Long Bridge Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7489) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the Commonwealth of Virginia or the District of Columbia certain Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of the National Park Service for the construction of rail and other infrastructure, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 7489

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Long Bridge Act of 2020''. SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF CONVEYANCES.

(a) Conveyances Authorized.--On request of the Commonwealth of Virginia or the District of Columbia, as applicable, the Secretary of the Interior may, subject to any terms and conditions that the Secretary determines to be necessary, convey to the Commonwealth of Virginia or the District of Columbia, as applicable, any Federal land or interest in Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary that is identified by the Commonwealth of Virginia or the District of Columbia, as applicable, as necessary for the Long Bridge Project.

(b) Reversion.--If any portion of the Federal land or interest in Federal land conveyed under subsection (a) is no longer being used for railroad purposes or recreational use, title to the portion of the Federal land or interest in the portion of the Federal land shall revert to the Secretary, on a determination by the Secretary that the portion of the Federal land has been remediated and restored to a condition determined to be satisfactory by the Secretary.

(c) Temporary Use.--The Secretary may allow the temporary use of any Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary that is identified by the Commonwealth of Virginia or the District of Columbia, as applicable, as necessary for the construction of the Long Bridge Project, subject to any terms and conditions determined to be necessary by the Secretary.

(d) Recovery of Costs.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may recover from the Commonwealth of Virginia or the District of Columbia, as applicable, all costs incurred by the Secretary in providing or procuring necessary services associated with a conveyance under subsection (a) or use authorized under subsection (c).

(e) Definitions.--In this section:

(1) Long bridge project.--The term ``Long Bridge Project'' means the project consisting of improvements to the Long Bridge and related railroad infrastructure between Rossyln (RO) Interlocking in Arlington, Virginia, and L'Enfant (LE) Interlocking near 10th Street SW in the District of Columbia, the purpose of which is to expand commuter and regional passenger rail service and provide bicycle and pedestrian access crossings over the Potomac River.

(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National Park Service. SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7489, the Long Bridge Act, introduced by our colleague, Representative Wittman, from Virginia.

This bill is a simple piece of legislation, but it is important. It authorizes the National Park Service to convey select parcels of land to the Commonwealth of Virginia or the District of Columbia in order to facilitate updates to the Long Bridge, a critical commuter and freight rail corridor in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

The existing bridge, which is used by Amtrak, the Virginia Railway Express, and CSX Transportation was built all the way back in 1904. It has not been substantially upgraded since 1942.

The current project is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Virginia Department of Rail and Transportation, and the District of Columbia, and it will double capacity of the bridge by constructing a second bridge alongside the existing structure.

Allowing the National Park Service to convey small tracts of land will facilitate completion of this very important upgrade.

To be clear, we are not talking about land that includes historic resources, open space, or park-like qualities.

The agency has final say in what can be transferred, and the bill includes important safeguards to ensure that the land identified for conveyance is used only for railroad purposes.

This project is a priority for this region, and I am happy to lend my support to this commonsense, bipartisan solution.
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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further witnesses, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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