USDOT Calls on Chuck Schumer to Lift Hold on FRA Nominee
In a letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Deputy Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Rosen called on the senator to remove his hold on the nomination of Ronald Batory to lead the Federal Railroad Administration.
Batory
The deputy secretary suggested Schumer’s hold on Batory, which is a procedural move that prevents a floor vote on a nominee, deprives the agency of a “highly qualified” safety expert.
“It is clear that the agency needs to have its chief rail safety official in place,” Rosen wrote to Schumer Jan. 31. The department’s press office circulated the letter Feb. 1. “In the interest of public safety, I am asking that you set aside wholly unrelated issues and remove your hold on his nomination to become the Federal Railroad Administration.”
Letter to Sen. Schumer by Transport Topics on Scribd
Rosen issued the letter shortly after Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, traveled on an Amtrak train to a retreat in West Virginia. The train struck a truck hauling garbage and one person was killed.
The Commerce Committee in August approved Batory’s nomination to be FRA administrator. Batory has more than four decades of experience in the railroad industry. He was president and chief operating officer of Consolidated Rail Corp.
Schumer’s office has not released a statement on Rosen’s letter.
