WASHINGTON, D.C.--Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV today gave opening remarks at a U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on several nominations. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

Today, we are going to hear from nominees for positions in the Federal Government that don’t generate a lot of headlines, but that play a key role in our country’s economic success.

We are first going to hear from Ms. Debra Miller, who has been nominated by the President to be a Commissioner on the Surface Transportation Board (STB). Ms. Miller has extensive experience working on transportation policy at the state level and in the private sector. As we discussed at our meeting earlier this week, however, Ms. Miller, the STB is an agency with a different function than a state transportation department. The STB’s job is to serve as an honest broker between freight railroads, shippers, and the millions of consumers, farms, and small businesses that our country’s freight railroad network serves.

Since Congress passed the 1980 Staggers Act, the STB has seen its primary mission as helping the freight rail industry get back on a stable financial footing. Under the STB’s watch, the freight rail industry has consolidated from 39 companies to four large carriers today – two that dominate the market east of the Mississippi River, and two to the West. And the STB has set a high bar for captive shippers who have the resources and the guts to challenge these dominant railroads’ business practices.    

It is not any secret that I think that – more than three decades after the Staggers Act – the STB needs to change its perspective. The evidence is overwhelming at this point that the four dominant freight railroads are financially strong.  It’s time for the STB to re-focus its mission on supporting the businesses and people who use the rail network. 

As I documented in a Commerce Committee staff report I issued three years ago - and in a new staff report I released this morning - the freight railroads are setting new financial records almost every quarter. While the rest of the economy has been limping along for the past few years, the freight railroads have been hauling in record amounts of cash. Even after paying for their operations and making needed capital investments, the companies are buying back record amounts of their stock and raising their dividends to their shareholders. They are hitting every benchmark of financial health that Congress, the STB and the investor community has set for them. I ask unanimous consent to insert this Commerce Committee staff report into the record of this hearing.  

As I told you in our meeting, Ms. Miller, I think the STB needs to stop worrying so much about the financial health of the railroads, and focus more on the persistent complaints coming from the shipper community – about poor service, bullying tactics, and lack of competition. I also think the STB needs to a better job responding to its stakeholders in a timely way.

Our next nominee is Mr. Chip Jaenichen, who has been nominated to lead the Maritime Administration within the Department of Transportation. Mr. Jaenichen would bring to this job the leadership experience he gained during a three-decade long career in the United States Navy. The maritime industry is critical to the continued success of our country – whether it’s expanding exports, the opening of the Panama Canal, creating jobs, or managing goods movement, especially in the growing energy sector.  

States around the country are looking to expand service, like in my state of West Virginia, where we have been working to move more goods on marine highway 70 and add container-on-barge service. If you are confirmed, Mr. Jaenichen, you will be tasked with maintaining the health of the industry, including support for mariners, shipbuilding, shipping, and port operations. You also have a vital role to play in working with the military and Department of Homeland Security to ensure our country’s national security.  

I would also like to welcome Mr. Arun Kumar, who is the President’s nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Global Markets and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service at the Department of Commerce.  

If he is confirmed, Mr. Kumar would lead the Department’s newly reorganized “Global Markets Unit” within the International Trade Administration (ITA). His job will be to promote exports by assisting American businesses access and penetrate foreign markets. He would also lead SelectUSA – President Obama’s new initiative to promote foreign direct investment. My state of West Virginia is a great example of the profoundly positive impacts that foreign investment can have on our local economies. 

After decades of private-sector experience, Mr. Kumar retired in September of this year as a partner and member of the Board of Directors at KPMG, where he worked for nearly 20 years. He has executive experience – including as a CEO – at numerous companies before arriving at KPMG. Mr. Kumar, I would like to thank you and our other two nominees for being willing to serve your country in these positions, and I look forward to hearing your testimony today.

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