Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.J. Res. 76 grants Congress' approval to the Metrorail Safety Commission Interstate Compact, an interstate compact entered into recently by the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia. The safety record of the D.C.-area Metrorail system and other public transit systems in our country has been a matter of increasing concern for some time. To better address public transit safety needs, including metrorails, Congress included in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, or MAP Act or MAP-21, and the Fixing America's Surface Transportation, or FAST Act, provisions strengthening the Federal Transit Administration's safety oversight authority and related safety requirements for public transit systems. Pursuant to these acts and through the Metrorail Safety Commission Interstate Compact, Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia have committed to establish a new Washington Metrorail Safety Commission to act as the State safety oversight authority for the Metrorail system. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has informed the Judiciary Committee that the new compact's provisions satisfy the requirements of the relevant Federal statutes. The jurisdictions completed, in March of this year, their adoption by legislation of their respective compact instruments.…”