[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 38 (Monday, March 14, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1596-S1597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL METRO SAFETY ACT

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, on Thursday I reintroduced the National 
Metro Safety Act with Senators Cardin, Murray, Warner and Webb. I first 
introduced this bill on July 23, 2009, after the deadly crash on the 
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's Metro system that 
killed 9 people and injured more than 50.
  This legislation does three things. First, it gives the U.S. 
Department of Transportation Secretary the authority to establish and 
enforce national safety standards for metro systems across America. 
Second, it requires the U.S. Department of Transportation to work with 
the National Transportation Safety Board to develop these standards. 
Third, it requires the U.S. Department of Transportation to implement 
NTSB's most wanted safety standards. These include: crashworthiness, 
data event recorder, emergency entry and evacuation standards for rail 
cars; and hour of service regulations for train operators.
  On Monday June, 22, 2009, the unthinkable happened right here in our 
Nation's Capital. A Metro train struck another train during evening 
rush hour. Eight passengers were killed including one Marylander from 
Hyattsville and one Metro employee. Over 50 passengers were injured by 
the crash. It was the worst accident in Metro's history.
  Approximately, 1 year later, the NTSB released its report from its 
investigation of the crash. This was the saddest report with grim 
revelations. It found that the Metro crash could have been prevented 
and nine lives could have been saved. The NTSB's investigation found 
two probable causes: a faulty track circuit and the lack of a track 
circuit verification test. This test would have identified the 
malfunctioning circuit and could have prevented the crash.
  The NTSB also found attributing causes to the crash. These included a 
lack of a safety culture at Metro; failure to monitor the train control 
system and replace its oldest railcars; lack of a maintenance plan from 
the circuit manufacturer; Metro Board and the Tri-State Oversight 
Committee's ineffective safety oversight; and the Federal Transit 
Administration's lack of authority to provide safety oversight.
  In its report, the NTSB also made 23 recommendations to prevent 
future fatal crashes. Among these was the recommendation to the U.S. 
Department of Transportation to seek the authority to provide safety 
oversight to transit systems and to establish and enforce national 
safety standards. The NTSB did its job and now it is time for Congress 
to do ours. We must pass this bill to give the U.S. Department of 
Transportation the authority it needs to establish Federal safety 
standards.
  We have Federal safety standards for airplanes, commuter rail, and 
buses, but none for metro systems. Rail transit is the only 
transportation mode without Federal safety standards, oversight and 
enforcement even though it has over 14 million daily riders. This is 
more than U.S. airlines with 2 million domestic flights daily or 
passenger railroads like Amtrak and MARC each with 74,430 and 30,000 
daily riders respectfully. Up until now, safety has been left up to the 
states. Each State has its own safety and enforcement practices. States 
have oversight agencies with very little staff, small budgets and 
varying amount of expertise. These oversight agencies also aren't 
always independent of the transit systems they oversee.
  I know the Obama administration has its bill to establish standards 
and the Banking Committee has its bill. I support both of these but let 
me tell you why I am crazy about my bill. It requires the U.S. 
Department of Transportation Secretary to implement the NTSB's most 
wanted. These are the recommendations the NTSB has consistently called 
for.
  Congress must do two things. First, it must meet its Federal funding 
obligation for Metro. We must provide $150 million for Metro in the 
year-long continuing resolution. I want to thank Senator Murray for 
including these vital funds in the Senate's bill. This is really $300 
million for Metro with the local matching funds.
  Metro needs this money to implement the NTSB's recommendations and 
prevent future crashes. This money is essential to Metro's reform. It 
is American's subway. This isn't a local pork barrel. America needs it 
to go to work. Metro serves not only our civilian population, but also 
the many people working at the Pentagon every day that need to be at 
their duty station and their battle station. We need Metro to be safe 
and operational reliable.

[[Page S1597]]

  Second, Congress must pass this legislation. We owe it to the people 
that ride Metro and we owe it to the people that work at Metro. We can 
never forget the people that died that fateful day. I urge the Senate 
to pass safety legislation so no community ever has to suffer the loss 
that the National Capital Region did during the summer of 2009.

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