Railway reform bill clears Senate Commerce Committee in bipartisan vote

A bipartisan railway reform bill, written in the wake of the February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, cleared a key Senate committee Wednesday. The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday voted 16-11 to advance the Railway Safety Act of 2023, sponsored by Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown (D) and J.D. Vance (R). Vance and Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) joined every Democrat on the panel in voting to advance the measure. The bill includes several provisions that rail worker unions repeatedly called for in 2022, eventually threatening a strike until legislation signed...