Earlier this month, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio — prompting environmental and health concerns for residents. While the majority of the rail cars did not contain dangerous cargo, nearly a dozen of the derailed cars did house hazardous substances such as vinyl chloride. In order to avoid a catastrophic explosion, officials decided to intentionally burn off some of the chemicals, with firefighters working around the clock to contain the blaze.

While troubling images of the fire and viral videos of chemicals in nearby streams have certainly caused concern across the nation, this incident has also gained national attention for the Biden Administration’s handling of the situation. For example, earlier this week, President Biden flew nearly 5,000 miles to Ukraine — but has failed to visit Americans struggling in East Palestine, Ohio. 

Yet as the Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg has drawn the most ire.

From downplaying the derailment to taking nearly three weeks to pay a visit to the embattled community in Ohio, Secretary Buttigieg has completely botched the federal response to the crisis. Unfortunately, given his failure to adequately handle ongoing supply chain disruptions and the recent Federal Aviation Administration system outage, Buttigieg’s lackluster response to the chaos in East Palestine isn’t all that surprising.

Ultimately, this is yet another glaring example of the dire consequences caused by the Left’s obsession with prioritizing wokeness over competence. Time and time again, the Biden Administration has filled positions to achieve woke milestones rather than employing qualified individuals that are capable of delivering effective public service. Americans simply deserve better.

Please know that I will continue working with my colleagues to conduct necessary oversight into the White House’s myriad of crises and hold the Biden Administration accountable for failing to properly serve the American people.

Earlier this month, I had the incredible opportunity to attend a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) to Greece, Romania, and Poland to conduct crucial oversight of U.S. military aid being sent to Ukraine. The bipartisan CODEL included the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Mike Rogers (R-AL), John Garamendi (D-CA), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Lisa McClain (R-MI), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), and Mark Alford (R-MO). As a Navy combat veteran and logistics officer, I was able to provide key insight and experience throughout our various meetings with U.S. military, Polish, and Romanian officials. During our trip, we received briefings detailing tracking practices of military equipment shipped to Ukraine, gained a better understanding of how our donated equipment is accounted for and how these weapons have impacted Ukrainian warfighters, and encouraged our service members stationed in Romania and Poland. 

We will continue conducting proper oversight of all U.S. military aid to Ukraine in order to ensure every solitary piece of equipment is accounted for and tracked. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I look forward to conducting oversight into the billions of dollars in Ukraine funding, and I remain very concerned about the accountability of the additional non-lethal aid being sent to Ukraine. In fact, I firmly believe that we must conduct a full audit of every penny sent to Ukraine in order to provide Americans with the accountability and transparency they deserve.