Newhouse, Quigley Applaud House Passage of Bipartisan Surface Transportation Bill Extending PTC Deadline

Statement

Reps. Dan Newhouse (WA-04), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, and Mike Quigley (IL-05), a member of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations subcommittee, today applauded bipartisan passage of H.R. 3819, the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2015. The legislation funds and extends the authorization for federal highway and transit programs through November 20, 2015. H.R. 3819 also includes a provision to extend the upcoming deadline for implementing positive train control (PTC) safety technology until 2018, preventing a shutdown of the nation's passenger and freight rail system. The Congressmen released the following joint statement:

"We commend Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster and Ranking Member Peter DeFazio for their hard work on this bipartisan legislation to provide much-needed certainty for road and rail projects nationwide. Instead of waiting until the last minute, the inclusion of a deadline extension for the full implementation of positive train control (PTC) safety technology addresses the national economic threat of a rail shut down of our country's freight and commuter network. This legislation requires a clear timeline for reasonable implementation of this vital safety technology while protecting the economy from the needless shock of a major rail disruption."

Source