In October 2018 and March 2019, accidents involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft killed a combined 346 people. As Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, it is my duty to investigate what went wrong, why it happened, and most importantly, how to keep it from happening again.

Recently, our investigation uncovered that on two separate occasions, FAA specialists raised significant safety concerns about Boeing aircraft, but were overruled after Boeing complained to FAA officials.

Last week, Congressman Rick Larsen (WA-2), Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation, and I sent a letter to the FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson, questioning why the agency would reject its own experts' conclusions to appease the corporations they're supposed to oversee.

It's clear that reforms will be needed to ensure that future safety-critical systems don't create single points of failure that bring down commercial aircraft and risk lives. And in particular, people need to know that the FAA isn't ignoring safety concerns in order to make life easier on billion-dollar corporations looking to save a buck.

I will continue to use every tool at my disposal to hold the FAA and Boeing accountable, to ensure we have transparency in the certification process and, most importantly, the safety of the public as our highest priority.

Peter