{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://strickland.house.gov/2021/11/10/media-press-releases-vice-chair-strickland-addresses-discrimination-federal-rail-contracting-video/", "Vice Chair Strickland Addresses Discrimination in Federal Rail Contracting (VIDEO)", "2021-11-10", "2021", "2021-11", "Democrat", "House", "WA", "Marilyn Strickland", "S001159", "strickland.house.gov", "strickland", "https://strickland.house.gov/category/press_release/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.\u2014 Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, questioned witnesses at a hearing on discrimination in federal passenger rail contracting. Strickland\u2019s questions reinforced the need for equity and focused on witnesses\u2019 experiences with racial and gender discrimination, and incidents of intimidation by business owners in the rail contracting space. (Watch Strickland\u2019s remarks at this link, and the full hearing at this link.)\n\n\u201cI am proud to co-lead efforts with Chairman Payne to expedite the implementation of a disparity study through the Federal Railroad Administration. There is ample evidence of racial and gender discrimination in the rail industry \u2014 through the stories and experiences spoken of today, and through the number of other minority business owners who have been denied contracts, opportunities, and fair consideration,\u201d said Congresswoman Strickland. \u201cDespite efforts to address this discrimination, clearly more needs to be done and hearing about this discrimination directly from business owners in this forum is a key step.\u201d\n\nUpon being asked by Strickland about the toll it takes on a contractor or business owner to respond to this discrimination, witness Ken Canty, President and CEO of Janus Materials, replied, \u201cWe\u2019re all people and the toll it takes on a person is indescribable. It\u2019s indescribable. It\u2019s the worst and I wouldn\u2019t wish this on anybody\u2026The toll it has on your family, the toll it has then on your ability to provide for your family, your ability to provide for your employees \u2013 is huge. There is a net ripple effect of bills that literally just can\u2019t get paid.\u201d\n\nThe hearing was held in the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. Witnesses included Mr. Ken Canty, President and CEO, Janus Materials; Mr. Melvin Clark, Chairman and CEO, GW Peoples Contracting Company; Ms. Victoria Malaszecki, President and CEO, Envision Consultants; Mr. Francisco Otero, President and CEO, PACO Group; Mr. Gnanadesikan \u201cRam\u201d Ramanujam, President and CEO, Somat Engineering; and Ms. Evalynn Williams, President, Dikita Engineering.\n\nFrom the railroads\u2019 Western expansion federal land grants that violated federal treaties with Indian tribes to limiting Black, Asian-Pacific Islanders and Latino American employment opportunities, railroad expansion in the United States has historically depended upon discriminatory practices.\n\nThis effort follows up on Strickland\u2019s work in Congress as a strong advocate for equity in American rail infrastructure. In July, Strickland led the Congressional Black Caucus in a call to establish a DBE program within the Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).\n\nCongresswoman Marilyn Strickland serves as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and is the only African-American woman who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. She is one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress and the first African-American to represent the Pacific Northwest at the federal level.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://strickland.house.gov/2021/11/10/media-press-releases-vice-chair-strickland-addresses-discrimination-federal-rail-contracting-video/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.894526019692421, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}