Norton Says Second $150 Million for Metro on Track for Final Passage (7/21/2010)

Norton Says Second $150 Million for Metro on Track for Final Passage

WASHINGTON, DC - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked the House Appropriations Committee for the second $150 million installment of the 10-year, $1.5 billion in federal funding for Metro capital improvements and maintenance, which Norton has championed as a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Norton said, "The committee's approval of the second installment came more readily than the first, and at a critical time for Metro, with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) preparing to release its report on last year's Metrorail crash at its July 27 board meeting." Norton will be among the regional members who will meet with NTSB Chair Deborah A. P. Hersman on July 30 to discuss the report.

Norton has consistently gotten congressional hearings on the safety and operations of Metro, including the first hearing after the tragedy. During the questioning of the NTSB and other witnesses, Norton was concerned to learn that the fatalities occurred in a 1970s vintage car that was at the front car of the train. Consequently, she introduced a bill, H.R. 3975, to require the NTSB to issue interim safety recommendations, pending funding for NTSB's final recommendations. The Norton bill requires NTSB to recommend affordable, short-term steps, such as putting older cars between the newer cars. The Norton bill is included in the NTSB Reauthorization bill, which passed out of committee in March. Norton is also a cosponsor of the National Metro Safety Act, which implements and enforces national safety standards for all subway systems. In addition, she named her bill to authorize the D.C. National Guard Tuition Assistance program in honor of Major General David Wherley Jr., the former commander of the D.C. Guard who was killed along with his wife, Ann, in the Metro crash.