AAF Rail Regulations Coalition Letter

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Reflecting on four years of achievements in his farewell address, President Trump suggested that deregulation might have been the most significant accomplishment of all. Under his administration, the United States government eliminated more than two old regulations for every new regulation adopted. The results were unmistakable: a stronger economy that delivered results for the American people.

Perhaps nowhere has this been so clear as for privately-owned freight railroads. For four years, the Trump administration repealed unneeded regulations, rejecting special interest calls to impose policies unrelated to the core focus of the U.S. Department of Transportation: advancing safety. Policymaking was based on sound data, and it showed: train derailments were down on average compared to the Obama administration.

Unfortunately, today, some Republicans are falling prey to the idea that government regulators can deliver better results on rail than free markets and a pro-growth economy. History proves otherwise: railroads exist today in large part due to deregulatory efforts that took place nearly half a century ago.

Proposed legislation like the Railway Safety Act in the Senate and the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act in the House ignores these hard lessons of the past. Purporting to respond to the 2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, many of these bills’ provisions (e.g. two-man crew mandates) look more like regulatory opportunism, with no grounding in the facts—not even according to the safety report compiled by a Biden-appointed National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

These bills fly in the face of the Trump legacy of eliminating unnecessary, burdensome, and costly regulations. Republicans must not turn their backs on the reality that American railroads are safer than ever before. Despite recent high-profile incidents, hazmat incidents are down 78% since 2000, and mainline accidents are down 44% thanks to private capital investment and technology upgrades empowered by the free market over the years.

We already have enough regulation and stagnation. We don’t need more. We simply need to unleash America.

Thank you, Paul Teller Brent Gardner Executive Director Chief Government Affairs Officer Advancing American Freedom Americans for Prosperity

Hon. Samuel K. Skinner Jameson Taylor, Ph.D. 10th U.S. Secretary of Transportation Center for Political Renewal (CPR)

Allen Mendenhall Michael Munger Associate Dean and Grady Rosier Professor Depts. of Economics and Political Science Sorrell College of Business at Troy University* Duke University* John R. Toedtman Pete Sepp Executive Director President Caesar Rodney Institute National Taxpayers Union Stephen Moore Richard Viguerie Co-Founder Chairman Unleash Prosperity Now ConservativeHQ.com Russ Brown Patrick McLaughlin President Sr. Research Fellow, Dir.

of Policy Analytics Center for Independent Employees Mercatus Center, George Mason University* James Taylor Cameron Sholty President Executive Director The Heartland Institute Heartland Impact Ralph Benko David Williams Executive Chairman and Co-founder President The Capitalist League Taxpayers Protection Alliance Sal Russo Scott Shepard Co-Founder and Chief Strategist General Counsel Tea Party Express National Center for Public Policy Research Dick Patten C. Preston Noell III President President American Business Defense Council Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.

Saulius “Saul” Anuzis Eli Lehrer President President The American Association of Senior Citizens R Street* James L. Martin Daniel J. Erspamer Founder/Chairman Chief Executive Officer 60 Plus Association Pelican Institute for Public Policy

Ryan Ellis Alfredo Ortiz President CEO Center for a Free Economy Job Creators Network

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John Hart Richard Manning Executive Director President C3 Action Americans for Limited Government Yaël Ossowski Andrew Langer Deputy Director President Consumer Choice Center Institute for Liberty Paul Gessing Karen Kerrigan President President & CEO Rio Grande Foundation Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council André Béliveau Garrett Ballengee Senior Manager of Energy Policy Executive Director Commonwealth Foundation Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy Charles Sauer Matthew Kandrach President President Market Institute Consumer Action for a Strong Economy David R.

Henderson Tom Giovanetti Research Fellow President Hoover Institution, Stanford University* Institute for Policy Innovation Timothy H. Lee Carol Platt Liebau Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs President Center for Individual Freedom Yankee Institute Mike Stenhouse Matthew Gagnon CEO Chief Executive Officer Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity Maine Policy Institute Sam Aaron Ethan Peck Policy Analyst Deputy Director South Carolina Policy Council Free Enterprise Project

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