Grateful to be able to continue to talk about the transformative impacts of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

We are also always concerned about the fact whether people are able to travel in and out of our State safely.

On July 13th it was a terrible day for America.

The First Amendment and robust political debate are not consistent in any way with violence.

No one could get more out of five minutes than Sheila Jackson Lee. She was a friend to everyone on both sides of the aisle.

It took President Biden more than 1 year to go visit East Palestine. That slow response made Americans question the competency of the Federal Government.

Let's use today as a great chance to move forward on the same page.

Chairwoman Homendy, I want to say thank you for all your hard work.

By supporting HR8996, we're not only improving safety but we're also acknowledging the vital work of the NTSB and Chair Homendy.

I urge this committee to take decisive action. Hold the Class 1 railroads and the Department of Transportation accountable.

I am disappointed to see today that the witness table is missing a representative from Norfolk Southern.

This is unacceptable. The consequences of inaction are not limited to human cost, but also financial.

Let me be clear: the state of our rail safety is a global disgrace.

One thousand derailments a year? That is pure Government negligence.

The East Palestine disaster wasn't an isolated incident. It was a wakeup call that I heard, but fell on deaf ears everywhere in the Government.

1,000 derailments a year. That is a damning indication of our government's negligence.

Our federal regulators are asleep at the switch while our communities live in fear.

While I was excited to hear that NTSB was successful in finding the root cause of this disastrous derailment, I was particularly disturbed with the contents of Chairwoman Homendy's closing remarks.