[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1090 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1090

   To require the National Railroad Passenger Corporation to operate 
     certain rail passenger service between Chicago, Illinois, and 
             Jacksonville, Florida, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 24, 1993

  Mr. Clement (for himself, Mr. McCloskey, Mr. Myers of Indiana, Mr. 
Lipinski, Mr. Costello, Mr. Barlow, Mr. Gordon, Mrs. Lloyd, Mr. Darden, 
  Mr. Rowland, and Mr. Deal) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the National Railroad Passenger Corporation to operate 
     certain rail passenger service between Chicago, Illinois, and 
             Jacksonville, Florida, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Floridian Passenger Rail Service 
Reestablishment Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) 
        has dramatically improved both the quality and the economics of 
        rail passenger service in the past 20 years, and provides a 
        marketable and highly desired national transportation service;
            (2) Amtrak is recognized as a critical element of a 
        balanced national transportation system and as an energy 
        efficient, environmentally benign alternative to growing 
        highway and airport congestion;
            (3) Amtrak provides transportation to nearly 22,000,000 
        intercity and 18,000,000 commuter passengers each year, and 
        serves as a vital national transportation link to rural 
        America, which increasingly is losing other modes of 
        transportation;
            (4) low cost rail transportation service between Chicago 
        and Florida would serve the needs of the elderly, rural 
        residents, low-income families, tourists, business interests, 
        and military personnel not now adequately served by the 
        interstate highway or other transportation systems;
            (5) restoration of the Floridian route would fill an 
        important gap that exists in Amtrak's current route system and 
        provide passenger rail service to 11,500,000 people who live in 
        numerous cities and towns, such as Evansville, Nashville, and 
        Chattanooga, not currently served by Amtrak;
            (6) an Amtrak route linking Chicago, Illinois, and 
        Jacksonville, Florida, via the cities of Evansville, Nashville, 
        Chattanooga, and Atlanta would serve as an economic boost to 
        both the Midwest and Southeast portions of the United States; 
        and
            (7) the startup costs for reestablishing the Floridian 
        route will be shared between both Federal and State 
        governments, and substantial enthusiasm and financial support 
        for this route already exists within the States of Illinois, 
        Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida.

SEC. 3. SERVICE REQUIREMENT.

    The National Railroad Passenger Corporation shall, before January 
1, 1996, begin the operation of regular rail passenger service from 
Chicago, Illinois, via Evansville, Indiana, Nashville, Tennessee, 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia, to Jacksonville, Florida.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 
Transportation for the benefit of the National Railroad Passenger 
Corporation for the purpose of carrying out this Act such sums as may 
be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1994 through 1996.

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