Majority Leader Schumer Remarks Calling On The Senate To Confirm Alejandro Mayorkas As DHS Secretary And Mayor Pete Buttigieg As Secretary Of Transportation Later Today

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the upcoming confirmation votes for Alejandro Mayorkas to be Secretary of Homeland Security and for Mayor Pete Buttigieg to be Secretary of Transportation.  Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

The Senate this week will continue confirming President Biden’s cabinet nominees, closing the book today on the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to be the Secretary of Homeland Security. Mr. Mayorkas’ qualifications are unassailable: he is a seven-year veteran of the DHS and has already been confirmed by this chamber three—three—times. Like most of President Biden’s cabinet nominees, his nomination is also history-making: he will be the first Latino and first immigrant to hold the top job at DHS. I look forward to confirming Mr. Mayorkas today.

We have a second outstanding nominee to confirm today as well: Pete Buttigieg for Secretary of Transportation. Mr. Buttigieg—known to many simply as Mayor Pete—has demonstrated an impressive familiarity with our nation’s entire transportation challenges—challenges which are pronounced in states like my own, where projects like the Gateway Tunnel are a top national priority.

I know that Mr. Buttigieg is committed to working with members from both sides to improve rail and transit, highways, and more—in rural communities, urban centers, and everywhere in between. I’m excited to call him Secretary Pete by the end of the day, and get to work with him immediately on helping the MTA, the nation's largest transit network in the country; and moving Gateway forward after years of cynical obstruction by the Trump administration. 

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