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Floor Speech
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Ms. BALDWIN. Shortly, I will request unanimous consent to confirm the nomination of Mr. Chris Coes to be Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Transportation.
As we have discussed, we face supply chain challenges created by several compounding factors, increased demand for goods, a growing reliance on e-commerce, as well as production and labor market disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, we have underinvested in our freight infrastructure for decades. The bipartisan infrastructure law reverses that trend. It provides a historic $567 billion for the Department of Transportation. This includes $37 billion for freight infrastructure investments.
The Department of Transportation will be responsible for implementing and managing these funds, including INFRA and the Port Infrastructure Development Program. The Department needs leaders like Mr. Coes to coordinate implementation of these programs and get the funding Congress has approved out to the States and local governments.
Mr. Coes is very qualified to serve as Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy for the Department of Transportation, having served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy.
He received strong and bipartisan support in the Commerce Committee. In fact, there are several nominees, including Mr. Coes, who have been passed out of the Commerce Committee with bipartisan support for key posts at the Department of Transportation, the Department of Commerce, the Surface Transportation Board, and the Federal Maritime Commission who all play integral roles in addressing the ongoing supply chain issues.
And yet some of our Republican colleagues are refusing to provide these Agencies with the leadership resources necessary to help address the supply chain crisis.
The issues facing our supply chain are complex and have been years in the making. They will not be fixed overnight, and that is why it is important to have confirmed, sustained leadership at the Agencies responsible for helping to address these multifaceted issues over the next several years.
So I ask that it be in order to make the same request with respect to Executive Calendar No. 549, Christopher A. Coes to be Assistant Secretary of Transportation.
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