During a Thursday hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Senator J.D. Vance (R., Ohio) accused fellow Republicans of setting up roadblocks in his attempt to hold the rail industry accountable.
Vance and Senator Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) are proposing the Railway Safety Act, which would boost safety requirements for trains carrying hazardous materials, call for more frequent inspections of rail cars, increase fines for safety violations, and green-light $27 million to examine possible other safety improvements.
“Are we for big business and big government or are we for the people of East Palestine? It’s a time for choosing. Let’s make the right one,” explained Vance.
The committee gathered to hear testimony from those involved in responding to the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, where toxic chemicals were spilled and residents complain of health issues. One of them was under-fire Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw.
While Vance explained he was frustrated at first with Norfolk Southern’s response, he has since been placated. However, for Vance, it’s too little too late for the industry at large.
Vance argued that free-market Republicans who are opposed to regulating the rail industry more tightly are hypocritical.
“This is an industry that enjoys special subsidies that almost no industry enjoys. This is an industry that enjoys special legal carve-outs that almost no industry enjoys,” said Vance. “This is an industry that just three months ago had the federal government come in and save them from a labor dispute. It was effectively a bailout and now they’re claiming before the Senate and the House that our reasonable regulation, our reasonable legislation, is somehow a violation of the free market. Well pot, meet the kettle, because that doesn’t make an ounce of sense.”
“Do we do the bidding of a massive industry that is embedded with big government or do we do the bidding of the people who elected us to the Senate into the Congress in the first place?” Vance asked.
Some Republicans have expressed concern that the legislation goes too far and many of the details are left to the Department of Transportation.
“We’ll take a look at what’s being proposed, but an immediate quick response heavy on regulation needs to be thoughtful and targeted,” explained Senator John Thune (R., S.D.) to The Hill. “Let’s define the problem. Let’s figure out what the solutions are and if there are things we need to fix, we’ll fix them.”
Thune added that he was “uncomfortable” giving “much more power” to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has come under intense criticism for his response to the East Palestine derailment.
For Vance, holding the rail industry accountable is something a Republican party that has experienced a profound realignment should champion.
“We are the party of working people in this country…We are the party of firefighters, of police officers, of the people who go to work pay their taxes, fight our country’s wars and keep our community safe,” said Vance. “We’re proud of that.”
Regarding East Palestine, the Ohio senator also expressed concern that the people there were not only overlooked in favor of big business, but also because of who they are.
“I think that our leadership, our media, and our politicians were slow to respond to this crisis in part because a certain segment of our leadership feels like the people of East Palestine are a little out of style,” he said.
“They have the wrong politics, they’re a little too rural, maybe a little too white,” Vance explained.
Shaw, who as chief executive Norfolk Southern leads one of the nation’s largest rail companies, expressed his deep apologies at the hearing for what had occurred and repeated over and over again that he’s committed to “doing the right thing.”
But Shaw had to contend with the symbolism of another train derailment in Alabama on the same day as his testimony, underscoring the crisis that has blanketed the rail company. The NTSB took the unusual step of opening a broader, special investigation into Norfolk Southern’s safety practices after a train conductor was killed in Cleveland earlier this week.
Senators pressed Shaw to make specific commitments in their allotted time, but the chief executive often broadened out to his larger commitment to doing the right thing. This led Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) to remark to Shaw: “With all due respect, you sound like a politician.”