Nomination of Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg
Floor Speech
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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 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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