Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) appealed to his Republican colleagues on March 9 to support the Railway Safety Act following the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern Railways train in East Palestine, Ohio, and the subsequent chemical spill.
At a Thursday hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Vance acknowledged that there had been some reluctance among members of his own party to support the bipartisan bill.
Noting that he believed most of his fellow Republicans had approached the legislation in “good faith,” the senator called out nameless others who he said had balked at the notion of implementing additional regulations on the rail industry….