U.S. House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure
U.S. Rep. Don Young,
Chairman
Contact: Steve Hansen (Communications Director) (202) 225-7749
Justin Harclerode (Communications & Outreach
Assistant) (202) 226-8767
To: National Desk/Transportation Reporter
January 31, 2001
Chairman Don Young Announces New Transportation Subcommittee
Chairmen
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Don
Young (R-Alaska) today announced the new subcommittee Chairmen for the
Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee for the 107th Congress.
Young was named as the new
Chairman of the T&I Committee earlier this month after serving as Chairman
of the Committee on Resources for the past six years.
During the first caucus of the
Committee’s Republican members on Wednesday, Young named the new subcommittee
Chairmen and outlined the restructuring of the Committee. Named as subcommittee
Chairmen were:
- Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI) Highways and Transit Subcommittee
- Rep. John Duncan (R-TN) Water Resources and Environment
Subcommittee
- Rep. John Mica (R-FL) Aviation Subcommittee
- Rep. Jack Quinn (R-NY) Railroads Subcommittee
- Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) Economic Development, Public Buildings
and Emergency Management Subcommittee
- Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
Subcommittee
“This Committee will have an
extensive legislative agenda during the 107th Congress and our Subcommittee
Chairmen will be in the forefront as we address these important issues,” Young
said. “All of these Chairmen have an extensive background on the Committee
and specifically in the issues under their subcommittees’ jurisdiction.
“We will focus on a very basic
goal – improving the quality of life for all Americans by easing the congestion
on our roads, improving our environment and making all modes of transportation
safer and more convenient.
“It’s my hope that we can address
these issues in a cooperative and bipartisan basis. Americans are tired of
gridlock – both on our roads and in our political system. We have the
opportunity to accomplish great things for this nation and I look forward to
working with Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and our Democratic colleagues in
addressing these important issues.”
Young said the new T&I
Committee restructuring will include:
Subcommittee on
Railroads
Young said he is reestablishing the Subcommittee on Railroads. During the
106th Congress, the legislative responsibility for railroads was combined with
that of highway and mass transit programs. Young said the
Subcommittee on Railroads will have jurisdiction over all matters relating to
freight railroads; passenger rail service, including Amtrak; high-speed rail
systems; railroad labor; railroad safety; railroad retirement; railroad workers’
compensation; and railroad unemployment insurance.
Full Committee To Assume Oversight &
Investigations
Young said he is eliminating the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and
Emergency Management. To accommodate establishment of the Subcommittee on
Railroads, the committee’s oversight and investigation function will no longer
exist as a freestanding subcommittee but will be assumed as a full committee
activity. This is similar to the structure of the House Committee on
Resources under Young’s Chairmanship.
Subcommittee On Economic Development, Public Buildings
& Emergency
Management
Young said he will transfer the legislative responsibility for federal emergency
management activities (programs administered by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, or FEMA, that are under the Committee’s jurisdiction) from the former
Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Emergency Management to the
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, Hazardous Materials and
Pipeline Transportation. That Subcommittee will be renamed the
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.
The new subcommittee will have
jurisdiction over economic development for distressed urban and rural areas,
including programs administered by the Economic Development Administration, the
Appalachian Regional Commission, The Denali Commission, and the Delta Regional
Authority.
The subcommittee will
also have jurisdiction over the purchase, construction, repair, alteration,
operation and maintenance of Federally owned or leased buildings controlled by
the General Services Administration; matters relating to the Capitol Building
and the Senate and House Office Buildings; construction, maintenance, and care
of the buildings and grounds of the Botanic Gardens, the Library of Congress,
and the Smithsonian Institution; operations of the John F. Kennedy Center for
the Performing Arts; and the purchase of sites and construction of post offices,
customhouses, Federal courthouses and government buildings within the District
of Columbia.
In addition, the
subcommittee will have jurisdiction over the federal management of emergencies
and natural disasters (FEMA).
Subcommittee On Highways &
Transit
Young
said he will establish the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
This subcommittee will combine the highway and mass transit functions of the
former Subcommittee on Ground Transportation with functions relating to the
transportation of hazardous materials and pipeline transportation, which are to
be transferred from the former Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public
Buildings, Hazardous Materials and Pipeline Transportation.
Young said the subcommittee’s
jurisdiction will include the Federal-Aid Highway program, highway safety and
research, public transit programs, commercial motor carrier regulation and
safety and transportation aspects of the Clean Air Act.
In addition, the subcommittee
will have jurisdiction over the transportation of hazardous materials and
pipeline transportation (safety and economic regulation).
Young said the responsibilities of
the Subcommittee on Aviation, the Subcommittee on Coast
Guard and Maritime Transportation, and the Subcommittee on Water
Resources and Environment will not be changed.
Subcommittee On
Aviation
The
Subcommittee on Aviation will have jurisdiction over all matters relating to
civil aviation, including the airport improvement program, aviation safety,
aviation security, aviation noise, economic regulation of airlines,
international aviation relations of the United States, war risk insurance, labor
relations involving airlines and their employees, and programs of the Federal
Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Subcommittee On Coast Guard & Maritime
Transportation
The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation will have
jurisdiction over all matters relating to the Coast Guard, including regulation
of merchant vessel, fishing vessel, and recreational vessel safety; vessel
navigation and related laws; rules and international arrangements to prevent
collisions at sea; lifesaving service; and oil spill laws and associated
financial responsibility requirements.
The subcommittee will also have
jurisdiction over all matters related to the Maritime Administration, including
ports, foreign flag passenger ships, international maritime activities and
intermodal transportation, except those matters related to the national
security.
In addition, the
subcommittee will have jurisdiction over measures relating to the Federal
Maritime Commission, including measures relating to the jurisdiction of common
carriers by water.
Subcommittee On Water Resources &
Environment
The Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment will have jurisdiction over
civil works programs of the Army Corps of Engineers, including projects for
flood control, navigation, water supply, hydroelectric power, environmental
restoration, shoreline protection, and recreation; inland, coastal, and ocean
water pollution control, including the Clean Water Act, Oil Pollution Act, and
Ocean Dumping Act; wetlands protection and enhancement; Superfund hazardous
substances program; Tennessee Valley Authority; Saint Lawrence Seaway
Development Corporation; and certain “small watershed” projects of the Natural
Resources Conservation Service.
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