Edwards Statement on House Hearing on WMATA Metro System

Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards (MD-4), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, today issued the following statement regarding a joint hearing by two House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittees titled "Examining the Safety and Service of D.C. Metro".

"Safety must be priority number one and that is why one of my top priorities since coming to office and the tragic Metro accident in June 2009 has been to help implement safety standards for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) Metro system and systems across the country. In 2012, I worked with like-minded colleagues to include in federal law for the first time a minimum floor for federal safety standards for rail transit systems as part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act. More recently, I worked in a bipartisan manner with Representatives Norton (DC-AL) and Comstock (VA-10) to include new and direct federal oversight of Metro in the surface transportation reauthorization that was enacted into law in December 2015. Working in a bicameral manner with Senator Mikulski (D-MD) and Representative Comstock, we also transferred authority for the four federal Metro board appointments from the General Services Administration to the Department of Transportation (DOT).

"Metro General Manager Wiedefeld accepted a difficult job and has shown a willingness to focus on safety through a number of hard choices he has already made. Last month's one-day shutdown made both commuting and life more difficult for many of our constituents. Unfortunately, we are seeing the consequences of failing to provide the necessary resources and oversight to maintain and modernize not only our aging Metro system, but our nation's entire infrastructure.

"More than 700,000 people depend upon America's Metro system each day to get to work and school, and to tour our nation's Capital. I look forward to working with Mr. Wiedefeld, the local congressional delegation, and other interested members, as well as all of our federal, state, and local partners in providing the necessary resources for repairs and sustained investment with tough oversight that will improve safety and reliability. Only in doing so will we restore riders' confidence in the nation's Metro system."

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