[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 15, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S781-S782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Rail Safety

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this morning, I sent a letter to the 
National Transportation Safety Board Chair, Jennifer Homendy, urging 
her to expand NTSB's investigation of Norfolk Southern into a 
comprehensive review of all seven class I freight railroad companies' 
safety practices.
  Though the NTSB is currently investigating the toxic derailment in 
East Palestine and Norfolk Southern's questionable safety culture, I 
want to make something very clear: Norfolk Southern isn't the only rail 
company that has spent years lobbying to loosen regulations, neglect 
safety upgrades, and lay off workers.
  Norfolk Southern is just one example of a dangerous, industry-wide 
trend within the rail industry that puts profits over people's safety.
  In the last 5 years alone, there have been over 26,500 accidents and 
incidents in the rail industry, but instead of prioritizing safety, the 
industry cut over 30,000 employees from the workforce--roughly 20 
percent.
  We need the NTSB to expand its investigation because the current data 
can only tell part of the story. The data tells us how many accidents 
have occurred, but we want to know if they occurred in populated areas 
and how many gallons of oil were spilled or which toxic chemicals were 
released.
  We also need to know which of these accidents occurred because the 
tracks were severely degraded or poorly designed.
  We also want to know which negligent company policies contributed to 
the 2,700 deaths in recent years and if any of those could have been 
prevented.
  These are just some of the questions that my letter asks--ones that 
can only be answered by a complete, comprehensive, and rigorous 
investigation of the rail freight industry.
  I hope NTSB expands its investigation to include the safety practices 
and culture of all class I freight railroads. It is a necessary step to 
assure Americans that freight rail safety will improve.
  In the meantime, I again commend my colleagues Senators Brown and 
Vance of Ohio and Fetterman and Casey of Pennsylvania for introducing 
bipartisan legislation to improve rail

[[Page S782]]

safety and provide a check on the railroad industry. I will continue 
working with them to move it forward.


                                 H.R. 1

  Mr. President, now, on the House Republicans' H.R. 1, today, House 
Republicans are rolling out a partisan, dead-on-arrival, and unserious 
proposal for addressing America's energy needs that they have 
laughingly labeled H.R. 1. It is a nonstarter in the Senate.
  Republicans' so-called energy proposal is as bad and as partisan as 
it gets. H.R. 1 will lock America into the most expensive and volatile 
dirty sources of energy and will set America back a decade or more in 
our transition toward clean, affordable energy.
  Even a brief glance at the House GOP proposal is enough to show it is 
not a serious package. The package is a wish list for Big Oil, gutting 
important environmental safeguards on fossil fuel projects, while doing 
none of the important permitting reforms that would help bring 
transmission and clean energy projects online faster.
  Considering America's serious energy challenges--and not to mention 
the disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine--it is bewildering to see 
House Republicans waste time on a Big Oil wish list, instead of taking 
our energy needs seriously, and ignoring clean energy as they do.
  Thankfully, many Democrats and Republicans understand that the only 
way we will pass a genuine energy package this Congress is through 
bipartisan cooperation. I am glad that there are good-faith talks 
underway right now between both parties in both Houses to figure out 
what sort of permitting deal is possible.
  I strongly support these efforts because Americans should not have to 
go broke just to meet their daily energy needs. We should work on a 
comprehensive, bipartisan permitting package that can secure enough 
votes to pass the Congress and reach the President's desk.
  Any serious permitting package must also focus on the needs of the 
future. As America transitions to clean energy, we need to take steps 
in Congress to ease that transition and ensure clean energy is 
reliable, accessible, and, most importantly, affordable. That includes 
efforts to expedite the onshoring and construction of industries 
critical to our economic and national security, like work we did in 
CHIPS and Science. Permitting reform is an essential step toward laying 
the foundation for a clean energy future, and Republicans must work 
with Democrats on a package that meets this challenge, if we are going 
to get anything done.
  What House Republicans have come up with, in the meantime, is 
something that falls pathetically short.