Bills Introduced – 9-27-22

Yesterday, with just the Senate in session (House starts today), there were 25 bills introduced. Three of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:

S 4959 A bill to amend section 11101 of title 49, United States Code, to ensure that rail carriers provide transportation or service in a manner that fulfills the shipper's reasonable service requirements. Baldwin, Tammy [Sen.-D-WI]

S 4963 A bill to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to implement a strategy to combat the efforts of transnational criminal organizations to recruit individuals in the United States via social media platforms and other online services and assess their use of such platforms and services for illicit activities, and for other purposes. Sinema, Kyrsten [Sen.-D-AZ]

S 4968 A bill to create an Active Shooter Alert Communications Network, and for other purposes. Padilla, Alex [Sen.-D-CA] 

I will be covering S 4959 as it would almost certainly have a bearing on chemical transportation safety and security.

I will be watching S 4963 for language and definitions that would specifically apply to transnational cyber criminals in the scope of the coverage. A relatively thin possibility to be sure.

I will be watching S 4968 for language and definitions that would specifically recognize the special characteristics and safety concerns of active shooter incidents at chemical facilities. I really do not expect to find any, but I will check to be sure.

In Passing Comment

One other bill caught my attention that I thought that I would mention here (and then disregard for any future consideration):

S Res 798 A resolution expressing support for the designation of the week of September 19 through September 25, 2022, as "Rail Safety Week" in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Rail Safety Week to reduce rail-related accidents, fatalities, and injuries.

These very common resolutions supporting various ‘Weeks’ and ‘Months’ almost always strike me as the most common political gaming types of legislation that can be found. Congressional ‘support’ for these celebrations is seldom more than allowing an organization to claim ‘congressional support’ for its activities. And here, where the support is being attempted to be offered after the ‘week’ is over shows how futile that support really is. But congresscritters continue to attempt to collect the political capital associated with providing this support.

Notice that I did not name the congresscritter associated with this particular resolution. I am not railing against a particular politician, just the fairly common political practice of trying to please constituents or interest groups on the cheap while not even caring enough to get it done in a timely manner.