Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg criticized Congress for not voting on a bill that would issue more railroad safety measures.
Buttigieg participated in a live interview at the Meridian International Center in Washington, D.C., on Friday, the same day President Joe Biden visited East Palestine, Ohio, for the first time since the train derailment in the area 54 weeks prior. According to the secretary, the Railroad Safety Act, sponsored by a bipartisan group of senators, among them Sens. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), would “strengthen the hand” of the Transportation Department in preventing future disasters.
“It has been filed; it was proposed within weeks of that disaster. It is still waiting its turn in Congress,” Buttigieg said of the legislation. “I mean, look, the railroad industry is certainly resisting this legislation. What’s more frustrating to me is that members of Congress are resisting this legislation, who had a lot to say in the immediate aftermath of the crash but are nowhere to be found when it comes time to get them on the record about the Bipartisan Railway Safety Act.”
The bill calls for a two-man crew requirement, even though that was not the issue that led to the 38 carriages falling off the track on Feb. 3, 2023. It also raises the fine for a violation of rail safety laws from $100,000 up to $10 million. Norfolk Southern, the operator behind the disaster, claimed it cost the company $1.1 billion.
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Buttigieg also commented on Biden’s visit to the crash site, claiming it was evidence that “our administration’s commitment to the people of East Palestine didn’t end when all the cameras and the media and the political firestorm around that place ended a few weeks after the derailment.”
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan visited East Palestine several times to test the soil and water in the area since the affected train cars contained hazardous material. Buttigieg traveled there about three weeks after the disaster. Additionally, former President Donald Trump visited the heavily Republican county.
