Tammy Baldwin: “I rise in support of the nomination of Sean Duffy to serve as our next Secretary of Transportation. Sean Duffy and I…”

“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.…”