MAY 18, 1960.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. WILLIS, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H.J. Res. 402] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 402) granting the consent and approval of Congress for the States of Virginia and Maryland and the District of Columbia to enter into a compact related to the regulation of mass transit in the Washington, District of Columbia, metropolitan area, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the joint resolution do pass. The amendments are as follows: 1. Page 2, line 18, insert in the parentheses: "ch. 613, Acts of General Assembly 1959". 2. Page 14, line 14, strike the word "taxicab" and insert in lieu thereof "taxicabs". 3. Page 25, line 1, strike the word "superseded" and insert in lieu thereof "suspended". 4. Page 42, line 3, strike the words and insert in lieu thereof "Commission's". Yand 5. Page 50, line 10, strike the word "compact" and the period and insert compact: Provided, that the said Commissioners shall not 49006-60 I.T.S. LIBRARY U.C. BERKELEY 6. Page 51, line 16, after the colon strike all the language through the word "same" on line 22, and insert in lieu thereof: Provided further, That the term "public interest" as used in 7. Page 52, line 5, after the word "amended." add the following: Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission of the District of Columbia and of the Interstate Commerce Commission over all carriers and persons subject to the provisions of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact are hereby transferred, as and to the extent provided therein, to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission. 8. Page 52, line 12, insert before "SEC. 5." the following new section 5. SEC. 5. The consent of Congress is granted upon the condition that, within three years from the date of this enactment, section 1(a)(4) of Article XII of the compact be amended as set forth below, and, in the event the compact is not so amended within such specified time, the suspension of the applicability of the laws of the United States, and the rules, regulations or orders promulgated thereunder shall terminate with respect to the transportation specified below and any carrier whose only transportation over a regular route within the Metropolitan District is such transportation shall not be deemed a carrier subject to the compact. "(4) transportation performed in the course of an operation over a regular route between a point in the Metropolitan District and a point outside the Metropolitan District, including transportation between points on such regular route within the Metropolitan District, if authorized by certificate of public convenience and necessity or permit issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission as to interstate and foreign commerce, and any carrier whose only transportation within the Metropolitan District is within this exemption shall not be deemed to be a carrier subject to the compact." 9. Page 52, change "SEC. 5" to "Sec. 6." 10. Page 52, change "SEC. 6" to "SEC. 7(a)" and add the following new subsections: (b) The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission shall submit to Congress copies of all periodic reports made by that Commission to the Governors, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia and/or the Legislatures of the compacting States. (c) The Congress or any Committee thereof shall have the right to require the disclosure and furnishing of such information by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission as is deemed appropriate by the Congress or any of its Committees. Further, Congress or any of its Com- EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS Amendments Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 9 are editorial in nature and are self-explanatory. Amendment No. 5 requires the Board of Commissioners for the District of Columbia to obtain the consent of Congress before agreeing to any future amendments to the compact. This insures that the compact cannot be amended without prior congressional authorization. Amendment No. 6 defines the term "public interest" as used in article XII, ection 12(b) of the compact to include, among other things, the interest of carrier employees. This amendment establishes no precedent and is in keeping not only with similar provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act (49 U.S.C. 5(2)(c) and 5(13)) but also judicial decision as set out in U.S. v. Lowden, 308 U.S. 225 (1939). Amendment No. 7 expressly transfers the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission of the District of Columbia and of the Interstate Commerce Commission to the proposed Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission and in this respect clarifies one of the basic purposes of the compact. Amendment No. 8 expresses the congressional policy that jurisdiction of the compact should extend only to transportation performed solely within the proposed metropolitan district. Under this amendment the compacting parties within 3 years are, by affirmative action, to limit the jurisdiction of the compact to the extent indicated and if such parties do not act within the specified time, the limitation is to take effect by force of this amendment. Amendment No. 10 requires the proposed Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission to submit to Congress copies of periodic reports and to disclose, from time to time, such information as the Congress or any of its committees deem necessary. PURPOSE The purposes of the resolution are: (1) To grant congressional consent, pursuant to the Federal Constitution, to an interstate compact between the States of Virginia and Maryland and the District of Columbia, (2) to authorize and direct the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to enter into and execute the compact, (3) to suspend Federal jurisdiction relating to or affecting transportation under the compact and to the persons engaged therein, and (4) to confer jurisdiction upon the Federal judiciary to review orders of the compact commission and to enforce the regulatory provisions of the compact. BACKGROUND OF LEGISLATION The Congress, the States of Virginia and Maryland, and the Government of the District of Columbia have been actively concerned for a number of years with improvement in the transportation of persons in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C. Bills for this purpose were introduced in the 82d Congress and the 83d Congress passed one of such bills, H.R. 2236, which, however, was vetoed by the President (Congressional Record, 83d Cong. 2d sess. p. 15567). That bill provided for the regulation of the privately owned transit companies operating in the District of Columbia and Maryland by a single Federal commission. The exclusion of the Virginia portion of the metropolitan area led to the President's rejection of that legislation. The President's veto message recognized that the unification of regulatory authority over public transportation throughout the metropolitan area was required, but stressed that the solution must give adequate recognition to the rights and responsibilities of the District of Columbia and the States involved. The veto message further suggested that the interstate compact device be explored as a means of accommodating both the Federal and State interests in a manner which would not involve the extension of the authority of the Federal Government in a matter of such local concern as urban transportation. Following the veto of H.R. 2236, the study of the problem was broadened and intensified. The 84th Congress appropriated funds to enable the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Capital Regional Planning Council * * * to jointly conduct a survey of the present and future mass * * * In the early part of 1954, the Legislatures of Maryland (Maryland H.. J. Res. 12, April 2, 1954) and Virginia (Virginia H. J. Res. 77, March 22, 1954) and the Board of Commissioners (D.C. Order 54-2065, September 27, 1954) of the District of Columbia adopted resolutions creating a joint commission to study passenger carrier facilities and services in the Washington Metropolitan area. The commission was composed of a member of the Senate and of the House of the Legislatures of Maryland and Virginia and a member of the Public Service Corporation of Maryland and the State Corporation Commission of Virginia and three representatives of the District of Columbia Government. The joint commission was directed, among other things, to consider (1) the adequacy of present passenger carrier services in the Washington Metropolitan area, and (2) whether joint action by the State of Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Virginia is necessary or desirable in connection with the regulation of passenger carrier facilities operating in such area. This joint commission worked with the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Capital Planning Regional Council and a joint steering committee was set up between the groups to coordinate their activities. The mass transit study gave consideration to the problem of regulation of privately owned transit and in December 1955, the commission and council transmitted to the President and published a consultant's report on transit regulation for the Metropolitan Area of Washington, D.C. (hearings, House Committee on the Judiciary, Serial 11, Pt. 1, 86th Cong. pp. 43-101). This report canvassed and analyzed the alternative means of regulating privately |