Senate Transportation Leaders Tout Trump at RNC
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Republican members of the Senate panel on freight affairs pledged their support to former President Donald Trump during the party’s festive quadrennial gathering ahead of the fall presidential contest.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), a newcomer to the Commerce Committee, was recently named Trump’s choice to run as vice president on the Republican presidential party ticket. On the penultimate day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Vance headlined the event to formally reintroduce himself to voters.
Elected to the Senate in 2022, Vance garnered national political attention primarily via his best-selling rags-to-riches memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” Hearkening back to his blue-collar roots, Vance called on the nation to unite behind the former president’s social, economic and security agenda.
“We have a big tent in this party, on everything from national security to economic policy. But my message to you, my fellow Republicans, is — we love this country and we are united to win,” the Ohio senator told RNC attendees July 17. “I think our disagreements actually make us stronger. That’s what I’ve learned in my time in the United States Senate, where sometimes I persuade my colleagues and sometimes they persuade me. And my message to my fellow Americans, those watching from across the country, is: Shouldn’t we be governed by a party that is unafraid to debate ideas and come to the best solution?”
Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) is Trump's pick to be his vice presidential running mate. He was elected to the Senate in 2022. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News)
In his role on the freight policy panel, Vance partnered with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to co-sponsor the committee-passed Railway Safety Act. The bipartisan legislation, which awaits a floor vote, responds to a 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. This summer, after the National Transportation Safety Board finalized its investigation into the derailment, Vance said: “These findings underscore the need for Congress to pass the Railway Safety Act, which would go a long way to improve our rail safety standards and prevent future disasters like what happened in East Palestine. I won’t stop fighting for those residents until they get the accountability they deserve.”
Biden and Harris
Vance and Trump are campaigning to win governing control of the White House against incumbent President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Notwithstanding differences in style and policy viewpoints, the two presidential campaigns champion upgrades to infrastructure projects and freight mobility corridors. On Nov. 15, 2021, Biden enacted the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, often referred to as the bipartisan infrastructure law.
Also speaking at the RNC was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the Commerce Committee’s ranking member. A one-time political rival in 2016 of then-candidate Trump, Cruz urged voters to criticize Biden’s record on immigration and national security. The Texas Republican’s observations about the southern border with Mexico align with the party’s myriad concerns linked to non-U.S. citizens at international points of entry.
Cruz
“Today, as a result of Joe Biden’s presidency, your family is less safe. Your children are less safe. The country is less safe,” the senator argued July 16. “But here’s the good news: We can fix it. And when Donald Trump is president, we will fix it.”
During this session of Congress, Cruz joined senior House and Senate Republicans in pushing back on the White House’s electric vehicle agenda. A measure that seeks to overturn what congressional Republicans described as an electric vehicle mandate for consumers awaits consideration.
“The Biden administration has ignored the wishes of American consumers by declaring war against affordable gas-powered cars,” Cruz said in June. “This resolution will take a critical step to reverse this abuse of the executive rule-making process. I urge my colleagues to join me in blocking the radical environmentalists who want to raise car prices on the backs of American families.”
Furchgott-Roth
A governing declaration led by The Heritage Foundation of mostly GOP priorities, titled “Project 2025,” proposes a series of federal transportation policy updates. They include privatizing aspects of the Transportation Security Administration; a re-evaluation of emissions reduction programs specific to the freight sector; and reinforcing long-lasting supply chains for small businesses. Diana Furchtgott-Roth is credited with authoring “Project 2025’s” transportation portfolio. Formerly deputy assistant secretary for research and technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Furchtgott-Roth is director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment and the Herbert and Joyce Morgan fellow in energy and environmental policy at The Heritage Foundation.
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