambitious agenda items--a 
massive investment in infrastructure. During the campaign, Mr. Trump 
proposed to invest $1 trillion to rebuild infrastructure over the next 
decade. And on November 9, 2016, President-Elect Trump said, ``We are 
going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, 
tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We're going to rebuild our 
infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. And we 
will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it.''
  While we have received few details on the plan, I hope that Ms. Chao 
will work closely with Congress to identify needs within our States and 
invest broadly in roads, bridges, airports, rail, and transit. While I 
believe that public-private partnerships can be one avenue to drive 
transportation projects, we cannot rely on them to be the backbone of a 
transportation plan, as many communities would struggle to assemble the 
financing necessary to make such projects viable.
  Our Nation's public infrastructure has historically been a bipartisan 
priority. It must remain so.
  I appreciate Ms. Chao's commitment during her hearing to enforce the 
Davis-Bacon Act's requirement to pay fair wages to ensure that our 
Nation's construction jobs can sustain workers and their families. 
Commendably, Ms. Chao also emphasized her dedication to safety.
  Maryland has a number of critical transportation priorities, 
including the Port of Baltimore, the MARC commuter rail, and 
increasingly congested highways like I-270 and I-81. We have also 
worked closely with the Federal Transit Administration on safety 
improvements to the Washington Metro, our Nation's subway, and have 
pushed for the creation of the Purple Line. I look forward to working 
with Secretary Chao to build a 21st century, multimodal transportation 
system that works for all of my constituents in Maryland.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, with respect to the pending Chao 
nomination, we yield back the remainder of our time so that we can 
proceed to the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Time is yielded back.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, we yield back our time as well.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is yielded back.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Chao 
nomination?
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL (when his name was called). Present.
  The result was announced--yeas 93, nays 6, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 35 Ex.]

                                YEAS--93

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Franken
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Harris
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCain
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Schatz
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--6

     Booker
     Gillibrand
     Merkley
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Warren

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--1

       
     McConnell
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Heller). Under the previous order, the 
motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the 
President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
  The Senator from West Virginia.

                          ____________________