Pete Buttigieg is on his way to being confirmed as Secretary of Transportation. His nomination moved out of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Senate will vote to confirm his nomination on Tuesday, Feb 2.
The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) supported his nomination and said it is “looking forward to working with the enthusiastic Secretary to advance infrastructure funding and a highway reauthorization this year.”
Here are some of the answers to the questions NSSGA posed to the incoming Secretary:
On highway funding: “The challenge of crumbling roads and obsolete bridges has obviously long pre-dated the COVID crisis, as has the challenge of infrastructure funding. Investments in infrastructure are a force multiplier and generally the return on infrastructure investment is repaid to communities many times over. If I am confirmed, I will work closely with this Committee and with the other key Committees to craft a multi-year reauthorization, including addressing our long-standing funding challenges.”
On aggregates sustainability: “Access to aggregates and construction materials is critically important for the maintenance and development of our infrastructure system. There are a limited number of existing aggregate resource sites in our nation, and we need to take coordinated efforts to understand how to ensure the availability and reasonable price of these resources without compromising our commitments to safety or environmental protection.”