OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007

Date: Oct. 17, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Transportation


FEDERAL RAILROAD SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - October 17, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2095. I congratulate all my colleagues for this strong bipartisan railroad safety bill, and I associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman who just spoke.

It is of utmost importance to my district because over 160 trains travel through my district daily carrying over 14,000 containers, many containing hazardous material, carrying $400 billion worth of trade, most of it for the eastern part of the United States. It is expected to triple by the year 2020.

We have experienced many derailments in my area. That has caused great distress not only to my families, to the businesses, the damage, the economic impact it has had, the threat to the public safety, and the anxiety caused along that railroad corridor.

This Railroad Safety Improvement Act helps prevent future derailments by improving track safety, improving grade crossing safety, improving whistleblower protections, addressing concerns over railroad fatigue, and ensures enforcement by clarifying the U.S. Attorney General's authority to bring civil action against the railroads, increasing penalties, increasing reporting of enforcement actions, and many other areas that are very, very important.

This bill includes two of my amendments to section 605, creating strict training standards for railroad inspectors, tough training for all rail employees who expressed to us their lack of training curriculum and additional training requirements for railroad inspectors who have expressed that they need that training.

My amendment creates strong training, testing and skills evaluation measures, ensures that the train inspectors are able to address critical safety defects that contribute to derailments and accidents in a timely basis. I couldn't agree more with the gentleman. We need to look at new technology that is going to help us get there. But we also need the support of the railroads.

My second amendment in section 407 authorizes $1.5 million for operation life safety for a total of $6 million. I certainly want to show that we all cooperate in this and look forward to having this vote pass with great success.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT


Source
arrow_upward