A U.S. railcar manufacturer is lobbying the federal government on "railcar manufacturing" issues only weeks after members of Congress called for an investigation into the company's ties with a large Chinese railcar maker.
Last month, 55 members of Congress submitted a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, requesting an investigation into ties between Vertex Railcar Corp. and the China Railroad Stock Corp., the world's largest railcar manufacturer.
The members claim that the state-owned China Railroad Stock Corp. is subsidizing Vertex, allowing the company "to underbid private competitors for railcar contracts."
"Furthermore... China's cybercrimes constitute a threat to national security," the letter states, "[that] leave us concerned that critical rail infrastructure and the sensitive cargo that it carries will become increasingly vulnerable to hackers as the proliferation of Chinese state investment continues without adequate scrutiny."
To carry out its lobbying work, Vertex has hired the Podesta Group, whose head, Tony Podesta, is the brother of John Podesta, chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.
