Commerce Secretary Nominee Ross Identifies Department Challenges

Investor Wilbur Ross, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for commerce secretary, said in a Senate Commerce Committee questionnaire the department faces three challenges: increasing its "responsiveness" to the committee's and users' needs; expanding U.S. exports while reducing the trade deficit; and integrating technology to improve its efficiency, timeliness, depth and breadth of data while better protecting intellectual property. The Senate panel released Ross' answers to the questionnaire Tuesday. In response to a question about why he wants to serve, the 79-year-old Ross said he has been a leader with more than 100 businesses over the past 55 years, and understands how technology can drive U.S. businesses and create "job dislocation" in certain sectors. In response to a question of whether he ever was investigated, arrested or held by law enforcement, Ross said he was charged in 1991 for "driving while ability impaired by alcohol" in New York. His license was suspended for 90 days and he paid a $400 fine, he wrote.