Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg criticized Congress for not voting on a bill that would issue more railroad safety measures.

Buttigieg participated in a live interview at the Meridian International Center in Washington, D.C., on Friday, the same day President Joe Biden visited East Palestine, Ohio, for the first time since the train derailment in the area 54 weeks prior. According to the secretary, the Railroad Safety Act, sponsored by a bipartisan group of senators, among them Sens. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), would “strengthen the hand” of the Transportation Department in preventing future disasters.