Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio
Here’s how we avoid another East Palestine train wreck before it’s too late
U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and J.D. Vance (R-OH)
March 22, 2023
Fox News
The U.S. government must provide the American people with the security of knowing that what happened to East Palestine will not happen again. We have worked across the aisle with our Democratic colleagues to introduce the Railway Safety Act, a targeted piece of bipartisan legislation aimed at elevating the standards to which the railroad industry is held.
The American public supports our proposal. The overwhelming majority, 76%, of Americans believe the railroad industry should be subject to additional safety guidelines, and 53% of them accurately believe the derailment in East Palestine could have been prevented by more stringent safety protocols….
Railroads…will be integral to American economic renewal in the years to come—from reshoring our nation’s supply chains to reviving our manufacturing base. But first, they must be made safe and secure. Railroads cannot help to rebuild America if they can destroy its small towns without consequence.
The path forward for this bill is clear. The Senate majority leader and the president have pledged to do what it takes to make it law, and a bipartisan group from the Ohio delegation has introduced similar legislation in the House of Representatives.
This legislation should be of special interest to our Republican colleagues. America’s railroads run through their rural districts and red communities…. We owe it to them to hold the railroad industry to a higher standard, and that’s exactly what the Railway Safety Act will do.