Fast act provides a certainty and reforms necessary to improve our nations infrastructure and spur economic growth. The fast act was a significant bipartisan achievement showing once again the senate is back to work for the american people. This committees work, which accounted for more than half of the text of the bill, helped to enhance safety, increase transparency, reform regulatory structures and improve planning for free with reforms covering everything from railroads to cars to trucks to ports as well as research and technology, this legislation was a True Team Effort to reduce congestion, protect passengers and improve our nations multimodal supply chain. Protect lives on our nation roadways by promoting Greater Consumer awareness and Corporate Responsibility for safety. Im please that had the whistle blower act is now the law of the land. This law which i introduced with Ranking Member nelson and others incentivize to blow the whistle when manufacturers sit on important safety
Changes provided for under the fast act including processing procedures and an application dashboard. And finally something that goes hand in hand with all of the departments efforts is research and innovation. In march we began the competition for utc grants which allows students and faculty to Work Together towards innovative transportation solutions. Weve received 212 applications for the 35 grants available. Im proud of the work the department has accomplished in such a short period of time. But this is just the beginning. And it would not be possible i would like to repeat without the work of this congress on a bipartisan basis. We will continue our aggressive schedule to execute the reforms you put into place because if our nations going to have the type of Transportation System tomorrow that is better than it had today, wasted time is something none of us can afford. So with that, mr. Chairman, i want to thank you and i look forward to your questions. Thank you, mr. Secretary. A
We werent able to achieve it, but on the other hand i think youve been able to work with mayors and transportation directors for State Government and aarp and other stakeholders. If you could just give me a quick update on how were moving along with respect to this because whether the statute read exactly how i wanted it to or in the compromise version, i think the key is implementation at the sort of administrator level so i want to know how were doing and i know you have a special perspective having been a mayor. Yes, sir. I think were moving along fairly well. We did initiateing . E something that brought 200 mayors from across the country together to share best practices on how to implement essentially complete streets designs. Our federal Highway Administration is also creating greater flexibility in the design of federal aid to highways so that theres at least the possibility that states and local governments can use those roadways in more innovative ways for all users. I think t
Senate for pass. And over on the house side republicans to approve a bill to ban most abortions. Lawmakers will vote in the house on legislation allowing congress to review any nuclear deal. The senate has passed the bill and the president said he would sign it if there are no major changes added. In philadelphia investigators are still determining what caused amtrak train 188 to derail. The train had been traveling 106 Miles Per Hour and that part of the track had not been equipped with safety programs to limit train speed. Well begin this morning with a debate in washington on amtrak and whether or not the government should be increasing funding for the rail way. We want to get your thoughts on that this morning. If you live in the eastern part of the country dial in. Mountain pacific area and amtrak riders riders remember you can also join the conversation on twitter cspan wj and also spend an email journal. The phone lines are open so you can start dialling in. Well get your though
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has designated two awards totaling over $230 million in funding for the restoration of passenger rail service along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and reestablishment of the Gloster Southern Railroad. The first award will provide an estimated $178,435,333 for a passenger train route from Mobile, Ala.,.