Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Jay Rockefeller IV, D-W.V., vowed Wednesday to press ahead with plans to re-regulate the railroad industry.
Last December the committee included a massive overhaul of railroad regulation in the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 2009, but that bill has not come to a Senate vote.
"This year or next, railroad reform is going to happen," Rockefeller said during a hearing on national rail policy. "Either Congress will do it or we will do it through regulation." He said Wednesday's hearing was the first in series on the subject he planned.
"We need a rail system that works not just for the freight railroads, but for all -- shippers, passengers, and consumers. Unfortunately, it has felt at times like the railroads -- some much more than others -- have attempted to delay this process, hoping that these reforms will die if they can only stretch the process out through the elections," he said.
