Rick Larsen

Today's hearing on the state of the Highway Trust Fund is an opportunity to discuss a critical responsibility that faces this committee.

Clean water is a human right that historically underserved communities, including Tribal communities, have lacked access to for far too long.

Thank you, Chair Rouzer and Ranking Member Napolitano, for holding this hearing on clean water infrastructure financing.

I urge the committee to take this long overdue action on rail safety.

This stands in contrast to the chaos we are seeing right now in FY 2024 funding talks.

Innovation cannot come at the cost of American jobs.

Maintaining the availability of well-paying jobs and minimizing the displacement of jobs from automation is a priority of mine.

Any cuts to the Coast Guard's funding will send us in the wrong direction.

In 2022, Washington State had 662 fires... this year, to this date, Washington State has had 1,855 fires.

Even though we don't stop the work, it is really upon them to figure out how they can continue to manage the work being done until they can get reimbursed with the Disaster Relief Fund once it is replenished.

So, if it is funded through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which is for Whatcom County, that's, how I believe, where those dollars are coming from.

Climate change is making disasters more frequent, intense and costly.

We have to ensure all communities have equal opportunity to access these vital funds.

It is imperative that Congress work together in a bipartisan manner to replenish the DRF as soon as possible.

So, absent more real-world data, do you support any proactive safety standards to help better prove out AV technology in terms of safer roadways?

The first question is for Ms. Chase.

The safety realities of this industry: every year currently over 5,000 people are killed in crashes involving large trucks on our roads.

The size of the workforce: in 2022, the industry employed 3.5 million truck drivers.

The size and reach of this industry: trucks move over 70 percent of the nation's freight by weight, and there are 13.8 million large trucks registered in the U.S.

Today's hearing is an opportunity for Members to learn more about the state of the automated commercial motor vehicle industry--what's happening now, what we might see in the future, and how these technological changes will impact public…

Comprehensive regulations and oversight of autonomous vehicle deployment will be required to create and preserve high-quality, family-wage jobs.

The bottom line cannot be saving money--it must be saving lives.

The Future of Automated Commercial Motor Vehicles: Impacts on Society, the Supply Chain, and U.S. Economic Leadership.

Improving the acquisition program requires investing more into the Coast Guard so that they can bolster their oversight.

To all the victims that never saw justice and went unheard for years, we hear you and feel your pain.