Democratic News

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, called for sustainable solutions to support the future of local journalism at today’s hearing on the future of broadcast ownership. Sen. Cantwell focused on the importance of finding a sustainable business model to avoid a future in which communities across the nation are left without local journalists and without a voice.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, emphasized the need to invest in women’s and Olympic sports at U.S. colleges and universities—the nation’s Olympic pipeline—in a statement ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. While many colleges have eliminated or cut funding for these sports programs, Sen. Cantwell’s SAFE Act would amend the Sports Broadcasting Act to expand media revenues so schools can protect and invest more funding in women’s and Olympic sports programs.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill), Ranking Member of the aviation subcommittee, and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Department of Transportation (DOT) General Counsel Gregory Zerzan demanding information and accountability regarding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford’s refusal to comply with his ethics agreement and divest his shares in Republic Airways. Instead, Bedford stalled while Republic Airways completed a merger with Mesa Air Group, which appears to have vastly increased the value of his holdings.

U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) today introduced legislation to establish the Radar Next Program which will carry out deployment of the nation’s next generation weather radar system.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered the below opening statement at a hearing on the future of self-driving vehicles featuring testimony from Lars Moravy, Vice President of Vehicle Engineering at Tesla, Waymo’s Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Pena, Jeff Farrah, Chief Executive Office for the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association and Professor Bryant Walker Smith, Associate Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina’s Rice School of Law.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee warned that the Trump administration’s gutting of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will make it impossible for the agency to regulate autonomous vehicle technology to protect consumers while at the same time support the future growth of self-driving cars in the United States. Sen. Cantwell also emphasized the importance of ensuring consumers have a means for holding Autonomous Vehicle (AV) companies accountable.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation called on Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to hold a hearing with AT&T CEO John Stankey and Verizon CEO Dan Schulman to demand answers about the current security of their telecommunications networks after they refused to be transparent about their responses to the Salt Typhoon cyberattack.

U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to expand its investigation into the Department of Commerce’s actions to illegally dismantle the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) to include possible violations of federal district court orders and to assess whether Department leadership has taken adequate steps to ensure compliance.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and lead negotiator of the Chips and Science Act, said that sustained federal investment in scientific research, advanced manufacturing and Washington State-inspired regional innovation ecosystems are essential to ensuring long-term U.S. global technological leadership and economic security.

On the eve of the one year anniversary of the mid-air collision at Reagan National Airport which took the lives of 67 individuals, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, spoke at a commemoration event to honor those who died and the families who have turned their grief into action on aviation safety. The commemoration also honored the first responders who rushed to their aid and the unsung heroes who have supported the healing process and the ongoing push for aviation safety.