IA 

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; 


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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 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. CONSENT OF CONGRESS TO COMPACT AMEND4 MENTS. 

5 (a) CONSENT.—Consent of Congress is given to the 

6 amendments of the State of Maryland, the amendments 

7 of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the amendments 

8 of the District of Columbia to sections 5, 9, and 18 of 

9 title III of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 

10 Regulation Compact. 

11 (b) AMENDMENTS.—The amendments referred to in 

12 subsection (a) are substantially as follows: 

13 (1) Section 5 is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(a) The Authority shall be governed by a Board of 

15 eight Directors consisting of two Directors for each Signa16 tory and two for the Federal Government (one of whom 

17 shall be a regular passenger and customer of the bus or 


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1 rail service of the Authority). For Virginia, the Directors 

2 shall be appointed by the Northern Virginia Transpor3 tation Commission; for the District of Columbia, by the 

4 Council of the District of Columbia; for Maryland, by the 

5 Washington Suburban Transit Commission; and for the 

6 Federal Government, by the Administrator of General 

7 Services. For Virginia and Maryland, the Directors shall 

8 be appointed from among the members of the appointing 

9 body, except as otherwise provided herein, and shall serve 

10 for a term coincident with their term on the appointing 

11 body. A Director for a Signatory may be removed or sus12 pended from office only as provided by the law of the Sig13 natory from which he was appointed. The non-Federal ap14 pointing authorities shall also appoint an alternate for 

15 each Director. In addition, the Administrator of General 

16 Services shall also appoint two nonvoting members who 

17 shall serve as the alternates for the Federal Directors. An 

18 alternate Director may act only in the absence of the Di19 rector for whom he has been appointed an alternate, ex20 cept that, in the case of the District of Columbia where 

21 only one Director and his alternate are present, such alter22 nate may act on behalf of the absent Director. Each alter23 nate, including the Federal nonvoting Directors, shall 

24 serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. In the 

25 event of a vacancy in the Office of Director or alternate, 


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1 it shall be filled in the same manner as an original ap2 pointment. 

3 ‘‘(b) Before entering upon the duties of his office 

4 each Director and alternate Director shall take and sub5 scribe to the following oath (or affirmation) of office or 

6 any such other oath or affirmation, if any, as the constitu7 tion or laws of the Government he represents shall provide: 

8 ‘I, lllllllllll , hereby solemnly swear (or 

9 affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution 

10 of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the 

11 state or political jurisdiction from which I was appointed 

12 as a director (alternate director) of the Board of Wash13 ington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and will faith14 fully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am 

15 about to enter.’ ’’. 

16 (2) Subsection (a) of section 9 is amended to 

17 read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(a) The officers of the Authority, none of whom 

19 shall be members of the Board, shall consist of a general 

20 manager, a secretary, a treasurer, a comptroller, an in21 spector general, and a general counsel and such other offi22 cers as the Board may provide. Except for the office of 

23 general manager, inspector general, and comptroller, the 

24 Board may consolidate any of such other offices in one 

25 person. All such officers shall be appointed and may be 


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1 removed by the Board, shall serve at the pleasure of the 

2 Board and shall perform such duties and functions as the 

3 Board shall specify. The Board shall fix and determine 

4 the compensation to be paid to all officers and, except for 

5 the general manager who shall be a full-time employee, 

6 all other officers may be hired on a full-time or part-time 

7 basis and may be compensated on a salary or fee basis, 

8 as the Board may determine. All employees and such offi9 cers as the Board may designate shall be appointed and 

10 removed by the general manager under such rules of pro11 cedure and standards as the Board may determine.’’. 

12 (3) Section 9 is further amended by inserting 

13 new subsection (d) to read as follows (and by re14 numbering all subsequent paragraphs of section 9): 

15 ‘‘(d) The inspector general shall report to the Board 

16 and head the Office of the Inspector General, an inde17 pendent and objective unit of the Authority that conducts 

18 and supervises audits, program evaluations, and investiga19 tions relating to Authority activities; promotes economy, 

20 efficiency, and effectiveness in Authority activities; detects 

21 and prevents fraud and abuse in Authority activities; and 

22 keeps the Board fully and currently informed about defi23 ciencies in Authority activities as well as the necessity for 

24 and progress of corrective action.’’. 


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1 (4) Section 18 is amended by adding a new sec2 tion 18(d) to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(d)(1) All payments made by the local Signatory 

4 governments for the Authority for the purpose of match5 ing Federal funds appropriated in any given year as au6 thorized under title VI, section 601, Public Law 110–432 

7 regarding funding of capital and preventative maintenance 

8 projects of the Authority shall be made from amounts de9 rived from dedicated funding sources. 

10 ‘‘(2) For the purposes of this paragraph (d), a ‘dedi11 cated funding source’ means any source of funding that 

12 is earmarked or required under State or local law to be 

13 used to match Federal appropriations authorized under 

14 title VI, section 601, Public Law 110–432 for payments 

15 to the Authority.’’. 

16 SEC. 2. RIGHT TO ALTER, AMEND, OR REPEAL. 

17 The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is ex18 pressly reserved. The consent granted by this Act shall 

19 not be construed as impairing or in any manner affecting 

20 any right or jurisdiction of the United States in and over 

21 the region that forms the subject of the compact. 

22 SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION AND SEVERABILITY. 

23 It is intended that the provisions of this compact shall 

24 be reasonably and liberally construed to effectuate the 

25 purposes thereof. If any part or application of this comVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:05 Jun 25, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ58.IH HJ58

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1 pact, or legislation enabling the compact, is held invalid, 

2 the remainder of the compact or its application to other 

3 situations or persons shall not be affected. 

4 SEC. 4. INCONSISTENCY OF LANGUAGE. 

5 The validity of this compact shall not be affected by 

6 any insubstantial differences in its form or language as 

7 adopted by the State of Maryland, Commonwealth of Vir8 ginia, and District of Columbia. 

9 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

10 This Act shall take effect on the date of enactment 

11 of this Act. 

Æ 


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