Hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee - Opening Statement of Rep. Graves, Hearing on "Improving Safety and Reliability of the Washington Metro"

Hearing

We are here to discuss how the Washington Metro System will address its safety and reliability issues. This issue is important to Members of Congress because when our constituents come from all over the country to see their Nation's capital, they should be able to move around the region safely and efficiently.

The federal government has invested billions in Metro, yet the system is not safe and is not reliable. Metro has been plagued by long-standing, well documented safety issues.

Unfortunately, investigations from the 1980s, 1990s, and today have a common refrain: a lack of communication and safety procedures have put riders and workers at risk.

The focus of today is how the system is going to change. I am heartened to hear Metro's new general manager, Paul Wiedefeld, talk about his commitment to improving safety and addressing the maintenance backlog. The Committee will be watching to ensure that the talk turns in to action.

The Federal Transit Administration is playing an important role as Metro's temporary direct safety oversight entity. FTA is here today to share with us what it is doing to promote safety and reliability at Metro.

Congress cannot legislate communication or buy WMATA a safety culture. WMATA must take on the responsibility of providing safe transit in our Nation's capital. It must be accountable to the federal, state, and local taxpayers that fund them.

I am looking forward to a frank discussion with our witnesses about how we can work together to improve Metro.
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