Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2095, Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2095, FEDERAL RAILROAD SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - October 17, 2007)
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Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 724 provides a structured rule for consideration of H.R. 2095, the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007. The resolution provides 1 hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The rule makes four amendments in order. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill except clauses 9 and 10 of rule XXI.
As the debate in the Rules Committee demonstrated, Members on both sides of the aisle are focused on getting this bill to conference and onto the President's desk, and this rule reflects that consensus.
I want to thank Chairman Oberstar and Chairwoman Brown for their leadership in addressing rail safety issues. Attention and investment to the safety of our rail infrastructure and workers is needed.
Congress last reauthorized the Federal Railroad Administration, also known as FRA, rail safety programs in 1994 and that authorization lapsed in 1998. In the time since Congress last took a comprehensive look at railroad safety, much has changed with our Nation's freight and passenger rail infrastructure. The amount of goods transported by rail has increased dramatically and more often our population is turning to rail as an alternative to getting into their cars. This is creating a greater demand on our rail infrastructure.
The bill before us today, the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007, would authorize our Federal rail safety programs at $1.2 billion over 4 years. This bill makes important investments in our current rail safety programs and creates new grant programs for grade crossing safety and train control technology.
Additionally, the importance of safety will be reflected in the renaming of the FRA to the Federal Railroad Safety Administration. This is significant because a new name would emphasize the Federal role in the safety of rail transportation.
A fresh look at rail safety is long overdue. Over the next 20 years, the demand for freight and passenger rail is expected to grow and continue to play an important role in our economy and in our communities. Now is the time to make an investment in the safety of our rail infrastructure, as well as the training of the men and women who work on the rail lines. This way we can embrace the growth of our Nation's infrastructure and face it in a responsible way.
For example, the Department of Transportation has estimated that the amount of freight moved on rail will increase by 50 percent from 1998 to 2020. If you live in a community with a rail line, you are already experiencing this growth firsthand. In my district of Sacramento, there are two freight lines, and the largest railroad switching yard west of the Mississippi lies just outside of my district in Roseville. I understand how big a role freight lines play in a community. When something goes wrong with a freight line, the community knows about it immediately. Freight carried by these rail lines must be transported safely and securely, particularly when it travels through densely populated urban areas.
As the freight rail industry continues to grow, it will need a well-trained and safe workforce. Addressing safety and training issues now will benefit all our communities and our national economy in future years.
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This bill makes that investment and nearly doubles the number of FRA inspectors from 440 to 800.
Safety on our passenger rail lines is equally important. In fiscal year 2007, close to 26 million passengers chose to take trains. This is a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year. We can only expect these ridership numbers to increase as Americans seek travel alternatives in an attempt to turn away from congested highways and overstressed airlines.
In northern California, the Capital Corridor line has shown incredibl increases in ridership. In 1998, 544,000 passengers traveled on the Capital Corridor line. In 2007, the Capital Corridor ridership has almost tripled to almost 1.5 million passengers.
In 2007, throughout the entire State of California, 5 million passengers rode
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on rail. Translated to vehicle miles, that is 500 million miles, which, simply put, means half a billion vehicle miles not on our highways and thus saving gas, reducing congestion and not polluting our air.
I say this because we need to protect and encourage this upward trend not only in California but across the Nation.
To do this, it is important that we invest in safety at a proportional rate to our ridership growth and freight growth. Our citizens must continue to have confidence in our rail infrastructure.
Finally, the demand on our rail infrastructure has outgrown our ability to keep our rail system safe. We must also ensure that our rail workers are getting the training they need, but also the rest between shifts.
According to the FRA, 40 percent of all train accidents are the result of human factors, and one in four of those accidents result from fatigue. These accidents are preventable, and it's time that we address the problem.
This bill makes the necessary changes to address employee fatigue. It increases the minimum rest period for employees from 8 to 10 hours and also phases in a limit of 10 hours of the amount of limbo time an employee can accrue each month.
In closing, this bill addresses the critical issues of worker fatigue, timely and thorough inspections, as well as enforcement of safety regulations. In short, this bill reinstates rail safety as a top priority for our communities, workforce, and the millions of people who ride our rail lines.
I encourage my colleagues to vote for this rule and the underlying bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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