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Booker, Menendez slam Trump on rail safety as Democrats block nominee
Booker, Menendez slam Trump on rail safety as Democrats block nominee
Curtis Tate, Staff Writer, @tatecurtis Published 5:57 p.m. ET Feb. 9, 2018 | Updated 12:26 p.m. ET Feb. 10, 2018
HOBOKEN — New Jersey's U.S. senators ripped into the Trump administration Friday for rolling back rail safety regulations that could have helped prevent a fatal crash here in September 2016. ... What they didn't say, though, is that Senate Democrats from the New York region have been blocking President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Federal Railroad Administration since August.
It isn't because they think retired railroad executive Ronald Batory isn't qualified to lead the rail safety regulator. The Senate Commerce Committee approved his nomination unanimously last summer.
Rather, they're using Batory's nomination as a way to push the Trump administration to ensure that the federal government will pay for half the cost of a new Hudson River rail tunnel into New York's Penn Station.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York have led the effort. The $12.7 billion Gateway Project is considered vital to the region's economy and one of the most important infrastructure projects in the country.
Curtis Tate, Staff Writer, @tatecurtis Published 5:57 p.m. ET Feb. 9, 2018 | Updated 12:26 p.m. ET Feb. 10, 2018
HOBOKEN — New Jersey's U.S. senators ripped into the Trump administration Friday for rolling back rail safety regulations that could have helped prevent a fatal crash here in September 2016. ... What they didn't say, though, is that Senate Democrats from the New York region have been blocking President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Federal Railroad Administration since August.
It isn't because they think retired railroad executive Ronald Batory isn't qualified to lead the rail safety regulator. The Senate Commerce Committee approved his nomination unanimously last summer.
Rather, they're using Batory's nomination as a way to push the Trump administration to ensure that the federal government will pay for half the cost of a new Hudson River rail tunnel into New York's Penn Station.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York have led the effort. The $12.7 billion Gateway Project is considered vital to the region's economy and one of the most important infrastructure projects in the country.
Passenger Trains > Acting FRA Administrator quits