Rolling Stock Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in support of my bill H.R. 3317, the Rolling Stock Protection Act. I ask that my colleagues join me in supporting this simple and direct bill.

In May of last year, this bipartisan legislation was favorably reported out of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

My bill will close a loophole in Federal law that currently allows some of the country's largest transit agencies that receive Federal Transit Administration dollars to purchase rolling stock, such as railcars, from State-owned enterprises and State- connected businesses, including those linked to the Chinese Communist Party.

Mr. Speaker, I will be honest with you. I thought Congress had fixed this problem back in 2019 with the passage of the Transportation Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act, or TIVSA. That measure, which was included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, prohibited the purchase of rolling stock from State-owned enterprises by transit agencies receiving Federal funds.

Why are we back today? We are here today to make it crystal clear to the FTA that CCP-connected companies are never allowed to receive taxpayer dollars.

While TIVSA should have eliminated any future payments of American taxpayer dollars to CCP-connected companies, like the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, the FTA's execution of the law provided lifetime exemptions to four transit agencies from the prohibitions on contracting with CCP-connected companies.

I mentioned that the FTA granted lifetime exemptions to four transit agencies from the law's prohibitions, and I think it is important that we know who we are talking about. The four agencies receiving this exemption from the FTA were the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA; the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, MBTA; the Chicago Transit Authority; and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority.

I am pleased to report that one of those transit agencies, SEPTA, just announced in April that after significant production delays and cost overruns, it was exercising the right to terminate its contract with CRRC for cause. That is a positive step.

Alternatively, another agency that received the lifetime exemption, the MBTA, recently announced that it is re-upping the contract with CRRC and adding another $148 million in rolling stock purchases.

The enactment of TIVSA should have eliminated any possibility that transit agencies that receive Federal funding could continue using those dollars to pay for contracts with companies connected to the CCP, but 5 years after TIVSA was made law, a major public transit agency is expanding just such a contract.

That is all the more reason we are taking action to pass H.R. 3317 today. This bill will end, once and for all, the practice of sending Federal dollars to CCP-controlled rolling stock companies by eliminating these lifetime exemptions.

Chinese companies that are controlled by the CCP have nearly limitless financial resources they can use to undercut domestic rolling stock manufacturers. It is an unfair, uncompetitive playing field, and I am proud to put an end to it today.

Let's be clear. The CCP isn't just investing in these State-owned enterprises to help them better compete in the market. The CCP is trying to take control of the market. The CCP wants to dominate this industry and drive American manufacturers out completely. We can't let that happen.

H.R. 3317 is supported by a broad range of organizations, including the Transport Workers Union, the Alliance for American Manufacturing, the Teamsters, the Railway Supply Institute, and the Rail Security Alliance. I thank them for their support of my legislation, and I hope that my colleagues will join me in approving the passage of this bill today.

My bill will prevent the CCP from using the rolling stock manufacturing market as another tool to undermine our national security and our economic interests.

This is simple legislation that will solve an important concern. H.R. 3317 is good for American workers and will ensure responsible stewardship of American taxpayer dollars.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting my legislation.

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