mr. lonegro. mr. brown. >> good morning mr. chairman. ranking member nelson and members of the committee. my name is david brown. i am pointed chief operating officer in 2012 and oversea the management and operations of the 116 rail ways owned by g and w. this is a company that holds freights in the u.s., australia the netherlands and bellingium. we own two class two regional railroads and three others located throughout the united states. based on the diversity of the holdings, we believe we're able to offer a relevant perspective on the safety and efficiency of the rail way industry. first, short line and regional rail way safety, second, the infrastructure challenges facing railroads, third, the uncertainty created by railroads associated with the ptc mandate and fourth the importance of this as part of the national freight network. like the industry as a whole g and w have dramatically improved their safety performance over the past decade. we've become an industry leader in safety through an approach that focuses on building a cultu