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Floor Speech

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Ms. BALDWIN. Madam President, I rise in support of the nomination of Sean Duffy to serve as our next Secretary of Transportation.

Sean Duffy and I have known each other for many years and worked together in the Wisconsin delegation during our time in the House of Representatives.

As a Wisconsin native, Mr. Duffy is a former Congressman who represented Wisconsin's Seventh Congressional District from 2011 to 2019, and, in that time, we partnered on shared priorities for our constituents, including the St. Croix bridge in western Wisconsin.

You know, during his confirmation hearing before the Commerce Committee, I shared this story. It usually does not take an act of Congress to build a bridge, but in this case, it was needed to build a new bridge over the St. Croix River, connecting Wisconsin to Minnesota.

With help from Senators Klobuchar, Kohl, and Johnson, Sean Duffy and I, without hesitation, whipped our respective caucuses and brought together a House majority necessary to pass legislation to replace the 80-year-old Stillwater Bridge. As Sean can attest, this was a decades- long battle, which resulted in a significant bipartisan win for our State and our region. It was not a matter of right or left, just what was good for our constituents, our economy, and our State.

Today, the St. Croix Crossing, which opened in 2017, has shortened traffic times, reduced congestion, and, most importantly, improved safety. This type of bipartisan work for the American people is what I expect to see from Sean Duffy as Secretary of Transportation. Our efforts show that when we work together, we get important things done.

And, as I told my colleagues on the Commerce Committee about the nominee, we haven't always agreed, and I am certain that will continue to be true. I will be the first to call out any efforts to roll back our ``Buy America'' rules or weaken safety or increase costs or cut funding for critical projects like the Blatnik Bridge in my State.

At the end of the day, I am confident that Sean Duffy is the right person for this job and will help deliver for Wisconsin families, businesses, and workers. He has committed to being a strong partner on strengthening ``Buy America'' rules, and I look forward to working with him on our upcoming surface transportation reauthorization. I expect that he will work with Members on both sides of the aisle to improve our infrastructure and address challenges in the years ahead.

I urge my colleagues to support the nomination of Sean Duffy as Secretary of Transportation.

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