Urging Swift Confirmation of Anthony Foxx as Secretary of Transportation

Recipient: Jay Rockefeller and John Thune

Download a PDF of this letter here.

Senator Jay Rockefeller, Chair
Senator John Thune, Ranking Member
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
254 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510

Dear Chairman Rockefeller and Ranking Member Thune:

On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of over 210 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States, we urge swift confirmation of Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx as the next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Mayor Foxx has demonstrated steadfast commitment to carrying out transportation policies that expand opportunity for all residents of his city, which promises his effective stewardship at the national level if he were to be confirmed as the next Secretary of Transportation.

The Leadership Conference believes the next Secretary of Transportation must ensure that transportation policies meet the economic and social demands of the ever-growing and ever-diverse population of our nation. Anthony Foxx has proven through his public service in Charlotte his ability to optimize local, state, and federal resources to increase access to opportunity for people of all backgrounds and needs, especially people of color, people with disabilities, young workers, older adults, and low-income people in rural, suburban, and urban America.

At the outset of his term in 2009, Anthony Foxx inherited a city that was undergoing the same economic crisis that struck the entire nation. However, under his leadership, Charlotte experienced a series of improvements in its system of highways, light rail, street cars, and buses that helped stimulate the economy by providing access to jobs and job creation. Some of those improvements include implementation of a new downtown electric tram service for walkers as well as completion of a 60-mile beltway for highway users. Anthony Foxx has also devoted resources to a bike-share system, which not only provides more transportation options but also helps the economy by allowing a more fluid network between business and consumers within the community.

Foxx’s outstanding achievements in the city of Charlotte make him eminently qualified to be the next Secretary of Transportation and embrace the important responsibility of ensuring investments in transportation that will bolster the quality of life for all Americans. We especially look forward to working with the Secretary of Transportation to expand access to federally funded jobs and public transportation for people and places of most need, such as low-income people, individuals with disabilities, women, and communities of color. We trust that Anthony Foxx would uphold existing civil rights in his transportation policies as a necessary element to pursuing a more equitable infrastructure in today’s global economy.

For these reasons, we urge you to move forward without delay on the confirmation of Anthony Foxx. For further information, please contact Lexer Quamie at (202) 466-3648 or email [email protected]. Thanks for your attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,

Wade Henderson
President & CEO

Nancy Zirkin
Executive Vice President