[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S185-S186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             NOMINATION OF PETER PAUL MONTGOMERY BUTTIGIEG

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, yesterday I voted to advance out of 
committee President Biden's nomination of Pete Buttigieg as head of the 
Department of Transportation, and the full Senate will soon vote to 
confirm him.
  I had a good meeting and discussion with Mr. Buttigieg last week. We 
talked about a number of South Dakota transportation priorities.
  Our Nation is due for another major infrastructure bill, and I asked 
Mr. Buttigieg to commit to maintaining strong investments in rural 
highway funding and other rural transportation priorities as part of 
any infrastructure legislation. A strong rural transportation 
infrastructure benefits the entire national transportation system by 
connecting major highways and railways to the regions that produce so 
many of the agricultural and industrial products that we rely on. It is 
key to helping South Dakota farmers and ranchers and farmers and 
ranchers around the country get their products to market.
  I also asked Mr. Buttigieg to work with me to improve Tribal 
transportation infrastructure. Right now, prosperous Tribes in populous 
areas receive a disproportionate amount of Tribal transportation 
funding, even though their needs are often less pressing than those 
facing large rural Tribes, like those in South Dakota. I am committed 
to ensuring that rural Tribes get their fair share of Tribal 
transportation funding, and I was pleased that

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Mr. Buttigieg agreed to work with me on this issue.
  I also enjoyed discussing autonomous vehicle legislation with him. He 
shares my interest in the technological, environmental, and safety 
benefits self-driving vehicles can offer, and I look forward to working 
with him on this issue.
  Highway bills have always been a place for bipartisan cooperation, 
and the bill released last Congress by Senators Barrasso and Carper was 
no exception. I hope that bipartisan tradition will continue in this 
Congress and that Democrats and Republicans can work together to 
deliver a significant infrastructure package in the near future

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