Congressional Record, Volume 156 Issue 52 (Wednesday, April 14, 2010)

[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 14, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H2521-H2522]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT REGULATION COMPACT AMENDMENTS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
joint resolution (S.J. Res. 25) granting the consent and approval of
Congress to amendments made by the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth
of Virginia, and the District of Columbia to the Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact.
The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.
The text of the joint resolution is as follows:

S.J. Res. 25

Whereas the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of
Virginia, and the District of Columbia entered into the
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact in
1960 with the consent of Congress in Public Law No. 86-794,
74 Stat. 1031;
Whereas the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of
Virginia, and the District of Columbia amended titles I and
II of the Compact in 1962 and 1990 with the consent of
Congress in Public Law No. 87-767, 76 Stat. 764, and Public
Law No. 101-505, 104 Stat. 1300, respectively;
Whereas legislation enacted by the State of Maryland (2008
Md. Laws c. 32 and 2009 Md. Laws c. 76) the Commonwealth of
Virginia

[[Page H2522]]

(2007 Va. Acts c. 378 and 2009 Va. Acts c. 540) and the
District of Columbia (D.C. Act 17-622) contain amendments to
article III of title I of the Compact regarding appointment
of members to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Commission; and
Whereas the consent of Congress is required in order to
implement such amendments: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CONSENT OF CONGRESS TO COMPACT AMENDMENTS.

(a) Consent.--Consent of Congress is given to the
amendments of the State of Maryland, the amendments of the
Commonwealth of Virginia, and the amendments of the District
of Columbia to article III of title I of the Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact.
(b) Amendments.--The amendments referred to in subsection
(a) are substantially as follows:
(1) Section 1(a) is amended to read as follows:
``(a) The Commission shall be composed of 3 members, 1
member appointed by the Governor of Virginia from the
Department of Motor Vehicles of the Commonwealth of Virginia,
1 member appointed by the Governor of Maryland from the
Maryland Public Service Commission, and 1 member appointed by
the Mayor of the District of Columbia from a District of
Columbia agency with oversight of matters relating to the
Commission.''.
(2) Section 1 is amended by inserting at the end the
following:
``(d) An amendment to section 1(a) of this article shall
not affect any member in office on the amendment's effective
date.''.

SEC. 2. RIGHT TO ALTER, AMEND, OR REPEAL.

The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is expressly
reserved.

SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION AND SEVERABILITY.

It is intended that the provisions of this compact shall be
reasonably and liberally construed to effectuate the purposes
thereof. If any part or application of this compact, or
legislation enabling the compact, is held invalid, the
remainder of the compact or its application to other
situations or persons shall not be affected.

SEC. 4. INCONSISTENCY OF LANGUAGE.

The validity of these amendments to the compact shall not
be affected by any insubstantial differences in its form or
language as adopted by the State of Maryland, Commonwealth of
Virginia and District of Columbia.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Act shall take effect on the date of enactment of this
Act.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.

General Leave

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume.
This jurisdiction comes to the Judiciary Committee under the commerce
clause, which says that all compacts must come through the committee.
The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia is being
replaced with the District of Columbia agency with oversight of matters
relating to the commission. The State Corporation Commission of the
Commonwealth of Virginia is being replaced with the Commonwealth's
Department of Motor Vehicles.
There are a number of our colleagues in the Senate that should be
thanked for helping expedite this matter: Senators Cardin, Mikulski,
Mark Warner, and Jim Webb. We are grateful to them all.
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution because it is
obviously in the interests of all that this commission be governed by a
three-member board with one representative each from the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the State of Maryland. I
urge its support.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, it is always nice to agree with
the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. I too support Senate Joint
Resolution 25.
This resolution grants Congress' approval to amendments that the
State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of
Columbia have made to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Regulation Compact.
Under the amendments, the District of Columbia may appoint its member
of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission from any
District agency with oversight of matters relating to the commission.
The District is thus freed from the requirement to appoint its member
from the District's Public Service Commission, which no longer has
responsibility for affairs regulated by the Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Commission.
Similarly, the amendments allow Virginia to appoint its commission
member from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, rather than the
State's Corporation Commission.
The amendments perform a desirable piece of housekeeping regarding
the compact. All of the jurisdictions that are party to the compact
have agreed to the amendments.
I urge all Members to support the resolution, which aids the
operation of this important interstate body.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CONYERS. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the joint resolution, S.J. Res. 25.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the joint resolution was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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