WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) released the following statement regarding the Army’s continued refusal to comply with the Committee’s investigation into the tragic Jan. 29 midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport:

“During last week’s hearing on the tragic crash at DCA that killed 67 people, and in a subsequent joint letter, we requested that the Department of Defense provide the Commerce Committee with a memo from August 2024 outlining its policies and procedures regarding the use—or lack thereof—of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) in the airspace around our nation’s capital. It is completely unacceptable that our request has been repeatedly ignored and that the Army continues to obstruct the Committee’s investigation into this horrific accident. We will consider using every option at our disposal to produce compliance and to ensure our investigation yields the answers the victims’ families and the American people deserve.”

Following the Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation hearing last week, Sens. Cruz and Cantwell sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth requesting he promptly order the production of the Army’s August 9, 2024 memo titled “ADS-B Out Off Operations in the National Airspace.” The Army has repeatedly refused to provide the requested memo; failing to share it with Commerce Committee staff when requested earlier in March and denying Sens. Cruz and Cantwell’s request during the recent subcommittee hearing.

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