Expressing the profound sympathies of the House of Representatives for the victims of the tragic Metrorail accident on Monday, June 22, 2009, and for their families, friends, and associates.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 612) expressing the profound sympathies of the House of Representatives for the victims of the tragic Metrorail accident on Monday, June 22, 2009, and for their families, friends, and associates.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I introduced House Resolution 612 on July 7 with members of the National Capitol Region delegation as well as with others in the House. It is with a heavy heart that I call up for consideration House Resolution 612, which expresses the profound sympathies of the House of Representatives for the victims of the tragic Red Line Metrorail accident on June 22, 2009, and for their families and friends and associates, and also recognizes the dozens of people who were injured.

I appreciate the work and courtesy of Chairman Ed Towns, of Ranking Member Darrell Issa, of Chairman Stephen Lynch, and of Ranking Member Jason Chaffetz for their efforts in bringing forward this resolution and for seeing to it that the resolution was marked up at the earliest markup meeting of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Let us begin, Mr. Speaker, by allowing each of us to take a moment on the floor of the House today to remember the nine people who were lost as a result of this tragic accident. I ask for a moment of silence.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Seven of the nine were from the District of Columbia. One was from Maryland. Another was from Virginia.

Mary ``Mandy'' Doolittle, of the District, served the American Nurses Association by spreading its work globally.

Veronica DuBose, of the District, was a devoted mother of two who was on her way to a nursing class.

Ana Fernandez, of Hyattsville, Maryland, was a mother of six who worked tirelessly, often holding more than one job to help provide for her family.

Dennis Hawkins, of the District, was on his way to teach vacation Bible school at Bethesda Baptist Church.

LaVonda ``Nikki'' King, of the District, was a young mother who looked forward to opening her own beauty salon that was already planned to occur.

Cameron Williams, of the District, was headed to his nighttime maintenance job.

Of the nine, I personally know only Major General David F. Wherley, recently retired as commander of the D.C. National Guard, and his wife, Ann. General Wherley was a fighter pilot and commander of the 113th Fighter Wing at Andrews Air Force Base who rose to head the D.C. National Guard itself.

The general was especially devoted to his troops and to the children of the city, initiating programs for both. Ann Wherley, herself a professional, was a major force in the general's life and in his work. I thank the Appropriations Committee for honoring my request to have a D.C. tuition assistance bill named for the general, who was the first to bring this concern to me for introduction, and I will soon seek a proper authorization in a pending bill.

Jeanice McMillan, finally, was the operator of train 112. All the available evidence showed that Ms. McMillan did everything within her power to avert the accident. Ms. McMillan worked herself up the Metro workplace ladder to realize her goal of sending her only son to college. Mr. Speaker, the loss of precious lives that resulted from the June 22 accident touched their families uniquely and tragically. However, I also ask the House to remember these families who share the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority system with several hundred thousand Federal employees and with our own House and Senate congressional staff. Today let us also share with those who lost their lives as well as with those who were injured our thoughts, prayers and our deep determination to do all that we can to assure improved safety for all. I urge adoption of House Resolution 612.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the majority leader, Mr. Hoyer of Maryland, who has led the delegation on matters pertaining to WMATA, or the Metro, and especially this accident.

Mr. Speaker, having no further speakers, again, let me urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 612.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on June 22, our legion experienced a terrible tragedy as two metro trains collided on the red line, resulting in 9 deaths and nearly 80 injured. I rise to express deep sympathy to the families of all those who lost their lives--Mandy Doolittle, Veronica DuBose, Dennis Hawkins, LaVonda ``Nikki'' King, Major General David Wherley and Ann Wherley, Cameron Williams, and train operator Jeanice McMillan.

I also want to especially recognize the life of my constituent, Ana Fernandez of Hyattsville. Ana will be remembered for her dedication to her family, especially her six children ages 2 to 21. She emigrated to the United States 20 years ago to secure a better life and worked tirelessly to support her parents and son back in El Salvador and her five children here in the U.S. She was able to realize her dream of sponsoring her eldest son for a visa, and he arrived only 18 days before the accident. Her family and community speak of her kindness, generosity, and indomitable spirit. I send sincere condolences to her children, her husband, her parents, and her entire family.

In the hours and days after the accident, we received reports of courage and kindness on those metro trains--from the passengers who comforted and assisted each other to the first responders who rushed to the scene and treated the injured. Almost immediately, local and federal agencies, including WMATA, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Tri-State Oversight Committee, as well as the Amalgamated Transit Union, got to work to find out what caused the crash and what must be done to ensure the safety of the system. I want to particularly commend John Catoe and the staff at WMATA for their efforts in these past few weeks.

Out of this tragedy, we must renew our commitment to America's subway and make the safety improvements necessary to ensure that such a devastating accident never happens again. I am pleased that the Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee included $150 million for WMATA in its bill, which is the full federal share of the dedicated funding authorized by last year's Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act. I urge my colleagues to support that vital funding. This accident must be a wake-up call--we cannot afford to wait.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I rise in support of House Resolution 612, expressing the profound sympathies of the House of Representatives for the victims of the tragic Metrorail accident on Monday, June 22, 2009, and for their families, friends and associates. Today we, as a body, express our profound sympathy and support for the victims of this most serious and worst accident in Metro's history.

On June 22 a train heading towards Fort Totten on the Red Line slammed into an idling train in front of it and killed nine people and injured nearly 80 others. The crash occurred at approximately 4:59 p.m. We are greatly saddened by this unnecessary tragedy and senseless loss of life, but our grief cannot compare to the families and friends who lost loved ones that day. Today we extend our sympathies to those who were lost and injured. The nine Metro riders killed on that fateful day were from all walks of life, a reflection of our Nation's Capital and its residents.

As we express our sympathy for the victims, I would also like to commend the D.C. and regional emergency personnel who responded to the accident and did their jobs with competence and compassion. I would also like to recognize the heroism of the other train passengers who helped to free those who were trapped, fashioned tourniquets and comforted the injured. In addition to the death and injury to the victims, there's been tremendous damage done to the morale of Metro riders and to Metro's reputation. A recent Washington Post editorial commented on the crash as having ``shattered many riders' assumptions about the safety of the system.'' Clearly there is much work to be done to ensure nothing like this terrible accident ever happens again.

But today in this House it is time we take a moment to honor and express our profound sympathy for the victims of this tragic Metrorail accident of June 22 and their families, friends and associates. I urge my colleagues to join me in expressing our sympathies on this day by passing House Resolution 612.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, so I will yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the chairlady, my colleague and friend, Eleanor Holmes Norton. I thank Mr. Westmoreland for helping this legislation come to the floor.

Today the House pauses in solemn remembrance of the nine men and women who lost their lives when two Metro trains collided on June 22. It was, as has been said, the deadliest crash in Metro's history. Those whose lives we lost were a cross section of our Washington region. They never asked or expected to be memorialized together, but they were brought together in tragedy. Together we can say their names:

Mary Doolittle, 59 years old, of Washington, D.C.;

Ana Fernandez, 40 years old, of Hyattsville, Maryland, my district;

Dennis Hawkins, 64 years old, of Washington, D.C.;

LaVonda ``Nikki'' King, 23 years old, of Washington, D.C.;

Veronica Dubose, 29 years old, also of Washington, D.C.;

Cameron Williams, 36 years old, also of Washington;

Major General David F. Wherley Jr., 62 years old, and his wife Ann Wherley, 62 years old, both of Washington, D.C.;

And lastly, Jeanice McMillan, 42 years old, of Springfield, Virginia. Ms. Norton mentioned her activity and the professionalism with which she carried out her duties. It is clear that what happened was a computer failure or a line failure, some failure which was supposed to automatically notify the train that was moving that there was a train stopped in front of it. That mechanism failed. Today nine families are incomplete. There are nine fresh wounds that will be very slow in healing. Nothing, of course, can reverse those deaths; but we must learn from them, and we must act to prevent such tragedies in the future. On a practical level, we must ensure that funding is sufficient to accomplish that objective. On a personal level, we can choose to take from this the reminder of the fragility and uncertainty of our own lives and to act on that knowledge every day.

On June 22 we lost nine irreplaceable men and women. May we honor their memories by acting to prevent a future tragedy and by instilling confidence in the safety of America's subway.

Mr. Speaker, thank you, Ms. Norton, for bringing this resolution to the House floor for its consideration.

Monday, June 22 tragedy struck Washington.

Around 5:00 p.m. at the start of the evening rush hour, Metro Train 112 struck Train 214 as it was waiting for a third train to finish boarding passengers at the Fort Totten Station.

Nine people lost their lives and 76 others were injured, 41 of whom were transported to nearby hospitals for treatment.

We are all saddened by the loss of life and I wish once again to express my condolences to the family and friends of those who suffered an injury or lost a loved one on that tragic Monday.

I also wish to express my appreciation to Metro and the emergency responders who were on the scene immediately with assistance.

As we gain insight on the cause of the accident, I will be working with my colleagues, many of whom are cosponsors of this resolution, to ensure this type of tragedy is never allowed to happen again.

We are in fact working to secure the funding to replace the older type ``1000'' rail cars that failed to hold up during the crash and any other resources Metro needs to restore full service.

The tragedy has brought us together as a region, and together we will work to make sure Metrorail remains a transportation system that is safe, efficient, affordable and secure.