Sen. Sullivan: Be 'Proactive, Not Reactive' on Transportation Safety

The U.S. government must be "proactive, not reactive" to public safety transportation issues, such as last month's train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and the number of near-misses in the nation's skies, Sen. Dan Sullivan said Sunday.

"What we don’t want to have happen is some kind of airplane disaster and then Congress is then writing legislation to deal with it after," the Alaska Republican told ABC News's "This Week." "Good governance is about proactively getting in front of these issues before they happen, not waiting."

Sullivan, as a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Commission, will hear testimony from Alan Shaw, the CEO of Norfolk Southern, the company whose train derailed in East Palestine while carrying toxic chemicals.

He said that in particular, he wants to hear about the company's laying off of workers, as well as issues brought up by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in a separate interview on the program.

Brown on Sunday told show host George Stephanopoulos that he and other officials want to know if there were any contaminants left in the train's remaining cars in East Palestine that could impact the surrounding area, and said that Norfolk Southern has not answered questions about the accident "very well yet."

Brown and Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, have introduced bipartisan legislation, the Railway Safety Act of 2023, along with four other senators of both parties, to address the causes and fallout of the crash.

Brown also pointed out that there have been four derailments in the past five months in Ohio, including one on Saturday in Springfield, located 46 miles west of the capital city of Columbus.

Sullivan, echoing Brown's comments, said several train derailments are happening nationwide, "and we need to get to the bottom of why these are happening."

"I'm glad that Sen. Brown and Sen. Vance have put forward some good bipartisan legislation," Sullivan said. "I agree with Sen. Brown. It shouldn't take a disaster to have good oversight legislation to make sure that we have a safe rail system. But importantly [what] I've focused on, George, is a safe aviation system."

Sullivan said he believes the lack of a permanent Federal Aviation Administration director is "hampering" national safety efforts.

President Joe Biden recently nominated Phil Washington to head the agency but Sullivan, like many Republicans, said there are questions about the nominee's background and experience.

"He's somebody who served in the Army, honorably but doesn't have a lot of experience with regard to aviation safety. So we'll see what happens," said Sullivan. "We need to be on this in terms of safety, now. Americans take for granted that their aviation safety, flying in America, is the safest place to do it in the world."

But there needs to be a "more aggressive focus" on improving technology and infrastructure, he said.

Sullivan on Sunday also spoke out about Biden's hesitation to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, telling Stephanopoulos that the Ukrainians "need these weapon systems now."

"This has been a pattern — an unfortunate pattern by this administration — delaying critical weapons systems until we [in Congress] pressure them. They finally get them there, but it oftentimes takes way too late."

In other matters, Sullivan discussed the 2024 presidential race and called the possibility that former President Donald Trump could be under indictment while he's running a "huge hypothetical."

"We'll see if that plays out. But right now my plan is to support whoever becomes the nominee," said Sullivan.

He noted, however, there will be other qualified candidates and said having a competitive primary with a "new generation of Republicans is healthy for our party."

"It's healthy for the country, and I plan on supporting the nominee who wins the Republican nomination," he said.