Provided by Congresswoman Barbara Comstock’s Office
Congresswoman Barbara Comstock
Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-VA) released the following statement today after the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed H.R. 3763, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015. The legislation will now go to the full House for consideration. Upon passage, Comstock made the following statement:
“Today we advanced a multi-year transportation bill that will provide much needed stability in terms of building and maintaining our roads, bridges, and transit systems. It will provide states and local governments the stability and flexibility needed to initiate large-scale, longer term projects. It makes important reforms to consolidate redundant offices within the Department of Transportation, streamline project approval procedures, and make the entire process more user-friendly in terms of researching, applying for, and obtaining federal grants. Further, it spurs private sector investment in our transportation system and makes real strides toward public safety.
“I was proud to work with the committee to incorporate a bipartisan amendment into the bill that I sponsored with Congresswomen Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Donna Edwards (D-MD), the Protect Riders of Metrorail Public Transportation Act, which will require Metro to meet the necessary safety protocols that are owed our commuters and taxpayers. As the second-busiest transit system in the United States, Metro must provide safe and reliable service for its customers—both residents and visitors alike—and this amendment promotes much needed change to the failed status quo so that proper oversight can be achieved.
“The Committee also included some of the language from the Surface Transportation Research and Development Act, a bipartisan bill that I have sponsored which makes battling highway congestion a national research priority. I look forward to continuing our important work on this transportation bill when it comes to the House floor.”
