OREGON—Today, Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) released the following statement on the passing of Norman Y. Mineta:
“Norm was the Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation and one of my mentors when I first came to Congress, and I benefited tremendously from his leadership and guidance. His example inspired me to vigorously oversee the aviation industry and FAA, and insist on safety for the traveling public before all else.
Norm served on the Committee on Transportation and Public Works throughout his entire time in Congress. He was a primary author of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), which, as President George H. W. Bush said during the signing ceremony, was ‘the most important transportation bill since President Eisenhower started the Interstate System 35 years ago.’
Norm’s skills and accomplishments were widely recognized. He was President Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce, and President George W. Bush’s Secretary of Transportation, where he was the longest-serving Secretary of Transportation in U.S. history.
Following the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, Secretary Mineta guided the creation of the Transportation Security Administration—an agency with more than 65,000 employees—the largest mobilization of a new federal agency since World War II.
To honor his memory and legacy, I am pleased that President Biden will soon sign a bill to name the U.S. Department of Transportation’s headquarters in Washington, DC, after William T. Coleman, Jr. and Norman Y. Mineta.”
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