On February 3rd, 2023, 38 rail cars — from a train spanning one-and-a-half miles — derailed and overturned right outside the center of East Palestine, Ohio. Flames flared and thick black plumes of smoke billowed into the sky. Toxic chemicals started spewing into the air, water, and ground.

The people of East Palestine lived it — packing up and evacuating your homes in the middle of the night. You didn’t know if the air you were breathing and the water coming from your faucets was safe. Your lives were turned upside down.

My job is to always fight for Ohio. When disaster struck, we got to work and together we secured a health clinic with free screenings and delivered air, water, and soil testing. We pushed the federal government to do its part with clean up.

The work isn’t over though. While national reporters have packed up and the have cameras left to chase the next big story, East Palestine is still there, still trying to move forward.

Over the last year, on all my visits to East Palestine, we ask what we can do. My job is to listen, and to turn what I hear into action.

You’ve told us you want the contamination cleaned up completely, continuous monitoring of air and water, and long-term health screenings. It’s something I continue to press the administration on. I heard directly from residents worried that they could be hit with a surprise tax bill for assistance they have received from Norfolk Southern. It’s why I am fighting to include a provision in the bipartisan tax deal to avoid those surprise bills. And I heard from small businesses that want to continue to grow — so we worked with the Department of Agriculture to create a loan program to help local business owners, farmers, and manufacturers access capital and investment.

We’ll keep listening and pushing for what you want and need. Keep coming to us with ideas.

As we sat together at roundtables at your local businesses, toured the health clinic, and walked through the fields of your family farms, I had the privilege of getting to know better the people who call East Palestine home.

This region has a rich history. For decades this region manufactured beautiful ceramics. Like my hometown of Mansfield, when a changing world and bad trade policy sent those jobs away and the factories closed their doors, the community persevered. I listened to your family stories, your hopes for your hometown, and your concerns for the future. Every visit, I saw determination and heart.

When I think about the East Palestine, I don’t just think about a train derailment. I think about the resilience you have shown the world.

I think about the volunteer firefighters who were first on the scene the night of the derailment, and despite what they found, have returned to work every day since to serve their community. I think about the parents who have fought to make sure the town will still be a place where their families feel safe. I think about the business-owners and farmers and manufacturers who are working to resume pre-derailment operations. I have no doubt that they will. I think about all of you, determined to come back from this.

The people of East Palestine want the support and the compensation they are owed. But this community does not want this derailment to define it. I don’t want that either. And I don’t want any other community to have to deal with a disaster like this ever again.

Make no mistake: this derailment was preventable. The train barreled past sensors that raised the alarm, but Norfolk Southern didn’t tell the crew to stop. The company is known to rush safety inspections that could help spare communities from disaster. They cut over a third of their workers in the last decade. Now they’re trying to take even more crew members off trains.

It’s the Wall Street business model: cut costs to boost your stock price, cash out millions in executive bonuses, and dole out eye-popping stock buybacks — no matter how unsafe that makes your trains and the communities they travel through.

It’s not just East Palestine. Steubenville, Sandusky, Springfield, Ravenna, Massillon, and more all had Norfolk Southern derailments within a year of the one in Columbiana County.

After the derailments in Sandusky and Springfield, Norfolk Southern refused to pay what they owed. When local leaders came to us, we demanded Norfolk Southern make their payments. And they did.

I will keep holding this corporation accountable and working to prevent more disasters.

It’s why Senator Vance and I teamed up to introduce the bipartisan Railway Safety Act to force the big rail companies to take safety seriously. Of course the rail industry lobbyists continue to fight it – but I’ll never back down. No community should have to go through what you have endured.

As I’ve told the people of East Palestine: I’m here for the long haul. I will always fight for you and work to make your community whole again.