Transportation and Infrastructure

Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released an investigative report on Brand USA, the government-sponsored travel promotion agency, on Thursday and found inappropriate activity.

“It’s sad, but not surprising, to find the government’s newest tourism venture is just as wasteful and mismanaged as we feared,” DeMint said in a news release Thursday. “It’s clear that American tourism industry places little faith in another unnecessary Washington agency, which is why Brand USA has relied on dubious in-kind donations and resorted to breaking its lobbying ban.”

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate truck drivers crashing into low bridges while relying on GPS devices.

Although there are typically warning and directional signs alerting commercial truck drivers of the dangers, most basic Global Positioning Technology devices don’t show these restrictions, and suggest roads not all trucks should travel on.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the launch of the Freight Policy Council on Thursday in Seattle.

The Freight Policy Council will develop a national plan for improving the efficiency of freight movement and encourage states to develop a freight strategy.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) announced that the American Automobile Association supports her bill to prohibit rental car companies from renting or selling recalled cars.

On Thursday, Boxer released a letter from AAA that expressed support for the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, which she introduced on Aug. 2 before lawmakers left for the August recess.

The boxes record information leading up to auto accidents and so far are not required in all cars.

New guidelines limiting the hours oil field truckers can drive will slow a booming industry, House members argue.  

The House will vote as early as Monday on legislation that would spare U.S. auto dealers from rules that require them to provide customers with detailed information on auto insurance rates.

The rule was required under a 1972 law, and put in place in a 1993 rule from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It requires the NHTSA to produce a booklet containing insurance information and make it available to auto deals for their customers around the country.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and three other House Democrats have put forward legislation that would require anyone seeking flight training in certain aircraft to be checked against the federal government's terrorist watchlist.

The Flight School Security Act would apply to people who want to be trained on aircraft with a takeoff weight of more than 12,500 pounds. That would exclude light aircraft that can seat roughly 10 to 20 passengers.

Two House Democrats from Michigan have proposed legislation that would prevent auto insurance companies from using credit scores as a factor in determining auto insurance rates, a change that would dramatically reduce these rates in their home state and around the country.

Reps. Hansen Clarke (D) and John Conyers Jr. (D) last week introduced the Ban the Use of Credit Scores in Auto Insurance Act, along with Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). The bill would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act so that reports on consumer credit could not be used to set auto insurance rates.

The letter follows Chrysler saying one death occurred in a Jeep that could have been caused by a vibrating suspension.