Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3317, the Rolling Stock Protection Act. This bipartisan bill, introduced by the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Chairman Rick Crawford, was reported favorably out of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in May 2023. I ask that my colleagues join me in supporting this legislation. The bill will prevent Federal tax dollars from being sent to foreign State- owned enterprises and State-connected businesses for the purchase of rolling stock such as railcars and buses. {time} 1715 Moreover, this bill will block Federal dollars flowing from the Federal Transit Administration to rolling stock manufacturers connected to the Chinese Communist Party. In 2019, Congress enacted the Transportation Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act as a provision of the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. TIVSA prohibited public transportation agencies that receive Federal assistance from using funds to procure vehicles from State-owned enterprises. Passage of TIVSA was a direct response to alarming national and economic security concerns related to China's state-owned enterprise rolling stock manufacturers, primarily the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation and Build Your Dreams, whose presence in the bus and railcar market had grown significantly.…”