TTD's Statement on Elaine Chao’s Confirmation as Secretary of Transportation

Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issues this statement on the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of Elaine Chao as Secretary of Transportation:

“I congratulate Elaine Chao on her confirmation by the Senate as our new Secretary of Transportation. The challenges Secretary Chao inherits are monumental. Decades of wrongheaded austerity policies and partisan gridlock in Washington have left this country with a badly deteriorated transportation system and infrastructure that is harming American competitiveness and stifling job creation.

“Secretary Chao will play a central role in following through with President Trump’s promise to reverse this neglect and finally modernize our transportation system with significant new investments. I look forward to working with Secretary Chao to advance a robust, bipartisan investment plan that repairs and expands our transportation system, lifts more working people into the middle class and protects and honors the jobs and rights of frontline transportation workers who operate, maintain and build our vast passenger and freight network.”