Granting the consent and approval of Congress for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia to amend the Washington Area Transit Regulation Compact.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 92) granting the consent and approval of Congress for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia to amend the Washington Area Transit Regulation Compact.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.J. Res. 92, currently under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.J. Res. 92, introduced by my Virginia colleague, Representative Comstock, concerns the Washington-area transit system. The resolution makes needed administrative amendments to the longstanding Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact.

These amendments are required under section 3026 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation, or FAST, Act. That section transferred from the Administrator of General Services to the Secretary of Transportation sole authority to appoint Federal directors to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority board of directors. It further required Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia to adopt any necessary conforming amendments to the Washington Area Transit Regulation Compact.

The jurisdictions adopted the needed amendments as required. H.J. Res. 92 accordingly grants Congress' approval to the amendments.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I thank Members on both sides of the aisle, including Congresswoman Comstock, for their good work on this.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Comstock), who is the chief sponsor of the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this fine legislation.

I thank everybody for their good work, and I yield back the balance of my time

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.J. Res. 92. I thank my colleague from Virginia (Mrs. Comstock), the chairman of the committee, for leading this measure, and I am very happy to lend my support to the resolution.

This resolution would grant congressional consent to amendments to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact Authority pursuant to legislation already enacted by the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, respectively.

Established in 1967, the WMATA is an interstate compact agency responsible for operating the mass transit system for the Washington Metropolitan area.

As part of a broader effort to promote safety and efficiency in the WMATA Metrorail system, Congress transferred appointment authority for the WMATA board of directors to the Secretary of Transportation through enactment of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act in 2015, the so-called FAST Act. Under the FAST Act, Congress also directed the WMATA jurisdictions to adopt conforming compact amendments.

H.J. Res. 92 is a bipartisan measure that would grant Congress' consent to these amendments to the WMATA compact.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton)

Mr. Speaker, I simply want to, again, commend Mrs. Comstock for her leadership on this legislation. I thank all of our fellow members in the regional delegation in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia for their collaborative work on this issue, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Goodlatte for facilitating the resolution's consideration by both the committee and the House.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.J. Res. 92.

This Resolution would grant Congress' consent to certain amendments to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact Authority pursuant to legislation enacted by the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, respectively.

Congress originally consented to this Compact in 1960 and--from time- to-time--the Compact has been amended with Congress' consent, as needed.

The current necessity for H.J. Res. 92 is prompted by the enactment of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015.

In pertinent part, this Act gave sole authority to the Secretary of Transportation to appoint federal directors to the board of directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact.

To implement this directive, each of the Compact participants had to enact legislation amending the Compact.

H.J. Res. 92 grants Congress' consent to these amendments to the Compact as approved by each of the participating states and the District of Columbia.

This bipartisan measure, which effectuates Congress' directive of 2015, is cosponsored by all of the Congressional Members representing jurisdictions affected by the Metrorail system.

I support this commonsense measure and I urge its swift passage. I commend Representative Comstock for her leadership on this important legislation and I thank House Judiciary Chairman Goodlatte for facilitating its timely consideration by both the Committee and the House.

Mr. Speaker, I support H.J. Res. 92 granting consent and approval from Congress for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia to amend the Washington Area Transit Regulation Compact.

As Houston is a major transportation hub, I understand and appreciate the importance of this legislation.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), an interstate compact agency, provides transportation services to millions of people each year.

It is imperative that the WMATA be safe and effective because it is essential to the commerce and prosperity of the National Capitol Region.

The District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the State of Maryland intend to create the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission to act as the state safety oversight authority for the WMATA system under 49 U.S.C. 5329.

In title III of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (section 3026, Public Law 114-94), the Congress provided sole authority to the Secretary of Transportation to appoint Federal Directors to the Board of Directors of

the WMATA and required the signatory parties to the Compact to amend the Compact as necessary.

This compact is created for the benefit of the people of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the State of Maryland so that there may be an increase in their safety, commerce, and prosperity.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.J. Res. 92

Mr. Speaker, I thank my very good friend Representative Jamie Raskin for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, I was ranking member of the subcommittee that had jurisdiction over the FAST Act when we received the request from the region--the Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia region--to transfer the authority to appoint directors to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority board from the GSA to the Department of Transportation.

For the life of me, I can't remember why this authority was given to the GSA in the first place. But it may have been because WMATA was considered simply an agency of interest to the Federal Government.

On consideration, under the FAST Act, we agreed that the Department of Transportation was, by far, the more appropriate agency to appoint Federal directors--understand there are local directors--but Federal directors to WMATA. There are also Federal directors to the WMATA board.

This is of great interest to the region. I recognize it is not monumental for the Congress, but the region very much needs this joint resolution. All three jurisdictions--the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia--have made their administrative changes, but these changes need to be confirmed by this body.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Comstock for her leadership with this joint resolution, and I ask that the entire body approve it