NIT League endorses rail antitrust bill

NIT League endorses rail antitrust bill    The National Industrial Transportation League's board of directors has voted overwhelmingly to support a proposed law that would repeal the rail industry's antitrust exemptions and bring U.S. government review of railroad mergers and acquisitions under the purview of the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.
   The NIT League said its board took the action late Friday to support S. 146, the “Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act.” The action follows a meeting earlier in May by the league's Rail Transportation Committee, which looked at the antitrust legislation and ongoing work in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation under that leadership of Sen. Jay Rockefeller to draft a bill to reauthorize the Surface Transportation Board.

Rockefeller

   “While drafting of that bill has not yet been completed, the league anticipates the bill will seek to promote competition in the industry and set forth operational and policy mandates to serve as effective guidelines for the STB,” said a letter from Bruce Carlton, NIT League president and chief executive officer. “America's freight railroads and their shipper customers will be affected by both S. 146 and Sen. Rockefeller's prospective legislation. Accordingly, the league's board of directors has voted overwhelmingly to endorse S. 146 and urge the Senate to coordinate any changes in the applicability of antitrust law to the railroads with the forthcoming STB reauthorization bill.

Carlton

   “The league's board believes it is imperative that both pieces of legislation be developed in tandem in order to avoid the consequences of taking a piecemeal approach to legislation of such importance to shippers and railroads: uncertainty for both interests, and inevitable conflicts in law and policy direction,” he added.

Reid

   The NIT League’s “Notice” newsletter noted that Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has scheduled consideration of the antitrust bill when the Senate returns from its Memorial Day recess Tuesday.
   “With a filibuster by the bill’s Senate opponents already signaled, the Senate will have to first vote on a motion to invoke cloture to shut off debate before a vote on the bill itself can proceed. Sixty votes are needed to pass a cloture motion,” the newsletter noted.