June 3, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting a New York Times hit piece on Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao:
“Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is an effective conservative member of the Trump Administration and this is why she is under attack by the New York Times under the guise of investigative journalism. Here is the truth. Secretary Chao was born in Taipei, Taiwan after her family fled communist China following the communist takeover. As a seven-year-old, Elaine Chao came to America with her mom and siblings to join her father who arrived in 1953 to establish himself before sending for his family. She spoke no English when she arrived but after just two years in America, she was elected president of her class.
“Secretary Chao is one of the hardest working Cabinet Secretaries focused like a laser beam on accomplishing President Trump’s agenda. Her efforts to mitigate the Obama administration’s regulatory attempt to end the internal combustion engine in vehicles through unattainable federal government mandated fuel efficiency standards is just one example of the Secretary tackling the hard issues of fixing and balancing the former administration’s regulatory excesses creating a sound economic future for transportation in America.
“As someone who worked for Secretary Chao in the Labor Department during President George W. Bush’ administration, I can personally attest that she is an aggressive conservative seeking ways to roll back government and reduce overall spending. And these attacks are clearly motivated by those with a desire to thwart her through innuendo and sometimes not so subtle racism.
“The fact is that Secretary Chao was appointed to head the Transportation Department after serving not only as Labor Secretary for eight years, but also as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation under President George Herbert Walker Bush and the Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission. Having received about three dozen honorary degrees from around the globe, to infer that any of these honorary degrees somehow taints her is patently absurd.
“This attempt to smear Elaine Chao is clearly rooted in fear. Secretary Chao is an effective conservative working to transform the transportation policy, working against the bureaucrat resisters and former Obama officials who are so often quoted by liberal outlets like the New York Times as if they were objective non-partisans. Among her recent actions which have drawn the ire of the professional left, Chao ended funding for the California high-speed rail and started an inquiry on whether the San Antonio and Buffalo airports religious discrimination against the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain ran afoul of federal law.
“It is no surprise that by carrying out President Trump’s mandate at the Department of Transportation, that Secretary Chao is being subjected to this type of scurrilous attack, and I, for one, am sick of this type of political assassination of someone who has dedicated her life to reining in the administrative state.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org
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