[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 6, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S1638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER:
  S. 497. A bill to repeal a prohibition on the use of certain funds 
for tunneling in certain areas with respect to the Los Angeles to San 
Fernando Valley Metro Rail project, California; to the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. Pesident, today I rise to introduce a bill for myself 
and Senator Feinstein to allow for subway tunneling in parts of Los 
Angeles.
  In 1985, in response to a methane gas explosion that destroyed a Ross 
Dress for Less Store in Los Angeles, Representative Waxman worked to 
enact a law that prohibits subway tunneling in his district.
  In 2004, the Los Angeles City Council passed a motion in support of 
reversing the laws banning tunneling. In February 2005, the Los Angeles 
Metropolitan Transportation Authority board also voted to begin 
discussions of subway expansion.
  As a result, a panel of scientific experts was created to conduct an 
independent safety review that determined that subway tunneling could 
move forward safely with new technology.
  Representative Waxman introduced a bill to lift the Federal tunneling 
prohibition in the last Congress--where it passed the House--and again 
in this Congress. Senator Feinstein and I are introducing the same bill 
in the Senate.
  This legislation has the support of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio 
Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
  This bill is necessary to expand the subway, which is extremely 
important in Los Angeles--a city that ranks time and time again as the 
most congested region in the country. The Wilshire corridor is densely 
populated and is a large commercial area. The freeways and streets are 
filled--we need transit in this area.
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