Senator JD Vance (R-OH) renewed calls for the passage of his Railway Safety Act on Thursday after a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine on February 3.
“Two hundred and fifty days have passed since the disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Yet Congress has still not passed commonsense railway safety legislation to prevent something like this from happening again,” Vance said in a statement. “Enough is enough – it’s time for the Senate to pass the Railway Safety Act.”
At the beginning of March, Vance joined a group of U.S. senators, including Ohio’s Sherrod Brown (D-OH), in introducing the bill in direct response to the East Palestine train derailment.
Since its introduction, the bill has passed the Senate Commerce Committee and is awaiting a vote on the Senate floor.
The bill has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a group of bipartisan U.S. senators, and many conservative organizations, including the Center for Renewing America, American Compass, and the American Principles Project.
While on the ground in East Palestine, Vance said he’s heard from the town’s mayor and residents that the cleanup of the derailment is “taking way too long.”
“You cannot possibly begin to rebuild this town and give people confidence that they can get back to normal life unless you clean up East Palestine,” Vance added.
As a result, in addition to his call on lawmakers to pass his Railway Safety Act, Vance has also called on the Biden Administration to implement the following measures:
- Issue an emergency declaration and acknowledge the severity of the situation in East Palestine;
- Perform indoor air quality testing;
- Mobilize resources to ensure long-term health risks are being appropriately monitored;
- Focus cleanup on the East Palestine Creek, as petroleum-based contaminants remain visible in the creek waters; and
- Take concrete steps towards addressing residents’ potentially wallet-crushing healthcare liabilities.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “JD Vance” by JD Vance.
