June 12, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the Senate to confirm the long-delayed nomination of Diana Furchtgott-Roth to be the next Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Research and Technology:
“It is beyond absurd that a Presidential appointee should have to wait almost three years to be confirmed or not by the U.S. Senate. Yet that is the case with the brilliant economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth as she waits for the Senate to act on her nomination to become the Assistant Secretary for Research and Development at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Make no mistake that this position is critical as decisions are regularly made about the shape of our nation’s transportation future in the rapidly approaching 5G world, and somehow the Senate has failed to move forward with her nomination.
“Ms. Furchtgott-Roth served under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush and George W. Bush in important roles, and currently serves at the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology. She is a respected thinker in conservative circles having recently served as a senior fellow and director of Economics21 at the Manhattan Institute. In the George W. Bush administration, she has been the Chief Economist for the Department of Labor under then Secretary Elaine L. Chao, who heads the Transportation Department under President Trump. On a personal note, while my stint at the Labor Department came after Ms. Furchtgott-Roth had left, I did get the opportunity to serve with her on the Trump transition team, and she is one of this nation’s truly bright lights.
“Being nominated to an Assistant Secretary position is an honor, but when the confirmation process becomes a three year, never ending ordeal, even the most ardent publicly minded servant like Furchgott-Roth have to begin to lose patience. It is time for the Senate to confirm Diana Furchgott-Roth and let her assume the full responsibilities in advising Secretary Chao on the infrastructure issues that will dominate the next twenty years. In fact failure to confirm this superbly qualified woman would be a dereliction of the duties of the Senate.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.
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