02.02.21

Hoeven Statement on Confirmation of Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement on the confirmation of Pete Buttigieg as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

“Our nation needs to invest in infrastructure in order to remain competitive, support a growing economy and ensure the safe transportation of people and goods. During his confirmation hearing, Secretary Buttigieg made important commitments to work on addressing the Hours of Service regulations for agriculture haulers, support air carriers in rural areas through the Essential Air Service program and to oppose a federal gas tax increase, which would raise prices for consumers and businesses across the country. While there are areas of disagreement, we will work with him to find innovative ways to fund our infrastructure, like my Move America Act, while also providing regulatory relief to help reduce project costs and make taxpayer dollars go further.” 

As a member of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Committee, Hoeven has worked to support the development of the nation’s infrastructure and provide needed regulatory relief. His efforts include:

  • Addressing the unique challenges faced by agricultural and livestock haulers under the Hours of Service (HOS)regulations.
    • Last year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published an interim final rule to provide certainty to agriculture haulers and clarify the agriculture commodity definition under the HOS regulations.
    • At the senator’s request, FMCSA provided additional flexibility for the transportation of agricultural products under the 150 air mile agricultural exemption.
    • Hoeven also sponsored the Modernizing Agricultural Transportation Act, bipartisan legislation to reform the HOS and Electronic Logging Device (ELD) regulations. Further, Hoeven has secured delays of the ELD rules in Fiscal Years (FY) 2018-2021 through the appropriations process.
  • Advancing his Move America Act, bipartisan legislation that would provide tax credits and tax-exempt bonds as a flexible funding source to help grow and repair the country’s infrastructure.
  • Deploying broadband infrastructure. Among other things, Hoeven has secured more than $2.2 billion across FY2018-2021 for the ReConnect Program, a rural broadband loan and grant pilot program.
  • Supporting the Trump administration in modernizing regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

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