Cantwell Criticizes Improper, Partisan Subpoenas Sought by Chair

Committee should be focused on the bipartisan cooperation the committee is known for, Cantwell warns, & legislation on aviation safety, surface transportation, shipbuilding

 VIDEO | AUDIO

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This morning, Commerce Committee Ranking Member Senator Maria Cantwell, criticized efforts by Chair Cruz to authorize the issuance of an overly broad and unnecessary subpoena to Boston Logan airport regarding undocumented immigrants sleeping inside the facility, a practice banned by Governor Healey in July 2024. Massport, the operator of the airport, had already promised to provide responses to the Chair by March 10. Ranking Member Cantwell also spoke out against the Chair's plan – withdrawn prior to the markup – to authorize a subpoena to a small woman-owned business. The business was fulfilling its obligations under a Department of Commerce contract, executed during the first Trump Administration, to provide training to clients on high-risk employment issues like sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination, though Cruz cited it as an investigation into DEI training. The Chair lacked a quorum necessary to vote on the authorization.

Here are Ranking Member Cantwell’s opening remarks:

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, the Committee is voting on motions to authorize the Chair to issue subpoenas on a broad array of documents to Massport, the operator of Boston Logan Airport. “

“Mr. Chair, while I'm all in for this committee conducting oversight responsibly to dig into matters that may inform the committee about necessary changes in legislation or oversight, I am concerned that this subpoena authorization at this time doesn't meet that standard. Going back at least 20 years, the Chair and Ranking Member of this committee typically worked together and reached consensus on subpoenas being issued, because there is no question the matter being investigated was improper, or the party being investigated was not being cooperative.

“The subpoena authorization being requested today, I believe, is premature. When I heard your arguments, Mr. Chairman, I do not believe that you've exhausted all the options in your capacity, given that Massport is responding to…the information and documentation [requests] and now you are getting communication from them.

“Regarding Logan Airport, the facts are simple. Senator Cruz, as a ranking member, asked Massport for written answers to a series of questions. While they have not yet provided responses [until] recent days, Massport has promised in writing to answer all of Chairman Cruz's questions by March 10^th, which is five days from now. This… may well be good, but the issues of the investigation – whether migrants sleeping at the airport, whether that violated federal law or grant assurances – this practice ended eight months ago when the Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey banned it and closed that operation.

“The motion to authorize the subpoena to Massport isn't the only matter that that was put on the agenda, and the Chairman mentioned this other issue, and I don't know whether you plan to take action. I heard your comments - but I just want to say something about NewPoint Strategies, a small woman-owned business that has simply fulfilled a contract competitively awarded in the Trump Administration in 2018. Senator Cruz wanted to authorize the subpoena to this small company for documents related to the contract, [which] provided basic workforce training on sexual harassment and federal discrimination laws.

“The Chair has since withdrawn his request to authorize the subpoena, and NewPoint has provided documents. This voluntary production proves that the Chairman can get the information requested just by threatening the subpoenas. And I want to point out how unnecessary it is to even request those documents from NewPoint, voluntary or otherwise, since the contract is with the Department of Commerce. So, the Department of Commerce could have easily given us that information.

“Let me say again, employment training to prevent workplace harassment of any kind is not DEI indoctrination or propaganda. Instead, it’s just really good risk management. According to the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, [from] 2019 through 2024, the Federal Government paid out $826 million to federal employees who were victims of illegal discrimination in the workplace. The public sector, state and local governments, and employers, paid over $2.3 billion during that same time frame.

“So yes, discrimination happens, and good ways to prevent it, by listening to people who are in the HR business, I think is a pretty good idea. These types of trainings help save money for taxpayers and for companies. And this committee has seen firsthand the numerous effects of sexual harassment [and] sexual violence in the workplace.

“We have to look no further than the Operation Fouled Anchor, a Coast Guard investigation into the reports of sexual assault and sexual violence at the Coast Guard Academy and at sea, which were swept under the rug by the Coast Guard. This scandal has had a profound effect, not only on the survivors of sexual assault and harassment, but the reputation of the Coast Guard as a safe place to launch a career.

“This committee, as well as others in the Senate, investigated this matter. It led to the provisions of the Coast Guard bill to improve training and awareness and to continue to get the Coast Guard to restore the confidence in the ranks.

“So I do believe that these HR efforts can be very effective. What we know is sexual harassment and anti-discrimination trainings are an important tool to expose these behaviors and prevent them from becoming normalized.

“And even if there is no sexual harassment or unlawful discrimination, Diversity Equity [and] Inclusion policies, this issue of the Coast Guard, as you know, Mr. Chairman, must be dealt with.

“I do believe that this committee needs to continue to - let me just say something about this as it relates to our committee -- for example, to meet air traffic controller needs. The FAA must continue to attract high quality candidates from all backgrounds. This requires targeted hiring initiatives to recruit a broad base of talent that is better positioned to overcome the high wash out rate of the FAA’s Academy.

“Under Administrator Whitaker, the FAA maintained a rigorous hiring standard with strict qualifications, while implementing smart recruiting strategies. So I'm sure we'll talk more about this in the future.

“So I want to, again, work with my colleagues on legislation that I think the committee should be spending our time on. I firmly believe that this committee has had a long history in recent years of producing great legislation: the infrastructure bill, the CHIPS and Science bill, and now I think we have a challenge to produce a new aviation safety bill, work on the surface transportation bill and as the President said last night, let's get busy at ship building. I’m more than happy to do that.

“But these are the issues we should be focusing on, instead of these document requests that people seem to be complying with. I do think that my colleagues will have a lot to say about this, and as we've seen this morning, you are making progress. Massport has agreed to a response to you by March 10^th, so I see no need for a subpoena today.”

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