I’m happy to announce that we secured our 100th co-sponsor for H.R. 1748, the Safe Freight Act, which would require a crew of two people on all freight trains. To put it in perspective, by hitting 100 cosponsors today, this is eight months quicker than our last effort in 2017/2018.
With the Federal Railroad Administration’s recent ruling on crew size, it is now more important than ever that we pass a federal law requiring every train in America have a minimum of two crew members. Those two crew members must be a federally certified conductor and a federally certified locomotive engineer. The Safe Freight Act (in the House, H.R. 1748 and in the Senate, S. 1979) is the right prescription to ensure rail safety for both rail workers and the public alike.
This did not happen by accident - we made it to 100 cosponsors (currently 90 Democrats and 10 Republicans) because of members and retirees like you. Bottom line - member contact works. But the job is not done. Besides securing more cosponsors in the U.S. House, we need the same strong effort for the companion bill in the U.S. Senate.
As I wind my time down as National Legislative Director, I want to take this time to thank all of our members who emailed, called and met with their Member of Congress about this issue. We could not have gotten to 100 cosponsors without your assistance and we need to keep pressing on if we are to ultimately succeed.
In solidarity,
John Risch National Legislative Director SMART Transportation Division
