The BLET is urgently working to secure passage of the House Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2024 (H.R. 8996) before Congress adjourns. In a Take Action alert issued today, BLET members and their families are asked to use the Take Action tool on the BLET National Division website to ask their member of Congress to sign on to Discharge Petition #20 (H. Res. 1560), which would bypass the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and let H.R. 8996 be called for a floor vote. Discharge Petition #20 was advanced by Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), but needs more bi-partisan support to secure consideration of H.R. 8996. It’s important to advance this bill before Congress adjourns next month.
 
Discharge petitions are used when a Congressional committee sits on a piece of legislation. It’s a way to advance a bill, especially ones likely to garner bipartisan support, but it requires 218 members of Congress to sign-on for the bill to move forward. 
 
Introduced on July 15 by Rep. Moulton and Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), H.R. 8996 incorporates the Senate’s Railway Safety Act of 2023 (S. 576), but includes four additional safety provisions: Mandatory Participation in C3RS by the Class I railroads. State Departments of Transportation requirement to notify first responders about “Ask Rail” Hazardous Materials response application.$1.5 billion per year in additional money for grade crossing separations. Grant programs to develop and install the next generation of telematics systems.Click here to Take Action.