Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the National Capital Region relies on DC Metrorail. Hundreds of thousands of commuters take it every day, including the Federal workforce. Visitors use it when they come to our Nation's Capital on vacations, school trips, or events of national significance. Yet for too long, critical safety maintenance has been neglected, at the cost of countless lost hours and frustration for riders, and tragically, several fatalities. That is why I and my colleagues from Virginia and Maryland--Senators Mark Warner, Ben Cardin, and Chris Van Hollen--and our bipartisan House colleagues are today introducing this compact creating the new Metro Safety Commission. This measure is introduced in concert with the Virginia and Maryland General Assemblies and the Council of the District of Columbia, to build momentum to encourage all three jurisdictions to enact this compact as quickly as possible, to get Metro back to safe reliable operation. After fatal incidents on Metrorail in 2009 and 2015, the Federal Transit Administration took the unprecedented step of assuming direct safety oversight over the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority WMATA, stating that it would not return control until it certified that a robust safety oversight body was in place. The safety commission envisioned by this compact is that body. There are many WMATA matters on which different stakeholders have different opinions, but everyone agrees that safety must be our top priority.…”