mr. hynescomputers you. you're recognized for recognized for five minutes. >> good afternoon -- [inaudible] good afternoon, chairman nehls, ranking member wilson, members of the committee. thank you for allowing me to testify today. my name is gregory hynes. i am the national legislative director for the transportation division of sheet metal, air, rail and transportation. smart-td is a largest labor organization an american railroad. we are extremely thankful to chairman nehls and congressman moulton as well as the current cosponsors for for the leadp was to prioritize safety in the railroad industry. personally, chairman nehls, i would like to thank you for being an honest broker throughout this process. i appreciate it. the disaster at each palestinian ohio on february 3, 2023 served as a wake-up call call to the nation, for the men and women in the ranks of america's railroad workers, it was no surprise. the unfortunate reality is that in the accidents wake little has changed. three major r

mr. hynes, i wonder if you would, on that? are those trains less safe and does smart 113 support the federal government having a larger role to play in the regulation of these traits, especially those those that are carrying hazardous waste for hazardous material? >> anybody who is been blocked by a train can say that a four-mile long train is a problem. for obvious reasons. they cut cities and have come especially rural communities. one of these trains stopped in the city, that's how is cut in half. emergency vehicles, , you're having a heart attack, you need to get the hospital, it's on the other side of the train, oh well. as far as just how obvious it is that it's a bad idea. it creates so much more force because the trains are so much heavier. they are longer and the railroads think that if they put some distributed power in the middle of the train that we're good to go. what they don't report on and what's not collected is how often these knuckles break, you know, the knuckles to hold the course together, and the draw ba

you're looking at the couplers, pins, all the safety appliances that make sure that mr. hynes' members can safely operate when they're delivering freight they don't fall off a ladder or a sill, or they can use a hand break. the car men don't have time to get to, most or some the times are railroads are putting our guys on atv's and having them drive alongside of the train. how much of a detailed inspection does that provide for? it's just insane. >> how does the inability to perform full inspections specifically impact the safety and well-being of railroad workers? >> well, i -- it's pretty dejekting when you're trained to do something, and like they say, the only career they hire you to do a job and then fire you when you fail to do it. and fire you when you try to do it. and improve the lives of my car men so it's safer. >> if i could jump in, in terms of inspection, qualified mechanical inspections are the gold standard of inspections, there are certain situations where other crafts, mr. hynes, who is at the table represents conductors, there are certain crafts that can do

the legal and the administrative mr. hynespursued the former when he came to retrieve his son for a third time. he carries a writ of habeas corpus and is accompanied by a court official. so in the 19th century, habeas corpus, it's widely revered as a means of challenging, unlawful for detention of any kind. and people know what this term means. it's not some abstract legal concept. it is referred to as the great writ that protects us from unjust detention and tyranny. so it's even used in things like child custody cases, right? so what matters for our story is that it served as a check on fraudulent or abusive enlistment practices. or what one petitioner referred to as service imprisonment. any parent could appeal to a local judge for a writ if granted, an officer was legally obligated to bring the enlistees to court so a judge could rule on the validity of the enlistment if deemed fraudulent, the boy would be discharged right then and there on the spot. so from a present day perspective, the notion that, you know, some local

mr. hynes, i wonder if you would, on that? are those trains less safe and does smart 113 support the federal government having a larger role to play in the regulation of these traits, especially those those that are carrying hazardous waste for hazardous material? >> anybody who is been blocked by a train can say that a four-mile long train is a problem. for obvious reasons. they cut cities and have come especially rural communities. one of these trains stopped in the city, that's how is cut in half. emergency vehicles, , you're having a heart attack, you need to get the hospital, it's on the other side of the train, oh well. as far as just how obvious it is that it's a bad idea. it creates so much more force because the trains are so much heavier. they are longer and the railroads think that if they put some distributed power in the middle of the train that we're good to go. what they don't report on and what's not collected is how often these knuckles break, you know, the knuckles to hold the course together, and the draw ba