U.S. Senator Cantwell, Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered the following opening statement at a nominations hearing today to consider Carl Bentzel for the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), Thomas Chapman for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Lanhee Chen for the Amtrak Board of Directors.

Sen. Cantwell:

Good morning, the Senate Commerce Committee will come to order. We are here to consider three nominees for various positions.

First, we have Carl W. Bentzel, who has been renominated as a Federal Maritime Commissioner. Mr. Bentzel is a Commerce Committee staff alum, having served as the Senior Democratic Counsel, and spent four years with the House on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee.  He’s served on the FMC since 2019, where he’s spent a great deal of time focused on the issues that we experienced through the Covid pandemic -- U.S. supply chain disruption, but more importantly, carriers who were leaving U.S. products on the dock and returning without our cargo.

Mr. Bentzel has been very active in the Commission’s efforts to increase transparency, awareness, and accountability for those involved in the maritime shipping supply chain and the impacts that we suffered under. Under the Shipping Act, the Commission protects shippers and consumers from unfair and deceptive practices in the shipping industry.

The Covid-19 pandemic exposed deep maritime supply chain resiliency challenges, and Congress responded in two important ways. To address the capacity challenge, we had an historic $2.25 billion in port infrastructure in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; and we passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which provides the Commission with the tools they need to crack down on bad actors and protect American businesses and consumers. We look forward to hearing from you on that continued important work… 

Next, we have Tom Chapman, who has been nominated to serve as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, where he has been a member since 2020. In his four years on the board, Mr. Chapman has been a strong advocate… for the Safe System approach to … highway traffic safety and has championed NTSB’s research into preventing intoxicated driving and speeding related deaths.

Mr. Chapman is also a strong advocate for safety at highway-grade crossing for rail workers, having lost his grandfather in a grade crossing accident when he was younger.  I’m sorry for that loss, Mr. Chapman.

I must note that Mr. Chapman also has roots here in the Committee, first working for Senator Nelson and then on the Aviation Subcommittee for a time … before he went to NTSB. With more than four decades of experience in transportation related matters, Mr. Chapman has served in roles at U.S. Airways, Southwest Airlines, and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He has also earned his own private pilot certificate, and I believe his background on aviation is critical to the ongoing Alaska investigation.

I believe that the NTSB’s work has never been more important or more needed, East Palestine Ohio’s rail derailment, or the Alaska issue, or this Francis Scott Key Bridge incident in Baltimore.

It's so important that our committee did reauthorize the NTSB for another five years, giving its highest funding authorization that it's received in decades, to have more investigators, respond to emerging technology and continue its mission to save lives.

The FAA reauthorization also directed the FAA to implement critical NTSB recommendations to strengthen aviation safety, including a new requirement to install a 25-hour cockpit voice recorder in commercial aircraft to help investigators at the NTSB, and also directing the FAA to adopt surface surveillance technology, ASDE-X, at every large and medium hub airport to reduce close calls across the country.

We appreciate Mr. Chapman's tireless work on these issues and the NTSB investigations, and I'm sure we'll hear more about how to enhance safety from Mr. Chapman.

And last, but certainly not least, we have Mr. Lanhee Chen, who has been nominated to serve on Amtrak's Board of Directors. The Amtrak Board of Directors plays an important role in ensuring safety and quality service on our nation's transportation system.

… Mr. Chen has had a distinguished career in academia, public service and the private sector, and from 2014 to 2018, he was confirmed by the Senate as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board, previously serving as a senior official at the Department of Health and Human Services during the Bush administration.

He has also served as policy director for Senator Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, and our colleague is here from Utah, I'm sure to give us some more words of wisdom and support for Mr. Chen, and so we thank you for joining us today…

Amtrak is in the middle of one of the most significant transportation changes since its founding more than 50 years ago, with ridership on track to exceed pre-pandemic levels this year. And as we said earlier this month, we're happy to consider the nominees who bring the much-needed geographic diversity to the board, and thanks to the advocacy of my colleagues from the West, like Senator Tester on these issues, we are seeing that diversity.

So I look forward to hearing from all of you. Thank you for your willingness to serve and come before the Committee.

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