Townhall has repeatedly pointed out issues with America's commercial air transportation system on President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's watch, from failing to anticipate the effects of or meaningfully remedy an air traffic control staffing shortage to a surge in "close calls" that have officials wondering how long it will be until luck runs out and there's a deadly crash. Townhall has also covered numerous derailments and accidents involving trains that didn't seem to show competence from federal Biden administration officials.
Well, the House Oversight Committee — like many Americans who expect air travel to be safe and on-schedule — wants answers from Buttigieg directly on his department's efforts to "investigate and remediate a disturbing pattern" of both "aviation and rail safety failures that have put the safety of Americans across the country at risk."
In a letter sent to Buttigieg on Tuesday, Oversight Chairman James Comer and his colleagues on the committee are seeking "a briefing, documents, and communications related to DOT’s efforts" to understand and prevent safety issues jeopardizing Americans' safety.
"These failures indicate a recent and disturbing pattern of failures at the Department placing the safety of Americans at risk," the letter emphasizes.
According to a DOT Inspector General report from Fiscal Year 2023, the "Aviation Safety" and "Surface Transportation Safety" posed significant "management challenges" and emphasized the necessity of addressing aviation safety issues and reducing surface transportation failures. According to the lawmakers, Buttigieg's Transportation Department hasn't addressed the concerns raised by the Inspector General.
Pointing to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) data, the lawmakers note that there were more than 1,700 runway incursions and around 2,000 rail incidents in recent months, yet there has yet to be a show or urgency from Buttigieg or his agency to take action.
"Despite these incidents, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) has more than 86 new unresolved recommendations since President Biden took office," the Republican lawmakers remind Buttigieg. "OMB requires that OIG recommendations be ‘resolved’ within six months. These recommendations include ways to improve ‘safety, efficiency, and economy’ in several DOT programs including aviation and rail safety, which raises serious concerns that had the OST acted on these numerous recommendations, recent failures might have been prevented," notes the letter.
"It appears from the OIG’s catalogue of long overdue and unresolved recommendations that DOT’s leadership is not prioritizing Americans’ safety on air, land, and sea," the letter from the Oversight Committee concludes. "These safety failures have eroded the public’s confidence in air and rail safety and necessitates thorough investigation."
🚨 🚨 Following a disturbing pattern of aviation and rail safety failures, @RepJamesComer & Oversight Republicans are demanding answers from @SecretaryPete, including why he is behind in implementing more than 86 critical recommendations from DOT’s Office of the Inspector… pic.twitter.com/Jk5YiXKohg
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) September 5, 2023