Title: Granting the consent and approval of Congress for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia to amend the Washington Area Transit Regulation Compact.
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Interstate Compact
This joint resolution grants congressional consent to amendments of Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact relating to the appointment and removal of members and alternates of the Board of Directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority by compact signatories.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 92 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 92

 Granting the consent and approval of Congress for the Commonwealth of 
Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia to amend 
            the Washington Area Transit Regulation Compact.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 28, 2017

   Mrs. Comstock (for herself, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Brown of 
Maryland, Mr. Delaney, Ms. Norton, Mr. Raskin, and Mr. Hoyer) submitted 
the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
 Granting the consent and approval of Congress for the Commonwealth of 
Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia to amend 
            the Washington Area Transit Regulation Compact.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Congress in title III of the Fixing America's Surface 
        Transportation Act (section 3026, Public Law 114-94) provided 
        sole authority to the Secretary of Transportation to appoint 
        Federal Directors to the Board of Directors of the Washington 
        Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and required the signatory 
        parties to the Compact to amend the Compact as necessary.
            (2) Legislation enacted by the State of Maryland, the 
        Commonwealth of Virginia, and the District of Columbia contains 
        the amendments to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 
        Regulation Compact pursuant to section 3026(b) of the Fixing 
        America's Surface Transportation Act (Public Law 114-94).

SEC. 2. 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 section 5, of title III 
of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact.
    (b) Amendments.--The amendments referred to in subsection (a) 
amending section 5 of such Compact are substantially 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 Secretary of the United States 
Department of Transportation. 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 Secretary of the United States Department of 
Transportation 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.'.''.

SEC. 3. RIGHT TO ALTER, AMEND, OR REPEAL.

    The right to alter, amend, or repeal this joint resolution is 
expressly reserved. The consent granted by this joint resolution 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. 4. 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. 5. 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, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the District of 
Columbia.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This joint resolution shall take effect on the date of enactment of 
this joint resolution.
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