>> our panel is here on railroad safety f safety. the issue of railroad safety has received heightened attention due to several disturbing accidents. last december in the amtrak train derailed in dupont, washington, killing three people, and injuring 60, on the inaugural run of a new line. the engineer was speeding on a curved track, nearly 50 miles per hour above the speed limit. in january, closer to home, members of congress were involved in a highway rail road crossing crash. witnesses report a truck entered the crossing when the gates were down.

unfortunately, this type of accident occurs all too frequently. in february, another amtrak train collided with a sitting freight train in south carolina because it was diverted onto attract that was had been taken out of service. these three accidents illustrate the variety of challenges we face in improving the safety of our railroads. the rail yards have improved with safety compared to 2016. among these incidents were several series collisions that led to fatalities that in some cases could have been avoided with ts use of proven technologies such as positive train control or ptc, all

improvements to the safety through better safety. i'm all too aware of such an incident in canada in 2013 which resulted in the death of 37 just 30 miles from the main border. in 2014, our subcommittee held a hearing on the accident and the transportation of crude oil. as they did the crude oil by rail. as a result this committee increased the number of railroad inspectors at rfa created the short line safety institute to improve the safety culture in the industry, and mandated the

phaseout of old tank cars susceptible of leak age upon derailment. our railroads in our communities are safer today because of those new approaches. prior to this horrific accident, in chatsworth, california, in 2008 which resulted in 25 deaths, led congress to mandate ptc for most class one and passenger rail service. ptc technology while challenging to implement, has demonstrated that it can prevent major crashes and incidents caused by human error. ptc would have likely prevented several recent accidents such as the one i mentioned in washington state. it is imperative for railroads to implement this safety system

as soon as possible. in fact, congress has mandated that all required railroads in pla meant ptc by december 31st of this year with an extension until 2020 for railroads that can demonstrate their system is fully functional but may need additional testing. while most class one freight companies, as well as amtrak, are on schedule to meet the ptc deadline of december 31st, 2018, last month federal railroad administration released a list of 14 railroads that are at risk of neither meeting the ptc deadline, nor satisfying the legal criteria to qualify for an extension until december 31st of 2020. many of the railroads on this list are commuter or other

publicly subsidized railroads. amtrak has recently state supported and long distance routes that are at risk of having service curtailed due to a failure to install ptc fully. for the down easter train in maine, it is essential that the massachusetts bay transportation authority or mvta fully implement positive train control. the massachusetts authority serves as the host. >> reporter: on-- of the small route and is responsible for installation of ptc on a section of track between parts of boston. fortunately mtva has made progress and now on pace to meet

the deadline at the end of the year, which will allow the down easter to continue to offer uninterrupted service between maine and boston. recognizing the financial costs associated with ptc deployment, our subcommittee has provided funding over the last three years, including up to $593 million in the fiscal year 2018 funding bill. with the ptc deadline just months away, however, it has taken until this week for the department to make funding available to potential applicants. when this funding is awarded, i anticipate that it will focus on both freight and commuter railroads that are most challenged in meeting the deadlines. it is important to note that while ptc is critical to

improving rail safety, it cannot prevent all access. the amtrak train carrying members of congress struck a truck that should not have been on the railway roadway crossing. and an occurrence that is unfortunately far too common. almost 250 people died in similar railway highway railway crossing collisions last year. and when combined with trespasser fatalities, they contributed to 96% of all rail related deaths last year. in an effort to address these problems, this committee has provided funding to the department of transportation for media campaign to increase awareness of highway railway crossings. we somehow have to get across

the message that you cannot beat the train by violating the rail crossings. to determine their effectiveness. let me now turn to senator reed for his opening remarks and apologizing before you got here with the permission of your staff due to the votes that we have ongoing on the floor. >> well, thank you, chairman collins. not only for holding this important hearing, but also for your extraordinarily leadership and your generosity and kindness. thanks for letting me say a few words. we are here at a very important topic, which is the rail safety, which touches every aspect of american life. and we are also responding to, as chairman collins pointed out, several high profile rail accidents over the past several months. some of which were positive

train control preventable, including tragic fatal accidents in both washington and south carolina. in addition to frequent and dramatic highway rail grade crossing deaths. beyond the headlines the fra has also been tracking concerning statistics highway grade crossings and trespasser incidents. in 2017, 868 people died in rail related accidents and incidents with 245 of those occurring at highway rail crossings and 590 from trespasser incidents. both of those numbers are higher than in 2016. in fact, sadly, a trespassing pedestrian was struck by am strak plain rhode island days ago and amazingly thankfully survived. but this is is a problem we must address. others, however, have not been as fortunate. second incident just a year and a half in rhode island alone and need to address these challenges

while also positive train control. we also recognize safety is clearly linked to investment and oversight. particularly proud of the rail investments and safety improvements we were able to make in the 2018 omnibus under senator collins leadership. this has automatic track inspection program and ptc oversight at the fra. in 2018, we provided $592 million for chrissy grants with $250 million set aside for pt c implementation. it was also important that we make them available for the funding since they have the greatest immediate for public assistance. unfortunately the fra decided to issue notice of funding for only $250 million minimum set aside for ptc and hold back more than $340 million of the remaining 2018 chrissy funding unnecessarily delaying important

safety and infrastructure projects. it is an eligible activity for the rest of the chrissy funding also. as our crossing improvements that would save lives. decision to withhold the majority of the chrissy funding will confuse grant tease, delay critical investments and waste time that could be spent building projects that address the safety. i'm disappointed by the decision to separate the ptc funds and strongly encourage the fra to award all the funding we provide quickly and thoughtfully to address the risk we face as a nation. in the 2018 we also funded amtrak at the highest level ever in national appropriations bill with special focus on northeast corridor where there is $38 billion state of good repair backlog. we funded federal state partnership for state of good repair program at $250 million highest level ever in a single appropriations as well. both of those programs are yit critical to upgrading and

replacing amtraks northeast corridor which connects the region that contributes 20% of america's gross domestic product. unfortunately i'm concerned that this administration has incorrectly labeled these programs in critical projects they address on the northeast corridor as local urban concerns. when you are dealing with 20% of the gross domestic product and one of the major transportation networks is amtrak it is not a local urban concern. these are not local problems. they are problems of national significance and this administration is done a service to safety and economic opportunities for americans all along the east coast through intentional bureaucratic delays. the department of transportation must do better as these projects move closer to construction. in stumpry, congress hags done its part. now it's administration needs to get down to work and expeditiously implement those programs and a ward grants the railroads and agencies that need them. i look forward to hearing from

all the witnesses about their state of good repair and safety challenges. as well as best practices and opportunities for improving the network. rail citizen is where we have bipartisan agreement. as this looks to 2019 your ideas will had ep to inform our funding decision to make america's rail system safer and more efficient. but i'll say for myself we don't want to come together and an appropriate significant money for real needs across this countsry and then see the money sit there. because will not do their job. thank you. >> thank you very much, senator reed. administrator batory, thank you for being here. >> thank you, chairman. collins, ranking member reed, members of the subcommittee. the opportunity to testify today

to discuss rail safety is an honor. i come to my position as an administrator of the federal railroad administration with 45 years of experience in the railroad industry rising to become the president and chief operating officer of a significant freight carrier in the united states. throughout my career i have been focused on continually improving safety performance. i bring the same unwavering perspective to my current position at the fra. railroads immr. mentation of ptc systems is at the top of our agenda. as we approach critical deadlines for railroads implementation of ptc systems, fra remains committed to working with railroads to ensure implementation of this important rail safety technology in a timely manner.

while railroads are making progress, most will request alternative schedule that the goff nering statue allows. direy chau, fra is taking a pro-active approach to assist railroads aggressively to the implementation of ptc systems. in that regard, fra senior leadership met individually with executives for each of the to be complaint 41 railroads earlier this year. this was precedent-setting. since the enactment of the original statute of 2008. along with each of the major equipment and technology suppliers representing the small boutique market which was also precedent-setting. during fra's recent meetings, railroads commonly conveyed some

ongoing challenges including three. demand and supply issues among a limited number of ptc system vendors, ongoing technical and reliability issues with ptc system hardware and software. last, lack of a cohesive progress in the realm of interoperability from both a host and tenant perspective. today fra believes 12 railroads are at risk of both missing statutory implementation deadlines an failing to qualify for an alternative schedule. this assessment was based on railroad self-reported progress through first quarter of this year. these ptc systems are in operation over 60% of the required freight railroad route

miles. passenger railroads though have made less progress which includes commuter rail as well as inner city rail. to date less than 25% of the required route miles are in service. 14 railroads though have reported complete installation of all hardware necessary for ptc system implementation and another 13 have reported 80% of the required hardware installed. since 2008, the funding provided by this committee has enabled the department to make available over $2.5 billion in grants and loans to assist with ptc implementation. this amounts to nearly 20% of the $14 billion the consolidated industry estimates are for the implementation of positive train

control. i might also add that the majority of the $2.5 billion was directed towards commuter rail. in addition and of more recent note is $318 million awaiting award and application under crsy. since this administration took office railroads have made progress with their ptc implementation. from quarter one of 2017 through quarter one of 2018 railroads have increased the total amount of ptc system hardware from 77% to 93%. this progress has enabled the physical operating growth of ptc which was very, very important. at the onset of this administration, ptc systems were in operation at approximately 18%. freight railroad route miles

required to be governed by a ptc system and has now increased to a percentage in excess of 60% as of march 31st of this year. on the inner city passenger and commuter railroads, there's been a much slower growth rate. this time last year we were at 24%. this year we're at only 25%. this progress in the freight sector but the commitment shown in inner city passenger and commuter railroad is a testament to secretary chau's commitment to ensuring our nation's railroads are safe. in addition, it's a testament to the hard work and dedication of the men and women serving at fra. although first charged with ptc mandate in october of 2008, the progress exhibited over the last

few years shows that railroads have prioritized ptc implementation and add heard to secretary chou's safety charge of earlier this year concerning ptc. moving forward, fra will continue to support and facilitate railroads' implementation of ptc technology by utilizing the tools afforded by congress and providing extensive technical assistance and guidance to railroads and their suppliers. we remain vigilant in harnessing and leveraging all personnel financial and other resources available to help expedite railroad implementation efforts. we appreciate the subcommittee's support for our critical programs, and we welcome your continued partnership to advance rail safety. with all that said, i sit here very honorably in front of you and look forward to listening to

your concerns and answering your questions on railroad safety. >> thank you, mr. administrator. senator collins has gone to the floor for the vote and when she returns, i'll go to the floor for my vote. mr. gardner, your testimony, please. >> thank you, ranking member reed and my fellow witnesses. appreciate the opportunity to be here this afternoon and for the subcommittee setting aside time to focus on railroad safety. my name is steven gardner, amtrak's executive vice president and chief executive officer. it's my pleasure to be here on behalf of the 20,000 dedicated amtrak employees across our network. as a subcommittee knows this, has been a challenging fiscal year for amtrak as we faced a series of tragic accidents, including the two accidents you mentioned in your opening statement. these incidents have weighed heavily on all of us at amtrak and had a advised concerns expersonally and internally about the safety at the company and passenger safety in general. i'm here to share but we ear

tackling these concerns directly. while amtrak had already begun to implement a number of strategies to improve safety prior to these incidents, we've significantly expanded these efforts and are strengthening our policies, training and operations to ensure they reflect the highest degree of safety. leading this effort is our new chief safety officer ken highlander who is devoting himself to learning from the recent incidents and putting in place new safeguards for our customers and employees. foremost amongst his duties is to lead the implementation and operation of a safety management system. used by industries like aviation, healthcare and energy, sms is a proactive risk management methodology that focuses systematically and cooperatively on identifying risks and instituting mitigations. adoption of this system follows the ntsb's recommendations that amtrak and our unions implement an sms program and is consistent with the approach mandated by congress in 2008 and soon required by fra. we have already started

implementation having completed a new safety system policy, instituted our signal suspension assessment initiative hand root cause and corrective action methodology and we're making good progress towards our overall goal of submitting our system safety program for fra for review this fall. a key aspect of sms is the role of technology to mitigate risk and our highest priority on this front is to promptly achieve ptc implementation across our network. as we've said before and in light of the recent incidents we believe ptc or ptc equivalent levels of safety must be standard for all amtrak routes and that the -- and that this system will make the entire network safer for passengers, employees and communities. amtrak is on track to achieve installation and operation of ptc across the territory we control by the deadline, and we are working with our partners throughout the industry to advance this system on their infrastructure. at present, we believe most of

our major partners will have ptc implemented and operational on their routes that we use by the 2018 deadline. for the instances where this is not the case, we expect nearly all carriers will qualify for an alternative ptc implementation schedule under law. while very few others may not make enough progress to qualify for next tension by year's end. for those carriers and routes operating under an extension or under an fra-approved exemption, amtrak is now performing rick analyses and developing strategies for enhancing safety on a route-by-route basis to ensure that come january 1 we can provide a single level of safety across our network. for example, our safety team is built a risk-assessment process for exempted routes such as the downeaster, the ethan allen and the vermonter. our clear goal is to preserve service on these routes by using alternative met odds to mitigate known risks, thereby allowing us to ensure our customers and your constituents are as safe on

those routes as they would be anywhere else on our system. for those very limited routes where a host may not achieve an alternative schedule or an exemption by year's end, amtrak will go have to suspend service until such routes come into compliance. finally, we remain busy with all our tenant railroads that operate over amtrak's infrastructure as they have rolling stock available by the deadline to operate normal services. before closing, i want to thank the members of this subcommittee and their staff for their tremendous efforts in crafting and passing the fc-'18 appropriations bill. your subcommittee's has championed historic investments in passenger rail that will serve as a foundation for new era of modernization and improvement. like you we see the value of inner city passenger rail, and we hope as you continue your work on the fy-'19 appropriations bill in a the fc-'18 for the federal administration grant program

will serve as a new baseline for passenger rail funding. thanks again for the opportunity to appear today. we're deeply committed to strengthening the safety of our network, improving the services we offer our customers and effectively stewarding the funds you provide us. we sincerely appreciate the support we've received from this subcommittee and from you, ranking member reed, and i look forward to answering any questions that you have. >> thank you very much, mr. gardner, for yourful. >> police quinn, please, thank you. >> good afternoon, thank you, ringing member reed and members of the committee including senator collins for inviting me here today and for addressing this extremely important topic of rail safety. i would also like to join my panel members hered and thank you for passing the fy-'18 appropriations bill and you demonstrated a strong support for a safe and efficient passenger rail network. i am the -- my name is patricia quinn, executive director of the northern new england rail passenger authority. we are a quasi-government agency

based in maine based in the late 1990s for the purpose of restoring passenger rail to after about a 30-year hiatus. those efforts were successful, and since 2001 we've worked in partnership with amtrak, and our host railroads to manage the amtrak downeaster service which has been referenced a couple of times today. just as a little background, the downeaster makes five round trips a day between portland and boston and we operate over a 113-mile route corridor that's controlled by three host railroads, runs through three different states and serves 12 communities. we transport about 500,000 people a year which i'm pretty proud of given the fact that our state has 1.2 million people, and since we've started operating we've transported 7 million people, the equivalent of 600 million passenger miles and has stimulated a lot of economic development along our route, so it's very important to

us. in addition to being the director of nepra, i also serve on a couple of commites and organizations that i would like to highlight today and are relevant to this conversation. the states for passenger rail coalition which is a membership organization and the state amtrak inner city passenger rail committee which was sanctioned by the f.a.s.t. act. an organization that includes 21 state agencies which manages 29 amtrak routes. those state-supported routes represent nearly half of amtrak's total ridership, about 15 million riders a year, and we contribute about $750 million in revenue in amtrak in terms of both passenger revenue and state payments. state partners are heavily invested in their routes, and we invest heavily in our routes, and that's why we appreciate the partnership and funding. i cannot oversaid the importance of a sustained and dedicated

funding mechanism to help us plan for investments and actually implement investments, and that's my theme today. my theme is that almost all the projects that we execute and implement have something to do with safety. whether it be a track program, signal program, capacity improvements, stations and platforms, grade crossings or facilities, each one of these has a positive impact on service and safety. we believe safety is a multi-facetted part of everything we do. as it relates to positive train control as senator collins has already talked about, that is very big and important topic. downeaster is unique in that part of our route is required to be ptc-complaint by the end of the year, and the rest of it isn't. the reason for that is the number of trains that are operated. we operate ten trains a day, or amtrak does on our behalf, and the threshold for positive train control is 12 trains, so the portion in maine and new hampshire on which we operate is

exempted from ptc. however, the part on the mbta territory is required to be ptc-client. amtrak and pan-am railways are working in partnership with the mbta to make sure that all of the pieces with put in place and that there will not be a disruption to amtrak or downeaster service this year. seems to be going well, and we're hopeful that it is. there's still a lot of unknowns for us. how it will work once it's implemented being that part of the route is ptc and part isn't. how that's going to impact our operations, our on-time performance and also what the ongoing costs are going to be, because once it's installed it's going to have to be maintained, and what i've been told is that's going to cost millions of dollars and that's probably going to come back to the customer, and we're the customer so that's a concern for us. but i also want to reiterate that just because part of the line that we'll operate on, it's

not ptc -- will not be ptc-equipped, that doesn't mean it's not safe. >> pan am and amtrak have a very solid safety record on the downeaster service. we work together continually and invest significantly in projects that contribute to the state of good repair of the railroad in which we work. there are many facets to safety. now the amtrak has mentioned that there was risk of not operating trains if the line was not equipped with ptc, that i'm confident that through the mechanism that was outlined by mr. gardner, that they will see that the line -- that they are always open to enhancements, but i think we'll find that we'll be able to continue to operate without disruption to the downeaster service. we're also considering operating a seasonal pilot operation to rockland which is a 50-mile branch railroad owned by the state of maine which is

extremely scenic and served by route 1 which is extremely congested. that's on dark territory, but, again, looking through a protocol of looking at the specific characteristics of the railroad, i'm can have dhaent we can work with amtrak and the state of maine to come up with mitigations to operate that service safely as well. now while i can talk about the safety record that we have and the things that we do to improve safety and ensure the safety of our passengers. i can't speak much for most of the and pedestrians which has been spoken quite a bit. since 2011 the downeaster have been involved with 18 accidents. none have been the fault of the train but in every circumstance the headline on the newspaper the next day was train hits pedestrian. train hits car. we need to cast a wide net on this and broaden our safety focus and share responsibility, not just about the railroad but

with the communities, with the -- with law enforcement and with motorists to come up with innovative technology that's multi-faceted. bringing things back to local and back to the -- to what i was trying to convey is, that you know, safety happens at all levels. in my testimony i highlighted two examples of the commitment to safety that our downeaster crews have. when there are incidents or injuries associated with crews, they are challenged to find ways to mitigate that so that those types of occurrences don't happen again and injuries don't continue to occur. two specific injuries which the crew members actually worked with local management and the local communities to come up with solutions that are now deployed nationally to make sure that there are guards on doors so that people don't get cut and also improving boarding plates which improve both the safety of the crews and the boarding

passengers. we encourage that leadership and are very proud to be part of that culture. so in closing i just want to reiterate that safety is part of everything that we do and part of all the projects. we depend on funding for planning and implementing projects and appreciate the flexibility to be able to tailor those investments to the specific needs that are important to specific corridors. so on behalf of nepra and my state partner colleagues, i think you for your interest and engagement and for the tools that help us be successful and safe. thank you, and i'm happy to answer any questions. >> thank you very much, miss quinn. mr. leahy. >> good afternoon, chairman collins and ranking member reed. thank you for having us here today to comment on rail safety. metro link is the first commuter railroad in the nation to have operating ptc on all of our entire host territory. metro link is l.a.'s and

southernicle's regional rail provider, a network connecting six counties across seven lines that traverse more than 500 miles of track. i should note we operate on the corridor out west which is the second busiest amtrak corridor in the country after the northeast corridor and one that's rapidly growing. our freeways in southern areas are at capacity. the only way to relieve traffic and congestion in los angeles in southern california is getting cars off the freeway and metro link does that. our folks take the train to work rather than driving. we've done a number of things at metro link over the past few years because of our goal to have improved safety and rear-forwarding facing cars and other measures implemented years ago. our journey into ptc was

triggered by a tragedy on september 12, 2008. 25 people lost their lives and many others injured when there was a collision between our train and a train in chatsworth. i should note that the board of metro and metro link, the mayors and others were at the scene. they were there all night long and they saw the horrible consequences, and it was that which led to the unyielding objective of southern california to get ptc in place as soon as possible. we have invested $220 million to develop and stall test and certify the ptc system. nearly 83% of these dollars have either been state or local sore sources. we've had some federal help from a number of agencies, rfta and fra and others, and we appreciate that, but it's been a great deal of expense on our part to get where we are today. today we're about 95% complaint with -- on all of our rider ways with ptc.

we're completing interoperability testing with burlington northern and the union pacific, and we've started initial testing of interoperability with amtrak. we're very pleased about that. we appreciate that amtrak is committed to getting it done on the time of the deadline and we believe the other three railroads, metro link included will be as well. i should note for that as was just said that ptc costs don't stop when you begin to run it. you have to test it, maintain it. you have to have training. you have to have all these sorts of things to make sure that the system continues to operate safely. i should note for you that we expect our ongoing cost to be about $10 million per year doing the activities that i've just mentioned. i would note for you that in addition to those sorts of accidents as has been referenced, we've had terrible accidents involving automobiles and involving trucks, pedestrians. i should note that we have an increasing number of homeless

encampments along our rider way and amtrak's rider way all along southern california, and that only further enhances the chances of an accident occurring, so it's an issue which we're seeking to deal with. i should note that metro link operates throughout southern california, and we also work with the freight railroads to get our trains out. we dispatch about 300 trains a day from l.a. -- the ports of l.a. and long beach, as you know, the busiest port complex in the united states. so we're very pleased to be doing that. we have recently been working with data california for a system called score, southern california optimized rail expansion which seeks to inhappens and increase the frequency of our trains throughout the southern california area. we've received funding in $1.2 billion in state funds to get this done all over southern california through the six

counties i've just mentioned. we appreciate the help from our senators and the department of transportation. we all share these unique challenges of trying to run a railroad in corridors that are oftentimes not fully controlled, but we're going to keep at it until we do achieve the safety that we all want to have happen. our goal is to provide safe, reliable service through very congested corridors all over southern california. simply too important to ignore. madam chair, thank you for including metro link in this hearing. thank you. >> well, first of all, mr. leahy, congratulations to you for making such progress and such an effort in response to the crash that would have been prevented by ptc. i've put up a chart of some of the crashes where lives would have saved had ptc been implemented, and the effort you've made is truly commendable.

>> thank you. >> mr. batory, i was alarmed to hear you say today, and i think this is accurate, that fewer than 25% of passenger miles are covered by ptc. did i understand you correctly? >> yes, chairman, you did understand me correctly, because there is a difference in the criteria in so far as the prerequisites that have to be fulfilled by the railroad industry in so far as satisfying the 12-31-'18 deadline. in the case of class one airlines they need to have their miles up and running by 2018. amtrak must do the same, and amtrak primarily has its ownership other than that for michigan over on the northeast corridor. every place else they operate, they operate as a tenant, so as a result they are far past the

25%, but when you get into the commuter railroads, it's a revenue demonstration that must be shown prior to 12/31/18, that's any particular line segment that they propose to fra and fra concurs for that revenue demonstration, that segment could be 5 miles or could be 25 miles just to demonstrate that the system works, and that gets them past the 12/31/18 deadline so long as other equipment is up and running or i should say up and installed and running -- >> it might need additional tests. >> and running where the revenue demonstration is. >> right. you mentioned that you've done extensive outreach and your staff have to all of the relevant railroads and that there were three general issues that came up as ops calls. you mentioned demand and supply,

the host tenant issue, the are liability issue in testing, but that doesn't tell us why some such as mr. leahy's railroads have made so much progress and others have not since presumably all of them faced those challenges that you listed in your testimony. could you give us more insight on why there's such a variation among passenger railroads in particular? >> yes. let me in respect to time, i'll call it the ten-year journey from 2008 to 2018, and we know that we had another statute that came about in 2015 that superceded in part what was set forth in 2008. what we have found among the 41

the-to-be complai to be complaint railroads is that the majority of issues are on the commuter railroads. there are four issues that i would like to bring to light to this committee. the first issue was the development of the technology, intellectual property associated with that technology, the equipment that needed to be developed and the writing of the regulations which was first and foremost so that much of this equipment could be developed properly to fulfill the regulations. that by itself aiding to the ten-year window of about approximately two to three years beyond 2008. another -- and it continues to evolve today as we if you will iron out the wrinkles associated with the evolving technology, because none of this is plug and play equipment. the second item i would like to bring up, and it was very

obvious among the commuter railroads, and it has nothing to do with the quality of leadership. it has to do with the quantity of leadership in so far as change. over this ten-year period if you look at these commuter railroads and recognize the amount of change in the leadership chairs, both at the budget director level as well as in this senior leadership level, there was a considerable amount of change in comparison to what has transpired in other sectors of the railroad industry. leadership, sustained leadership to be committed to this statute of 2008 and 2015 is paramount and that's what we have seen among the class one railroad community as well as some unique commuter agencies such as metro link, such as septa, which are testaments and what i'm sharing with you right now. in fact, what we started our face-to-face one-on-one meetings with these entities, we

deliberately reached out to the what we termed the poster children of ptc, and that was metro link was our first meeting because we wanted to know the most we could find out about the best followed by burlington northern santa fe based on what they reported. they, too, were a leader among the class one community. there's also an issue concerning money, and not that anyone wouldn't accept a check either coming into the fra offices or leaving, but there were only two entities of the 41-to-be complaint railroads that said they did not have money to fulfill their obligation to ptc. one was in new mexico. the other one was in northern california. they were both unique circumstances, but we think with what's going on right now with the money that's out there through the most recent process as well as the one issued during the first quarter of this year, we might see a positive

resolution to both of them. last one i want to talk about the is the demand capacity issue in this boutique supply industry. what was very interesting after we sat down again for the first time since the original statute in 2008 was the supply industry, we sat with the ten leading suppliers. we found out that 10% of the 41-to-be complaint railroads engaged the supply industry prior to 2008. there was roughly 47% that engaged the supply industry up to 2014. there was another 40% plus that had done nothing in the way of engagement of the supply industry until to -- until 2014 and '15 so you had a boutique supply industry trying to provide customized technology to

each and every railroad, and they really have suffered an avalanche of demand since 2015. >> thank you. senator reed. >> well, thank you, chairman collins. administrato administrator batory, we know that the notice of funding opportunity for the entirety of the funds for the 2017 and 2018 was completed and ready to go out the door, but then yesterday we were a bit disappointed when we just found that only $250 million for ptc was announced. why is that? >> well, during -- let me segregate it, senator reed, this way. there was 68 million that was announced during first quarter of this year which is fy-'17 which will be coming due for

consideration in awarding next month, and then as of this week we issued the 250 million that was carved out of the total crsy where it was ptc specific, and rather than file the traditional 90-day application period, we reduced it to 45 because time is of the essence, and there has to be a sense of urgency. so in addition to that, we have already embarked with the short line association, regional railroad in short lines as well of that of apta where we have asked them to host webinars and their entire membership. webbinars are not new to the fra but it is new when they have reached out to the associations to get broad monies available from ptc, and not only give

clarity to that membership of what's available, vet their questions with solid answers and solicit their subscription to this available money. it's very, very important to get this accomplished within a reasonable period of time because i currently know of 12 at-risk railroads. we have reduce it hd it by 20% fourth quarter of last year that need this money for on-board equipment, wayside equipment and some back office equipment. and in so far as carving out the 250 million out of the total crsy, safety is of utmost priority in all of our lives. if you will, it's the cornerstone or the keystone at d.o.t. it permeates down and doesn't change any at fra and then when we get into areas of priorities

you have subsets of priorities, and ptc is first and foremost -- >> let me stop you right there. >> could you have allocated more than $250 million to ptc? >> there's 318 million. >> could you have al gated in addition to what you've allocated? could you? >> crsy allows you -- >> you could have put the whole thing towards ptc if you wanted to. the mandatory ptc was $250 million which you did. the need i suspect is much greater than $250 million and yet you've sort of put in a on a side. we don't know when it's going to be nolo and when it is nolo we don't know what you're going to do and if ptc is the critical issue and safety is the most important issue, why didn't we go ahead and at least ptc put at much money as you thought could be absorbed. >> that's not to say that there wouldn't be further -- >> you could have done it -- you could have done it yesterday.

so you decided that ptc was important but not important to put $250 million towards it. >> ptc is at the top of our priority. the amount of applicants we get will determine whether or not the amount of money out there will suffice the need >> thank you. miss quinn, how is your railroad doing with ptc? >> only a portion -- only the portion of the corridor that's in the state of massachusetts is required to be ptc-complaint, be and according to my colleagues at amtrak they believe that the mbta is going to be able to meet the deadline without interruption to the downeasterer issies. >> what other railroads you operate with mr. gardner in terms of ptc? is there a significant need for money, and are they away that it might be available or do they

need a webinar? >> thank you, senator reed. i think there is clearly room for sufficient investment in ptc implementation primarily across the commuter railroads and smaller railroads. i don't -- i'm not able to give you an estimate of how much is required, but to yourp -- certainly the crsy funding provides a broad opportunity for safety investments, and we've certainly reached out with partners like miss quinn to look at opportunities for partnership between states and amtrak to go after those investments so we kim prove our system, and we're anxious to -- to do that as we can. >> the state of good repair of the railroad, mr. gardner, is a safety concern for amtrak operations, and can you give us any examples, and there's also i think $275 million that's

waiting to be dispersed by fra for those programs, is that correct? >> that's correct. >> can you give you us some examples of how critical that is to your operations? >> absolutely. as you mentioned, senator, there's a very significant backlog, state of good repair and investments needed across the northeast corridor and across various parts of the rail network that we serve, the northeast quarter sort of the most dramatic example of this, and state of repair is absolutely fundamental to both the safe operations of the railroad and the reliable operation of the railroad and it's ultimately marketability, so we need to have assets that are within their useful life in good condition because when we don't we have unplanned disruptions. we have problems that arise that delay trains and pose safety risks, so getting access to the dollars that you all have appropriated is going to be very important. i know that -- i'm sure that's a high priority for all of us, and

we're working actively to find partnerships amongst ourselves and the commuter rails that use the northeast corridors to go after the funds and put them to good use. >> thank you. thank you, madam chair. >> miss quinn, you mentioned that you're confident that the massachusetts bay transport authority will do its part to avoid any interruption in service for the downeaster, and that is very good news and that's my understanding as well. you also mentioned, however, that there are ongoing costs related to the maintenance of the ptc system. is it clear who will be responsible for those ongoing costs? is it the host railroad or is it the tenant? >> thank you for the question, senator collins. i'm actually not sure yet. the agreement that we have

specifically with the mbta is their contribution to the downeaster service is that they don't charge amtrak on our behalf for operating rights or maintenance on the line, but, again, given the order of magnitude of the maintenance and operating costs that we're mentioned by mr. leahy, i think that it remains to be seen if that's the case going forward. i also know that there will be additional, you know, costs potentially associated with pan am who has to equip their locomotives and there's also a tie-in and a back office and they dispatched part of the line. again, with so much hyper focus on the installation, i don't think we've gotten to the point of really identifying what specifically the costs are, and also, you know, other impacts, like resources, that pan am's not a class one railroad. it's a regional railroad and we have a number of projects, many of them state of good repair,

but with a small -- smaller resources in terms of staffing. the reallocation of those to focus on ptc has been kind of an opportunity cost for us, and so -- and i think going forward i think we have some questions and concerns about, again, the intraoperability on the impact of on-time performance and all of those will have some level of costs associated. i'm anticipating a somewhat bumpy road and a learn as you go kind of situation, and we'll probably be in a much better place 18 months from now to answer those questions than i am today. >> well, that's something we'll certainly need to keep an eye on. >> mr. gardner, you mentioned that amtrak has committed to improving the safety of all routes regardless of the ptc mandate. what specific safety improvements is amtrak contemplating for the downeaster?

>> well, thank you, chairman collins. we're looking at really a process, a risk assessment process that we're applying to all of the routes where we believe an extension will be granted or for any of the routes that will have exemptions to the ptc requirement. we've started piloting that work. in fact, we've just completed our first pilot of this process for the ethan allen service in vermont, and this allows us to look at all of the different risks that are present on a different -- on an individual segment of railroad. on miss quinn's route you've got a traffic system in place and that creates a series of safety mitigations that are helpful to that route. other routes don't have signal systems, so we look at each of these instances and come up with a series of both operating practices and investments that we can then seek to apply to the routes so we can maintain the

service levels which is absolutely our goal and do that in a way that has same level of safety for your constituents in maine that we have anywhere across our network. so we're -- we'll have those analyses undertaken over the spring and summer and then by this fall we'll have a conclusion there. we'll begin rolling out those mitigations, and we appreciate the subcommittee's dedications of funds in fy-'18 to be able to fund some of this work. some of it may not cost much in the way of investment, but we will make sure we've got appropriate mitigations. >> thank you. senator murray. >> thank you very much, chairman collins. i really appreciate you holding this hearing today and ranking member reed. as the chairman mentioned on december 18, 2017, amtrak cascade train 501 derailed as was crossing an i-5 overpass

near du pont, washington and that accident killed six passengers and injured 70 people on the train or in their vehicles on the road below. the images of that wreck were just haunting, and we know the ntsb investigation is ongoing. the preliminary report indicates that positive train control would have prevented this terrible accident, but this is, as you know, just the most recent case in which ptc would have prevented deaths and injuries, and it leads me to ask today how we, congress and this administration, can do more and do everything we can to prevent future accidents to make sure families don't get that horrific phone call that families in my state got. it's really critical that ptc is fully implemented by the 2018 deadline, so i am really deeply troubled with the federal railroad administration's assessment that shows that 12 out of the 41 railroads and commuter railroads required to

implement ptc are at risk of missing the december 2018 deadline and failing to qualify for an alternative schedule. administrator batory, i believe the administration is committed to achieving full ptc implementation, but i want to know specifically what you are doing to work with the railroads, with amtrak, with commuter railroads to make sure they implement ptc, and you noted in your written testimony that fra can impose fines for missing the deadline, but discussions on enforcement actions are still ongoing. we are less than seven months away from this deadline. when will fra make a decision so that railroads know there will be consequences for failures to meet that ptc deadline? >> thank you, senator. let me address the first part of your statement which was the

accident accident itself with amtrak train 501. it was the most disheartening experience that i have shared since my retirement from the railroad industry when i saw that devastation. when i started reading and learning more of the facts that were forthcoming, it was obvious that we had a human failure that day. >> mm-hmm. >> ptc would have prevented that human failure because with ptc it would have recognized that permanent speed restriction of 30 miles per hour, and that train would have slowed automatically had the engineer not done it himself. so all that said, ptc would have

prevented it. as far as what we are doing today and what we have done thus far with the railroads in trying to move the needle among all 41 railroads, including the 12 that we've just identified that are at risk, in addition to the face-to-face meetings we are now in respect to their time embarking on next week having individual lengthy conference called to eliminate the travel with each of the 12 railroads, their leadership, to find out exactly what has been accomplished since their first quarter report, what needs to be accomplish accomplished in order to satisfy the prerequisites to understand what we can do to help foster and facilitate the successful

resolve to complete the statutory requirements. we can't do the work for them but we can certainly give support, insight and suggestions. we intend to continue during third quarter and fourth quarter after those calls are completed to meet with those railroads advisory. everybody that's at risk face-to-face, not less than once a month. now you might ask yourself what's going on during the rest of the month? there's tactical dialogue going on every day among our staff of 16 in washington, it along with the 80 some odd railroad inspectors we have in the signal core across the united states. the third item in so far as violations and the associated penalties that come will those violations, so far the fra recently for the very first time assessed violations and fines. those violated that we assessed

and associated fines were not that of the maximum amount. what i have advocated to the secretary and to the office of secretary staff as well as fra going forward we should do nothing less than the maximum. ptc is never going to end once it's installed. it's a living system, and you have to get people to comply with what the administrative pre-requisites are to maintain ptc and then once you have that in place you can then administer and monitor the operation of ptc going forward, but it's critical that people do what they are supposed to do such as their safety plans and their implementation plans. >> which i have a question about, and if you would indulge me just to let me ask mr. gardner one questioning about training, because according to "the seattle times" the training on that -- the training of the employees is a serious concern. they outlined that employees

were concerned that engineers had piled up into a single locomotive car to do the training runs as a group. conductors were kept in the cars and the train were on the training locomotive and some did their familiarization runs in the dark after midnight. supervisors were unwilling or unavailable to answer questions about key characteristics on the route, and safety starts with training, mr. gardner. it clearly was inadequate. what are we doing about that? >> well, thank you, senator murray. we -- not getting into the specifics of the specifics of the ntsb investigation, but i can say absolutely we've very significantly reshaped our training efforts for qualifications for new routes and routes that have undertaken any kind of change in their characteristics. we've centralized that training, and we've created a very specific process to ensure both that we have adequate review and

all the conditions of a new route or changed route and that we have a review process to determine exactly the level of training and the number of qualification runs and the type of runs that will be made and then also instituted a process to ensure that engineers and conductors who are qualified are then quickly checked to ensure their fluency in competency for the routes, so we have significantly changed our approach here to ensure that we do have both one common standard across all of amtrak and a much higher level standard for qualifications to ensure that every time we operate on a new route that it's done so with the utmost level safety. >> madam chairman, i would just ask that the fra get back to this committee on whether they have reviewed the training programs and what their solutions are to this. >> we will make that request. >> thank you. senator reed. >> thank you very much, madam

chairman. mr. leahy, thanks for being here today. metro link has been a model for commuter rail in terms of ptc, and i can't think of anyone better to ask for the big challenges that you faced that would be instructive to other systems and also the advice you have after going through this process. >> thank you, senator. it was a very difficult process. we started on it early on, but it was new technology. it was being developed realtime with us with the contractors. we had to do a great deal of troubleshooting and training and retesting and validating. it took a great deal of time. i think my recommendation to somebody is you should start as soon as possible because you're going to confront unique challenges. i am pleased that -- by the way, we would help any railroad in the country by chairing our experiences and bringing our people to bear on them. we've been involved in the trade association doing that, and we continue to do it to anybody who

would like us to do so. >> and mr. leahy, part of getting started immediately is being aware that this federal funding available, i would presume. that's a key factor. that might not be the decisive factor, but without that, the availability of federal funding and it's very difficult when we started. is that fair? >> los angeles, we were 80% locally funded, so we wish there had been more money available back then, but it was not the case. obviously we don't know if there's money available to do things that you need to do. got to go try to get the money. >> i think that's probably true most any place. >> yes. >> miss quinn, you've had great experience operating commuter lines, and as we all know your line runs to boston to connect to the providence train, so i just -- just, for the record. >> that's very important. >> that's very important. >> you've been operating

state-supported amtrak route. you've worked out an agreement with amtrak to sherritt cost of operation. you've been a leader in the discussion of many years about transportation as you indicated. the administration fy-2019 budget proposed cuts to amtrak funding and asks state to put more skin in the game. is that something you think you can do? is. >> well, i can speak on behalf of nepra and my state colleagues saying we've got quite a bit of skin in the game already. there is -- you know, states contribute significantly to amtrak. as i stated in my opening statements, we contribute about $750 million a year to the operating expenses. as part of that states do pay 100% of the third-party costs incurred as part of their routes so that's fuel and host railroad costs. we also pay 100% of the route costs which you might think of as avoidable costs of our route and we share significantly, you know, several hundred million dollars a year to support shared

systems that amtrak used to support its entire network. those include facilities, stations, reservations and technology, insurance, marketing and crew support. it's a connected system, and -- and it's all taxpayer dollars. states are already very constrained in terms of what we contribute and since pre-2009 most of our bills have gone up significantly. ours have gone up a couple million dollars a year and i think what we need to do is look instead of short funding continue to work with amtrak to find ways to be more innovative and find ways to increase and improve efficiency. maybe doing some of the things that we do on the downeaster service, like we outsource our food service, have our state ambassador program so we don't have staff stations. incidentally, our local communities support the stations along our route and that's our contribution. you know, mechanical contractors, and we also own a number of the facilities so i

think states are willing to invest if there's a value, but just having -- creating a void and having us put money into it, it would be hard for us back home to justify that to the -- on the state level, our stakeholders, and i think it could be catastrophic for the industry. if the state-supported routes subsequently go away, you're going to see not a decrease of amtrak need on behalf of am traffic. i know amtrak provides their financials, they say that state-supported routes cost about $60 million a year. i respectfully disagree with that and think that we really based on the factors that i said before contribute significantly to these shared services, and i would think that if the state-supported routes started to go away, that the balance sheet for the northeast corridor would look a lot different than it does right now. >> thank you very much. thank you, madam chairwoman. >> thank you. miss quinn, your last comment

actually is a great segue to a question that i want to ask mr. gardner. mr. gardner, although it's a little bit off the focus of this hearing, i would be remiss if i did not tell you that i've heard from a number of amtrak passenger coalitions across the country that have voiced concerns about some of the policy changes that amtrak has recently embraced in order to generate savings, and i certainly understand the need for a business mentality to be brought to amtrak operations and congress has directed amtrak to work to make the entire national network financially more sustainable, but weave also said -- but we've also said that we want you to do that without compromising service. so the issue that i most want to bring to your attention is these

coalitions of passenger groups who feel excluded from the process, and what i would like to get from you today is a commitment that you will increase your outreach to passenger coalitions before making fundamental changes in your operations and routes. >> yes, chairman collins. we do endeavor to do that, and in fact for a number of our changes we've been in dialogue with the impacted parties. i concur that some of those policies have not been -- not made all of the constituencies happy, but i think we are trying our best to achieve exactly what you've described which is ways to follow and in some respects many of the types of initiatives that miss quinn has been able to develop on the downeaster and apply those in other places and

reduce cost and improve performance at the same time, so -- but fundamental to that is our responsibility to engage in -- with these constituencies and with our customers and keep them part of the process, so we will do that. >> thank you. miss quinn. my final question has to do with a comment that you made which i thought was very startling. you said there had been 18 accidents involving the downeaster over the years and not a single one of them had been the fault of the train. we've learned a lot in looking at rail safety about the role that is played by cars or passengers ignoring the grade crossings or just wandering on to the tracks and in rural areas. could you talk a little bit more about what we could do to

increase the safety of those passenger -- not passenger but rather trespasser and violations that are responsible for the vast majority and in your case, every single one of the accidents. >> yes, and thank you for the questions, senator collins. i think that there are some common sense kind of low tech thing th things that we can have implemented and again the state of good repair funding that is provided will have us work towards these, and first is the maintain the crossings that were there, and many of them had the cantilev cantilevers and the painted crossroads and how many times have you driven by and the tree s are overgrown to block the signs. so making sure that the crossings that the exist are maintained properly, and looking at the crossings that don't have

active warning systems, and meaning that some have sign, but they don't have the gates that come down, and fencing is another important opportunity that we could use some moneys to provide some fencings so that people have access to the right-of-way, and also, the channelization, and it is done in the quiett zone, and channelization is putting an island or the barriers so that the two gates come down that the car can't do the weave to beat the train. and cross grade separation is the best and the most expensive and the least popular of all of the alternatives. i think that looking at higher technology, and we did partner with the federal railroad administration a few years ago which used the cameras and the speakers to monitor the railroad line, and when the trespassers were on and it trigger and the cameras went on and actually a screen came on in the police department, and the police officers were able to speak to the person on the line and tell them to get off and in the

situation, also, working on a system where they could then if the person could not get off of the line notet -- line notify the engineer, and now they have es ka ka lated that a-- escalatd that and the use of drones to monitor the technology and maybe some research to look at technology maybe looking at the drones to note fi the engineer or the engineers when somebody is on the line. and also, i don't know about the terms in apps and technology of the automobiles that would be preemptive if the gates were down, the gates could not go. people need to pay more attention, and i also think that another facet of this which has not been mentioned today but should be from a concern of mental health, because there is support from the mental health is that there are a lot of instances of people who choose to take their lives using a train which is extremely troubling for all involved, so i

think that needs to be part of the conversation as well. more research and in looking at these things and maintaining what we have and exploring new technology that maybe is not as complex as expensive as the ptc to ensure that the rail line stays safe for the pedestrians and the vehicles and the crews on board. >> thank you very much. that is very helpful. senator danes. >> thank you, chair kol licollid thank you for being here to talk about the safety issues, and it is a big deal in montana, and maintain iing the healthy rail system is very important to get the goods to consumers. with montana's number one economic driver being agriculture, and without rail, we don't have an ag economy in montana, and simple as that, and especially pleased to see the importance that amtrak is placing on the safety initiatives and as you know the

empire builder, and the empire builder is where my ancestors came out to montana and they were norwegians and heard that the skiing was better and went out there, and it is running 700 miles through montana and not only important to keep the communities connected, but it is a great way to see glacier, and it was recently announced that the havre and the shelby stations would be losing the on site agents. these two towns have been long s supportive partners of amtrak, and shelby is home of one of amtrak's crew bases. the empire builders are the lifeblood of many of the rural communities and i'm concerned about the impacts that this decision might have on havre as well as shelby. mr. gardner, i understand that you came to the decision for economic reasons, and i'm sure that they were sound reasons. what specifically can amtrak do to continue to meet the needs of the rural montanians in the

communities, and in many cases the elderly who are on fixed incomes and with who do not have reliable internet access or the understanding of the technology necessary to obtain the electronic tickets? >> thank you, senator. i understand that your concern about the station, and you are correct that we have prioritized the removing staff from the stations which have less than 40 daily on/offs at each station. each one of those station positions cost roughly $100,000 and so itt is a significant expense and our aim is to improve as congress has directed us to improve the economic performance of the agriculture network on keeping our service, and serving the communities. >> was 40 the kind of the line that you drew then? >> we did.

we did. we are continuing to look -- >> any other stations on the amtrak network with fewer on site ticket purchases that have fewer ticket agents? >> no, everything on the long distance network there. are some instances of potentially the state-supported national network where states are paying for the costs. they have decided to invest. but in general, no, with redestaff i redestaffing or moving the the staff from these locations, and instead, because of the points that you raised, we are using generally two strategies to make sure that we had an adequate presence and one is to the higher caretakers and where we hire someone to come and open up the station to make sure it is in proper condition and close it and make sure that it is available for the period of time that the station is needed. and as you know, one train a day, the train is not necessary to be opened for extended periods. or to our vol unteer host progrm where we are working with the

xun tansd mayors to get staff station help through the volunteers, and we have this around communities, and as quinn mentioned in maine, the extensive program there, and we are anxious to work, and we have been working with all of the communities impacted there to commit a good presence to observe folk, and the vast majority of the ticketing is done by phone or online today. >> and this is looking out for, again, we have a generation of technically savvy, and the grandkids could do it quickly, but it is not always a solution for them. >> and at this stage, the passengers can call and they can make a reservation, and they don't have to print the ticket, and the conductors through the handheld can look up their name, and have the reservation, and we are trying to make it as easy as we can to have folks show up at the station, and so we are looking at the new ticketing platform, and kiosk to make available in station to allow

the customers to come and print any materials they need right away, and access the customer service through the network. >> i want to pivot on the long distance service here, and it is related to the first announcement of the ticket agents with some of the long distance station, and we have a lot of folks that are the first step in limiting or eliminating some of the long distance service altogether, and my staff has heard from the numerous groups that will have discussions at amtrak of reducing the builder to try the service, and congress has reconfirmed their the contribution no the network in the omnibus. for many of the communities in montana, there is no other access from the interstate or the high waist and creates a sig -- highways and creates a significant hardship. are there other plans to build more service, and is amtrak committed to long distance rail?

>> senator -- senator, we do no plan to institute long rail on the empire. congress authorized the network, and any conversations about the broad future of the network is best place ed ind in the reauthorization context as we are approaching the next reauthorization, and amtrak is operating all of the lines, and we intend to do that and we will consider any future changes collectively between the congress and the administration and amtrak as we look at the network ahead. >> thank you. madam chair, i'm out of time, but i want to be respectful of everybody's time and i have one for question. >> go ahead. my constituent,s, i will blame you when i am late for the meeting. >> oh, my. let's go fast here. so i want to follow up on the discussion that i had with secretary cho and it said that

there was a stop in culberson, montana, that would jgenerate a net positive impact for amtrak and not add additional time to the schedule which is right out there on the edge of the baucan with the fracking and i have worked with the previous administration to secure funding for this project, and so my can question is, mr. gardner, is amtrak supportive of adding a station at culberson once the process completed? >> yes, we do. >> thank you, chair. >> if you have an additional question to ask, go right ahead. >> well, given the chance, i will finish with a statement. you mentioned in the testimony chrissy grants and huge increases in grant, and christy is the largest source of funding for culberson to add the station

for the added stop. a thought there. i know that the ranking member reid touched on the addition al fund, but i urge you to get this money out soon so places like culberson might be able to get moving forward. >> thank you, senator, for that statement. i will assure you that i will follow up to find out where we r are in the process of pursuing the remaining chrissy funds as we are continuing to get out the $250 million and the $68 million for ptc. >> appreciate it. i am really finished now. >> thank you very much, senator. i want to thank all of the witnesses for being here today. this is a day with many conflicted hearings going on, but i can assure you that there is great interest in your testimony, and in the issue of

rail safety. the hearing record will remain open until next friday may 25th, 2018. so additional questions may be coming your way in writing. again, my thanks to each and riff one of you for your participation and for helping us gain a better understanding of the important issue. this hearing is now adjourned.

tonight on c-span3, american history tv is in primetime. we will look at the series 1968, america in turmoil and a discussion of the news media role on the events of 1968. with photographer and former nbc news reporter martin kalb. that the begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3 sunday on q &a, patricia o'toole discussing her book and the role that wilson made. >> there is a look at wilson and i have read it, but i have a sense that it reduced him to

tentacles that i didn't feel that i could deal with on the strength of my own knowledge with the strength of the theory of his father. but some have said that his stubbornness in later life is a kind of reaction to his father's strictness, and they can point to one story where his father made him revise a little thing about what he wrote a whole bunch of times. the substitution is that he was a good boy, and when you read that he is worshipful. >> on c-span's q and a. congress returns next week from the memorial day break, and

the senate will be back for the president trump's nominations for the district courts for kentucky and alabama and the house of representatives will be back on tuesday to work on the federal spending legislation for 2019 and funding the energy department and the veterans affairs departments. and also a bill on the water infrastructure projects. you see the live coverage of the house on c-span and the senate live on c-span 2. the federal reserves vice chair answered previously regulation of small banks and the discriminatory lessons learn and the financial crisis. jeb hensarling chairs the committee.