Political Quotes

“I rise on a subject of urgency and importance to our Nation's economy. The looming deadline for implementing a new railroad safety technology known as positive train control, or PTC, could soon wreak havoc on our Nation's transportation system. This havoc would not just affect the millions of Americans who board commuter trains every day but also Americans who depend on critical freight rail deliveries. These services could be interrupted because--despite years of warning--implementation of PTC has not kept pace with an overly ambitious schedule set by Congress. Let me explain how we got here. Seven years ago, following a deadly Metrolink passenger train collision in California caused by an engineer who was texting and failed to react to track signals, this body passed legislation mandating the installation of PTC, an innovative safety technology on over 60,000 miles of rail lines. Though a meaningful and important safety upgrade, PTC is not a panacea.…”