Holding Railroad Carriers Accountable

Floor Speech

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Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Mr. Speaker, we feel the pain of the people of East Palestine. We stand with them in demands for change in safety in the railroad industry.

It is not just what trains carry. It is their weight, it is their length, it is their mechanics, it is the number of people on the train, and it is about damage to the neighborhoods and the environment.

Mr. Speaker, my district has the most reported roads blocked by trains of any district in the Nation. This means that the trains disrupt a lot of activity in our neighborhoods, and we get many complaints about blocked crossings blocking kids getting to school, fire trucks and ambulances not being able to get to buildings and to homes, and just a lot of damage done to our neighborhoods.

So the trains are not just about the derailment of East Palestine, but it is also about the damage they do every day particularly, again, in my district that has so many railroads.

I know, Mr. Speaker, that you know about this.

What we will be doing today and the following weeks is to focus more on rail safety. I had the FRA administrator in the district last week, and I am pleased to say that today we will be filing a bill called Don't Block Our Communities Act to address some of these issues.

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