JAMES CARTER: Railway Safety Act Betrays America First Agenda

Wikimedia Commons/Public/Adam E. Moreira, CC BY-SA 3.0

Donald Trump won the presidency by promising to drain the swamp, restore American greatness, and put working families first. Trump meant it. Voters believed it. So why are some Republicans in Washington determined to prove them wrong?

Look no further than the so-called Railway Safety Act.

After the February 2023 East Palestine derailment, the pressure to act was understandable. Tragedies demand responses. The images from that community were heartbreaking, and the anger that followed was legitimate.

But the legislation circulating in Washington goes well beyond what caused that accident. It layers on federal mandates — rigid crew requirements, outdated inspection rules, and operational restrictions designed for a different era of railroading — that have nothing to do with preventing the next East Palestine and everything to do with handing Washington bureaucrats control over an industry that has thrived precisely because Washington got out of the way nearly 50 years ago.

That’s not safety policy. That’s the swamp doing what the swamp does.

Freight rail is one of the great American success stories. Railroads invest roughly $23 billion annually into their own networks.........

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