Grants the consent and approval of Congress to amendments made by Maryland, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the District of Columbia to sections 5, 9, and 18 of title III of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact as specified in this Act.
[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 58 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. J. RES. 58
Granting the consent and approval of Congress to amendments made by the
State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the District of
Columbia to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation
Compact.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 24, 2009
Mr. Hoyer (for himself, Ms. Norton, Ms. Edwards of Maryland, Mr. Van
Hollen, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Connolly of Virginia, and Mr. Wolf)
introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
JOINT RESOLUTION
Granting the consent and approval of Congress to amendments made by the
State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the District of
Columbia to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation
Compact.
Whereas Congress in title VI of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement
Act of 2008 (section 601, Public Law 110-432) authorized the Secretary
of Transportation to make grants to the Washington Metropolitan Area
Transit Authority subject to certain conditions, including that no
amounts may be provided until specified amendments to the Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact have taken effect;
Whereas legislation enacted by the State of Maryland (Chapter 111, 2009 Laws of
the Maryland General Assembly), the Commonwealth of Virginia (Chapter
771, 2009 Acts of Assembly of Virginia), and the District of Columbia
(D.C. Act 18-0095) contain the amendments to the Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Regulation Compact specified by the Passenger Rail
Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (section 601, Public Law 110-
432); and
Whereas the consent of Congress is required in order to implement such
amendments: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CONSENT OF CONGRESS TO COMPACT AMENDMENTS.
(a) Consent.--Consent of Congress is given to the amendments of the
State of Maryland, the amendments of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and
the amendments of the District of Columbia to sections 5, 9, and 18 of
title III of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation
Compact.
(b) Amendments.--The amendments referred to in subsection (a) are
substantially as follows:
(1) Section 5 is amended to read as follows:
``(a) The Authority shall be governed by a Board of eight Directors
consisting of two Directors for each Signatory and two for the Federal
Government (one of whom shall be a regular passenger and customer of
the bus or rail service of the Authority). For Virginia, the Directors
shall be appointed by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission;
for the District of Columbia, by the Council of the District of
Columbia; for Maryland, by the Washington Suburban Transit Commission;
and for the Federal Government, by the Administrator of General
Services. For Virginia and Maryland, the Directors shall be appointed
from among the members of the appointing body, except as otherwise
provided herein, and shall serve for a term coincident with their term
on the appointing body. A Director for a Signatory may be removed or
suspended from office only as provided by the law of the Signatory from
which he was appointed. The non-Federal appointing authorities shall
also appoint an alternate for each Director. In addition, the
Administrator of General Services shall also appoint two nonvoting
members who shall serve as the alternates for the Federal Directors. An
alternate Director may act only in the absence of the Director for whom
he has been appointed an alternate, except that, in the case of the
District of Columbia where only one Director and his alternate are
present, such alternate may act on behalf of the absent Director. Each
alternate, including the Federal nonvoting Directors, shall serve at
the pleasure of the appointing authority. In the event of a vacancy in
the Office of Director or alternate, it shall be filled in the same
manner as an original appointment.
``(b) Before entering upon the duties of his office each Director
and alternate Director shall take and subscribe to the following oath
(or affirmation) of office or any such other oath or affirmation, if
any, as the constitution or laws of the Government he represents shall
provide: `I, ___________, hereby solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will
support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the
Constitution and laws of the state or political jurisdiction from which
I was appointed as a director (alternate director) of the Board of
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and will faithfully
discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter.'''.
(2) Subsection (a) of section 9 is amended to read as
follows:
``(a) The officers of the Authority, none of whom shall be members
of the Board, shall consist of a general manager, a secretary, a
treasurer, a comptroller, an inspector general, and a general counsel
and such other officers as the Board may provide. Except for the office
of general manager, inspector general, and comptroller, the Board may
consolidate any of such other offices in one person. All such officers
shall be appointed and may be removed by the Board, shall serve at the
pleasure of the Board and shall perform such duties and functions as
the Board shall specify. The Board shall fix and determine the
compensation to be paid to all officers and, except for the general
manager who shall be a full-time employee, all other officers may be
hired on a full-time or part-time basis and may be compensated on a
salary or fee basis, as the Board may determine. All employees and such
officers as the Board may designate shall be appointed and removed by
the general manager under such rules of procedure and standards as the
Board may determine.''.
(3) Section 9 is further amended by inserting new
subsection (d) to read as follows (and by renumbering all
subsequent paragraphs of section 9):
``(d) The inspector general shall report to the Board and head the
Office of the Inspector General, an independent and objective unit of
the Authority that conducts and supervises audits, program evaluations,
and investigations relating to Authority activities; promotes economy,
efficiency, and effectiveness in Authority activities; detects and
prevents fraud and abuse in Authority activities; and keeps the Board
fully and currently informed about deficiencies in Authority activities
as well as the necessity for and progress of corrective action.''.
(4) Section 18 is amended by adding a new section 18(d) to
read as follows:
``(d)(1) All payments made by the local Signatory governments for
the Authority for the purpose of matching Federal funds appropriated in
any given year as authorized under title VI, section 601, Public Law
110-432 regarding funding of capital and preventative maintenance
projects of the Authority shall be made from amounts derived from
dedicated funding sources.
``(2) For the purposes of this paragraph (d), a `dedicated funding
source' means any source of funding that is earmarked or required under
State or local law to be used to match Federal appropriations
authorized under title VI, section 601, Public Law 110-432 for payments
to the Authority.''.
SEC. 2. RIGHT TO ALTER, AMEND, OR REPEAL.
The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is expressly
reserved. The consent granted by this Act shall not be construed as
impairing or in any manner affecting any right or jurisdiction of the
United States in and over the region that forms the subject of the
compact.
SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION AND SEVERABILITY.
It is intended that the provisions of this compact shall be
reasonably and liberally construed to effectuate the purposes thereof.
If any part or application of this compact, or legislation enabling the
compact, is held invalid, the remainder of the compact or its
application to other situations or persons shall not be affected.
SEC. 4. INCONSISTENCY OF LANGUAGE.
The validity of this compact shall not be affected by any
insubstantial differences in its form or language as adopted by the
State of Maryland, Commonwealth of Virginia, and District of Columbia.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.
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