Senator Amy Klobuchar

Working for the People of Minnesota

Press Contact

Joel Gross
Press Secretary
(202) 224-3244

Amy in the News

Sen. Klobuchar: Why did U.S. Homeland Security hire a fired MnDOT official?

August 1, 2008

Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Senator Amy Klobuchar is asking the Department of Homeland Security why it hired former Minnesota Department of Transportation emergency response director Sonia Pitt.

Pitt was fired on Thursday by DHS after just two months as a transportation security specialist at the department's Transportation Safety Administration, following a Star Tribune story about her hiring. Pitt got the DHS job about six months after MnDOT fired her for work schedule improprieties, including continuing an East Coast trip after the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge.

Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff Friday asking whether the department knew about the circumstances of Pitt's firing by MnDOT -- and if so, why she was hired.

Ellen Howe, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Safety Administration, says that an investigation is ongoing so she couldn't respond specifically to Klobuchar's letter. But she says it would be incorrect to assume that the agency's first contact with Minnesota officials was Thursday.

Senator Klobuchar’s Offices

302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Main Line: 202-224-3244
Main Fax: 202-228-2186
Toll Free: 1-888-224-9043

1200 Washington Avenue South, Suite 250
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Main Line: 612-727-5220
Main Fax: 612-727-5223
Toll Free: 1-888-224-9043

1134 7th Street NW
Rochester, MN 55901
Main Line: 507-288-5321
Fax: 507-288-2922

121 4th Street South
Moorhead, MN 56560
Main Line: 218-287-2219
Fax: 218-287-2930

Olcott Plaza, Suite 105
820 9th Street North
Virginia, MN 55792
Main Line: 218-741-9690
Fax: 218-741-3692