Stop Unconstitutional Vehicle Kill Switch Mandate
Massie's floor speech against the federal mandate requiring kill switches in new vehicles — what it actually does, what it doesn't, and why it's unconstitutional.
Original by RepThomasMassie on YouTube ↗ · Is this yours? Claim credit →
Transcript
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- it is now in order to consider amendment number 60 printed in Part B of house report 11
- 8-2619-1 8-2619-1 8-2619-1 offered by Mr Massie of Kentucky pursuing to house resolution 8838 the gentleman from Kentucky Mr
- Massie a and a member opposed each will control 5 minutes the chair recognizes the G from Kentucky Mr chair I arise in support of my Amendment which states
- none of the funds made available by this act may use be used to implement section 24220 of the infrastructure investment
- and jobs act my amendment is simple it will defund the federal mandate that requires all new vehicles after 2026 be
- equipped with a kill switch that can disable a vehicle if the vehicle has monitored the users the driver's performance and that the vehicle
- determines that the driver is not performing well it's so incredible that I have to offer this amendment it almost sounds like the domain of Science
- Fiction dystopian science fiction that the federal government would put a kill switch in vehicles that would be the judge the jury and the Executioner on
- such a fundamental right as the right to travel freely but here we are it is it is federal law that this is mandated
- and so I am offering this amendment to defund this mandate and with that I reserve the balance of my Time gentleman reserves for what purpose does the gentlemen from Illinois seek recognition
- Mr chairman I claim time and opposition the gentleman is is recognized Miss chairman I yield one minute to the gentleman from Florida the ranking
- member of the military construction and Veterans Affairs subcommittee Miss waserman Schultz the gentlewoman is
- recognized I I thank the gentleman for yielding I I actually need two minutes if that's possible Mr chairman we'll do two minutes Mr chairman thank you the
- gentlewoman is recognized thank you very much lobbying in mid uh in mid mid sense um I rise in opposition to this
- amendment uh let me be clear this this the act that the gentleman is trying to defund does not require autom
- manufacturers to install kill switches it does not do that passive drunk driving technology is a vital tool in safeguarding our loved ones and other
- innocent people on our roads this new technology offers a Lifeline of Hope to not only save lives but to prevent the lifelong emotional toll and gargantuan
- costs these accidents inflict on families deadly drunk driving accidents can Echo across Generations but we can seize this opportunity to stop such
- tragedies between 2019 and 2021 Florida saw a 31% increase in drunk driving crashes in Mr Mass's home state of
- Kentucky 190 people were killed in drunk driving C crashes in 2021 alone that was a 26% increase when we saw these Grim
- statistics we acted in a bipartisan fashion in Congress and how often do we see that both Republicans and Democrats supported the halt act to require auto
- manufacturers to make this passive technology standard in new vehicles the sponsor of this moted amendment will tell you that he worries about privacy
- concerns we heard the same inan calls with seat Bel requirements but you don't have a right to engage in potentially fatal behavior that we know poses a
- major health threat to Public Safety passive drunk driving technology is pro police this anti-drunk driving te technology lightens the load on police
- officers allowing them to focus on more pressing safety concerns the importance of this technology goes far beyond statistics it's about saving lives preventing heart break and making our
- road safer it's a passionate call to action to prevent alcohol impaired driving from shattering the lives of those we hold dear this amendment I
- understand was dubbed the kill switch Amendment and it does not require a kill switch it simply allow it simply requires passive technology to help us
- prevent drunk driving in the name of the 406 people who that were killed by a drunk driver in my own State of Florida last year alone I urge my colleagues to vote no on this amendment let's take
- steps to reduce deaths due to drunk driving not increase them thank you I yield back the balance of my Time gentleman reserves gentlemen from Kentucky is Rec nice drunk driving is a
- serious problem that's why 31 States already have a law to implement interlock ignition technology where if you've been convicted of a DUI that you
- have to pass this test in order to operate your vehicle but this federal law that I seek to defund goes far beyond that and I regret that I have to
- spend some of my time reading the law to the other side of the aisle but I will do that this law that was passed in a thousand page Bill two years ago
- requires that Auto mobiles can passively monitor the performance of a driver not the blood alcohol content but the
- performance of a driver of a motor vehicle to accurately identify whether that driver may be impaired not drunk it says
- impaired and prevent or limit motor vehicle operation that's a kill switch now the question is how much time do you
- have once your dashboard tells you that it doesn't approve of your driving what if you're a single mother and you're out on in bad weather and you're trying to
- avoid some obstacles ice perhaps and you've swerved three times and your dashboard says swerve one more time and you're going to be put over to
- the side of the road that you'll have a 100 yards to park this vehicle in the middle of nowhere with your children in the back seat this isn't some
- Fantastical scenario this is what will happen if this is implemented and this is the law I have read it to you here now you maybe should
- have read it two years ago when you all voted for it on that side of the aisle but it wasn't a bill that was a 1039 pages long so I I can understand how you
- don't know what the law has in it but I've read it to you and with that I reserve the balance of my time the chair me member is reminded to direct
- his remarks to the chair gentleman from Illinois is recognized thank you Mr chair I yield one minute to the general woman from Illinois miss chowski the
- general woman is recognized thank you Mr chairman more than 10,000 people die every year from
- drunk driving crashes drunk drivers are seven times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than a sober person so
- you would think that the Republicans would want to do something about it Democrats have done something about it and said that Nitsa now will have drunk
- driver protention uh prevention technology you know this is this technology has the potential of saving
- thousands of lives and I don't see that you're agreeing that we should uh be saving those lives and I would say we
- should all vote against the drunk driver protection act and I yield Back Sir gentlemen reserves his time gentle
- gentlemen gentlemen from from Kentucky is recognized May inquire as to how much time I have remaining has 2 minutes
- remaining well we actually don't know how this technology is going to work and they don't know over at the do either because we've sent a letter to them that they haven't responded to yet asking
- them will this have cameras inside the car will it monitor your eyes to see if you're focused on the road will it have cameras on the outside of the car how
- will it know what your performance is relative to the road that you're driving on if it doesn't in fact know which road you're driving on will it need to know
- where you are when you are driving if so who has access to this data who has access to those cameras will the fourth amendment be
- followed will you require a warrant for your insurance company to access this data will you require a warrant for the government to access this data once your
- car's been disabled and now you're on the side of the road with your children in it for reasons you don't understand how long until the police show up or
- what if you truly are disabled and you're over to the side of the road does anybody show up how long do you have to get out of the vehicle who decides when your vehicle kill switch is disabled and
- you get to drive again who's going to adjudicate that on the side of the road what if it's rush hour traffic what if you know you've already got points against you according to your dashboard
- and it's monitored your performance and now there's somebody's pet in the road do you swerve to miss it and get your car to disabled what if there's an emergency vehicle approaching from
- behind you and you know the right thing is to Swerve off the road and let that vehicle pass what after you've done that three times and now your car says do it
- one more time and we're going to leave you on the side of the road this is in the law this will become law in 2026 every vehicle manufactured after that
- and it's not about drunk driving if it were it would just be about blood alcohol content that this law has far
- more than that in it it violates the Fourth Amendment it violates so many amendments it violates things that are so fundamental to our rights they're not
- even in the Constitution like the right to travel and so I urge support of this amendment it
- will defund the the law that was passed two years ago that the other side of the aisle doesn't even know exists and I yield back