Public Transportation Accountability Act

Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of myself and Senator Collins, to introduce the Child Care Infant Mortality Act. This is bipartisan legislation that would allow states participating in the Child Care Development Block Grant, CCDBG, to use part of this funding for child safety training.

Currently, states participating in Child Care Development Block Grant, CCDBG, are required to set aside at least 4 percent of funds to improve the quality of the programs offered in their states. Our bill would simply ensure that strategies to enhance child safety, including disseminating information related to prevention strategies for sudden unexpected infant death, are included in as an allowable use of funds.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, CDC, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, half of the approximately 4,500 SUID cases in the United States are entirely preventable with effective training and implementation of correct sleep practices. It is estimated that child care settings account for 20 percent of all SUID fatalities in the United States. Life-saving sleep strategies, first aid and CPR are successful in preventing infant death and are easily implementable; yet training is not currently an allowable use of funds under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act.

Nationally, over 4,500 infants die suddenly with no immediate obvious cause every year. These deaths are not highly publicized by the media because of the severe pain it causes families. A large percentage of child care providers are unaware of the risks of sleep associated infant deaths until they come face-to-face with a death of a child under their care. The more aware providers are of safe sleep practices, the more likely they are to follow suggested guidelines. In particular, posting safe-sleep practices and offering required training can further cut the number of infants we lose every year to sudden unexpected infant death. Beyond safe sleep practices, child care provider training in CPR and first aid will allow providers to identify and address potentially harmful situations for infants.

The Child Care Infant Mortality Prevention Act of 2013 expands the list of allowable uses for CCDBG funding to permit states to use this funding on activities to improve child care quality. Our bill would also require the Secretary to update and make widely available- training, instructional materials, and other information on safe sleep practices and other sudden unexpected infant death prevention strategies.

I am proud that Senator Susan Collins has joined me as an original cosponsor of this bill.

It is essential that this issue is addressed by building upon the existing structure and capacity of the networks of Child Care providers participating in the Child Care and Development Block Grant. It is critical that we work to ensure that child safety is a primary goal of the block grant, and that appropriate and adequate training on safe sleep practices, first aid, and CPR are included in the training regimen promoted by this Act.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise to address a crisis of confidence at Chicagoland's suburban commuter railroad--Metra. Metra plays a vital role for our area--reducing congestion and carrying thousands of suburban residents to and from Chicago each day. But recent developments highlight a troubled transit system and a misuse of public dollars.

Earlier this summer it was reported that Metra CEO Alex Clifford received a severance package worth nearly $750,000 following allegations of political influence at the agency. Clifford received $442,237 alone just to buyout the remaining term of his contract, on top of $307,390 for an additional 12 months if he is unable to find new employment.

This is a gross misuse of public dollars. With this action, Metra's former CEO makes more than President Obama, who currently makes $400,000 a year. I asked the Congressional Research Service how this golden parachute ranks compared to the annual salary of the top ten largest transit agencies in the country, and the results were surprising. Each of the top 10 largest transit systems pays their chief executive no more than $350,000, meaning Metra, the 24th largest transit agency in the country, had the highest earning CEO.

Fortunately federal taxpayer dollars did not contribute to Clifford's golden parachute. But Metra is expected to receive more than $135 million in federal capital dollars. If our local government bodies can't be trusted to be good stewards of the public, then the Congress should step in to put in place reasonable taxpayer protections.

Today I have introduced the Public Transportation Accountability Act which for the first time will put limits on executive compensation at public transit agencies that receive federal funds. No executive or employee of a transit agency would be able to receive annual compensation that is greater than that of the President of the United States. This is a common sense bill that sadly is necessary to safeguard taxpayers' pocketbooks.

Mr. President, I rise to address a crisis of confidence at Chicagoland's suburban commuter railroad--Metra. Metra plays a vital role for our area--reducing congestion and carrying thousands of suburban residents to and from Chicago each day. But recent developments highlight a troubled transit system and a misuse of public dollars.

Earlier this summer it was reported that Metra CEO Alex Clifford received a severance package worth nearly $750,000 following allegations of political influence at the agency. Clifford received $442,237 alone just to buyout the remaining term of his contract, on top of $307,390 for an additional 12 months if he is unable to find new employment.

This is a gross misuse of public dollars. With this action, Metra's former CEO makes more than President Obama, who currently makes $400,000 a year. I asked the Congressional Research Service how this golden parachute ranks compared to the annual salary of the top ten largest transit agencies in the country, and the results were surprising. Each of the top 10 largest transit systems pays their chief executive no more than $350,000, meaning Metra, the 24th largest transit agency in the country, had the highest earning CEO.

Fortunately federal taxpayer dollars did not contribute to Clifford's golden parachute. But Metra is expected to receive more than $135 million in federal capital dollars. If our local government bodies can't be trusted to be good stewards of the public, then the Congress should step in to put in place reasonable taxpayer protections.

Today I have introduced the Public Transportation Accountability Act which for the first time will put limits on executive compensation at public transit agencies that receive federal funds. No executive or employee of a transit agency would be able to receive annual compensation that is greater than that of the President of the United States. This is a common sense bill that sadly is necessary to safeguard taxpayers' pocketbooks.