WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) discussed key transportation and infrastructure issues impacting South and West Texas with U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy during a House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development hearing. 

 

The below transcript is lightly edited for clarity 

 

Congressman Gonzales: “Your testimony has been a breath of fresh air. I think one of the things that the last administration failed to do—the secret sauce—was transparency. That’s all the American people want. Good, bad, ugly. Just give us the truth. I’m an optimistic person. I want to start with the future. And in my eyes, the future is commercial space travel. And the way I view the world, sometimes the answer is not more money—sometimes the answer is the government getting out of the way and allowing industries to just take hold. In particular, SpaceX has successfully launched nearly 500 rockets. This isn’t a “what if”—we’re already there. What can DOT do in particular to ensure that the United States of America is the leader and the winner in this commercial space battle?”

DOT Secretary Duffy: “I know the FAA had thought through—in the last administration—how they could streamline the process for permits with space travel. And I just met with a very prominent company—not SpaceX, but a different one—and they’re like, “It got worse, it didn’t get better.” 

We have to make sure—we need to have a permitting process. We need to have rules and regulations in place. But it has become so complicated and so redundant. And different agencies making these companies do the same thing over again—taking years, as opposed to a couple of months—is a huge problem. 

In this meeting that took place yesterday, I tasked the FAA to go back and look at how we’re going through the permitting process and the approval process. Because again, you look at SpaceX and Blue Origin and others—we’re leading—but we want to make sure we stay in the lead, and you can’t have government getting in the way—needlessly in the way—of this advancement.”

Congressman Gonzales: “I welcome hosting you in Texas. Blue Origin is in my district. There, we are literally launching rockets from West Texas—and South Texas as well. Once again, I think this is an area that’s worth talking about. I’m a retired, professional cryptologist. When you have big problems, oftentimes the answer is: look towards technology. It’s an equalizer.

I now want to bring it back to home base. And I want to piggyback off what Chairman Rogers said earlier about rural infrastructure. One of my counties—Reeves County—produces more natural gas than anywhere else in the country. And in that area, the infrastructure is just completely worn down. There is a highway from Reeves to Loving County that we call “Death Highway.” And if you’ve ever been on that highway, you know why it’s called Death Highway. When I’m on there, I’m telling my team, ‘Put your phones down—ten and two.’ It’s a very scary situation. We’ve talked about energy independence. My question is: what does infrastructure near critical resources—like oil and gas industries—fall in your priority list?”

DOT Secretary Duffy: “The President cares about oil and gas and making sure we’re leading the world and if we have extra to be able to export, especially LNG. But one of the problems I think we have is up to 40% of the money that’s spent…on these projects goes to consultants and permitting. If we could get that to 15%, that means you guys all get to build more projects. We get more grant money out the door. 

I think we do have to spend smarter and spend better. Again, that doesn’t mean we don’t do things right. You say, “Hey, should we look out for the environment? Should we look out for the right permits?” Of course. But we can do that with less money. 

The consultant class that has built up almost seems to be bigger than the construction class around these projects. So that’s—we’re looking at permitting reform right now. How can we delegate more authority to states to do some of the work? Because we think they can move faster and more efficiently than the federal government.”

Congressman Gonzales: “I bring that up because oftentimes rural America gets forgotten in this equation, one, when they produce a lot of these very critical resources. I met with a woman there in Pecos County who—her number one ask—she said, ‘Tony, my son is terrified to start driving. He’s 15 years old.’ It’s a reasonable ask to have our children not be terrified to drive on our highways. 

Last thing—the Del Rio Airport is very important to me. We have not had an airline in there since 2022. The reason why I mention Del Rio, Texas—it’s along the border— it’s critical infrastructure when you talk about border security, Laughlin Air Force base—it has a lot of nodes in there. As we look towards that, I look forward to how we can restart this rural airline service in there.”

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