Rail And Public Transportation Security Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

RAIL AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - March 27, 2007)

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Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank the chairman, and I thank Ranking Member Mica for yielding me the time.

Mr. Chairman, I want to commend the chairman and ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee for bringing this important legislation to the floor. As Mr. Shuster indicated, there are some good provisions in the bill that will improve our Nation's rail network and the flow of freight and passengers using that. However, there is something very troubling in the manager's amendment which will be discussed soon.

Without careful consideration, there is a provision in the manager's amendment that could be detrimental to anybody who wants to ship anything on rail in this country or any passenger who wants to ride on Amtrak.

Unfortunately, section 3 of the manager's amendment is crippling to the bill. This section will undermine the efforts of the U.S. Department of Transportation and FRA's efforts to create a sound national safety policy. As Mr. Shuster indicated, for decades the preeminent jurisdiction has been maintained by DOT. Section 3 destroys that Federal preemption.

Under current law, States can enact safety laws as long as they address the unique local safety hazard. The amendment before us will change that and will allow States to effectively override Federal policies. With this amendment, the railroads could have 50 different sets of local laws to follow, and Federal law would no longer provide the blanket policy for the carriers to follow.

A few of the things that we look at on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is how DOT and FRA are doing with the implementation of our laws and regulations relating to the safety and security of the Nation's railroad. In addition, as a committee we also look into issues such as capacity on railroad network, and how efficiently and effectively the network is working for the freight passengers using the network.

Because this provision has been inserted into the manager's amendment without the benefit of bipartisan testimony and hearings, the catastrophic consequences of such provision have not been debated or considered, in my opinion, in regular order. I call for regular order today, Mr. Chairman. I know that the chairman of our full committee and the ranking member of our full committee are thoughtful Members, deliberative when it comes to our Nation's transportation laws. This provision severely cripples the good work of our committee, in my opinion, the good work of DOT, and FRA. We should not make radical changes to the law without careful bipartisan consideration. The consequences that has not occurred.

I would indicate that Chairwoman Brown has had a hearing. And I know the gentleman from North Dakota is preparing to speak on the horrible events that occurred in Minot, North Dakota. We also had the benefit of what used to be the American Trial Lawyers Association. I think in the greatest PR stunt in the universe they are now the American Association for Justice; they are no longer the Trial Lawyers.

I think that the gentleman's concern can be addressed without throwing out the Federal preemption, and I am saddened that the manager's amendment does that, and I hope my colleagues will oppose the manager's amendment because of section 3.

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