WASHINGTON, D.C. — For Jami Cozza and her partner, Chris Wallace, traveling from East Palestine to the nation’s capital on Thursday was a necessary next step as they continue to deal with the aftermath of last month’s toxic train derailment.

“My primary focus right now is getting my family and my community that are dying out of there,” Cozza told Spectrum News in an interview.

Moments later, she and Wallace were inside a Senate committee hearing room to watch as Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, both of Ohio’s U.S. senators, and other officials testified about the derailment and subsequent controlled release of toxic chemicals into the air.

“We don’t have faith in our government. We don’t have faith in anything. We’ve been left to die, it feels like,” Wallace told Spectrum News.

As she fought back tears, Cozza added: “We live in the United States of America. And the fact that I’m watching my whole community slowly die is disgusting. I never thought, living here, that something like this was going to happen.”

The couple lives in the derailment zone alongside nearly 50 other immediate family members. Cozza has called East Palestine home for 46 years. Since the Feb. 3 accident, they haven’t been back to their home.

“We’ve had those houses in our family, the land in our family, for generations and generations and generations,” Cozza said. “We’re never going to be made whole.”

In his capacity as CEO, Shaw appeared before the Senate panel to apologize and to pledge help beyond the $21 million in aid Norfolk Southern has already provided to the greater East Palestine region.

“I am determined to make this right,” he told lawmakers. 

But Shaw faced bipartisan criticism for the derailment, the release of toxic chemicals, and broader challenges facing the rail industry.

Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown (D) and JD Vance (R) testified together to make the case for bipartisan legislation they introduced to increase rail safety.

Brown accused the company of being greedy. 

“If Norfolk Southern had paid a little more attention to safety and a little less attention to its profits, and cared a little more about the Ohioans along its tracks and a little less about its executives and shareholders, these accidents would not have been as bad or maybe not happened at all,” Brown said.

Vance made a plea to fellow Republicans who are skeptical that new regulations would help prevent future accidents.

“A particular slice of people who seem to think that any public safety enhancements for the rail industry is somehow a violation of the free market,” Vance said. “Well, if you look at this industry and what’s happened in the last 30 years, that argument is a farce.”

After he testified, Vance told reporters he thinks the legislation can pass the Senate, but that the Republican-led House remains a sticking point.

“In reality, this is a very reasonable response. It’s not going to burden the railroads in an unnecessary or unreasonable way, and it actually will enhance public safety,” Vance told Spectrum News.

In a separate interview, Brown said he appreciated the effort.

“I think Sen. Vance made a good appeal to his own party,” he said.

During the hearing, Shaw would not endorse the senators’ bill outright.

As for the East Palestine residents who were in attendance, they said their priority is to get Norfolk Southern to reimburse those who want to relocate, pay for long-term health care, and help their community find a new sense of stability.

“There’s a lot of concern over either what we’re not being told or maybe what’s just not being noticed at this point that is actually affecting the community,” said Erin Stauffer, who lives in East Palestine and made the trip on behalf of her 7-year-old child.

Cozza had a final message for both the lawmakers and Norfolk Southern.

“Words mean nothing. I want to see action,” she said.