Editorial: A Warm Greeting for Foxx

If it’s true you only get one chance to make a first impression, then we should be encouraged by the confirmation hearing of Anthony Foxx, President Obama’s nominee to become the next secretary of transportation.

While partisan bickering has slowed the approval process of other recent nominees, Foxx received a generally warm reception from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation last week.

For example, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) called the event “one of the most pleasant hearings on the Hill today,” while Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) classified Foxx’s nomination as “noncontroversial.”

For his part, Foxx, the mayor of Charlotte, N.C., said all the right things.

“Ensuring that our transportation system is the safest in the world will be my top priority,” Foxx said in his prepared opening remarks.

He expressed his desire to “be an active participant in the ongoing discussions about MAP-21” and vowed to continue the fight against distracted driving championed by current DOT chief Ray LaHood.

“The private sector cannot do this alone, and the federal government has a responsibility to help ensure our global competitiveness by investing in a robust, multimodal transportation system, a stronger national freight network, and . . . advanced roadway and rail technology,” Foxx said.

He also called the tolling of new highways a funding “tool” that can be used, but cannot be relied upon to pay for the transportation system.

Assuming Foxx is confirmed by the full U.S. Senate, it is extremely unlikely that future transportation funding negotiations will go as smoothly as last week’s confirmation hearing. With billions of dollars at stake and ideological differences between Republicans and Democrats, urban and rural interests, and freight and public transit advocates, we certainly should anticipate a highly spirited debate.

And yes, several controversial issues never even came up during the two-hour hearing. Questions about raising the federal fuel tax — a measure supported by American Trucking Associations — or on taxing vehicle miles traveled were not asked. Neither were trucking-specific topics, such as the pending changes to the hours-of-service rule for truck drivers or the Compliance, Safety, Accountability ratings program.

But rather than the gridlock and name-calling that has become far too familiar on Capitol Hill, maybe this first meeting between Foxx and the Senate is a signal our elected leaders are recognizing that not working together to secure a long-term transportation funding source is far more dangerous than the alternatives.