‘You Have No Idea What Caused This Accident’: Dem, GOP Reps Get Heated over Amtrak

A House committee’s vote to cut Amtrak’s budget, the day after last night’s deadly train crash, spurred a pretty heated clash between two opposing members of Congress on the crash itself.

Democrat Steve Israel made the case for more Amtrak funding by saying, “Last night we failed them. We failed to invest in their safety.”

That did not sit well with Republican Mike Simpson, who shot back, “You have no idea, no idea what caused the accident, and to use that as a means of supporting the last amendment… don’t use this tragedy in that way, it was beneath you.”

Israel argued that not focusing on “safety and training of personnel is a lack of priorities,” but Simpson jumped in to scold him again and insisting he was tying a lack of funding to the accident.

Watch the exchange below, via MSNBC:

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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