Senator Brown discusses fight to pass Rail Safety Act nearly one year after East Palestine derailment

Nearly one year after the East Palestine train derailment, Ohio-based U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown held a virtual press conference discuss the progress in his fight to pass the Rail Safety Act.

During the conference, Brown was joined by East Palestine Councilwoman Linda May, as well as East Palestine-based non-profit, Threshold Residential Services CEO Chris Page.

Brown highlighted the work he had done for the residents of East Palestine over the past year including advocating for rail safety in not only East Palestine, but other areas in Ohio that dealt with train derailments over the past year.

When asked about why the bill has still not been passed nearly a year after the derailment, Brown says the blame goes to the rail industry lobbying against the bill.

"The fact that Norfolk Southern and other railroads continue to oppose this bill because they've always put profits over people ... It's this whole Wall Street business model. You cut staff, you lay off people, you get paid more stock dividends, you get more stock buybacks and public safety is compromised," Brown said.

Despite this, Brown says he has not given up in other tough fights and will not give up on this one.

"I fought for workers who lost their pensions because of Wall Street for five [to] six years. We finally won on that. I don't give up easy. I'm not giving up on this," Senator Brown said.

Brown went on to say had the Rail Safety Act been in place before the derailment, East Palestine would not have suffered as much as it did.

"Trains frankly won't be safe until we pass the rail safety bill, and the fact that these rail CEOs who make more and more money putting profits over public safety continue to oppose this bill tells you everything you need to know," Brown said.

"Maybe we never get rid of every derailment in the country, but certainly this would have made a huge difference in East Palestine," Brown continued.