The House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials will hold a hearing on Wednesday on the state of the U.S. freight-rail industry since it was deregulated in 1980.
The meeting, titled “The 35th Anniversary of the Staggers Rail Act: Railroad Deregulation Past, Present, and Future,” will be led by U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) and is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. EDT in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building.
President Jimmy Carter signed the Staggers Rail Act into law in 1980, and the legislation is widely credited with saving the freight rail industry from bankruptcy.
The five witnesses who will testify at the hearing are Debra Miller, acting chairwoman of the Surface Transportation Board; Calvin Dooley, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council; Edward Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads; Linda Darr, president of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association; and John Mayo, a professor in the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
