[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 118 (Friday, August 19, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            HIGH-SPEED RAIL

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I would like to express my support 
for S. 839 as a first step toward encouraging high-speed passenger rail 
development in the United States. High-speed rail is an efficient, 
inexpensive, and environmentally preferable mode of travel, especially 
compared to highway and air travel, and I believe it should be an 
integral part of an intermodal transportation system in this country. 
While S. 839 will boost high-speed rail, it does not go nearly far 
enough regarding corridor development for those States that have 
already made high-speed rail planning a priority. We need to go beyond 
S. 839 and begin devoting resources to corridor development.
  Since Congress passed the Intermodal Surface Transportation 
Efficiency Act [ISTEA] in 1991, many State and local governments have 
worked hard to develop master plans for incremental high-speed rail 
corridors. In fact, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin have completed 
extensive financial and development plans and are poised to begin 
actual corridor implementation. While S. 839 addresses an important 
need for research and development, at this stage the more important and 
pressing need is for increased funding for corridor development.
  President Clinton has repeatedly stated that high-speed rail will be 
the cornerstone of future American transportation and that the 
development of high-speed rail corridors is a priority item. In the 
Northeast, high-speed rail has proven itself to be a success--shuttling 
passengers quickly and efficiently from Washington to New York. 
However, to date, the administration has only proposed roughly $32 
million for high-speed rail in fiscal 1995, all of which is committed 
to research and development. In its current form, S. 839 will also only 
authorize funds for planning, research and development--$29 million in 
fiscal 1995, $70 million in fiscal 1996, and $85 million in fiscal 
1997. While I am pleased that the administration intends high speed 
rail to be a priority, until actual Federal dollars are committed for 
corridor development, it will continue to be only a priority and not a 
reality.
  With a Federal commitment of only $400-600 million, a matching amount 
can likely be leveraged from State and private funds to build the 
entire multicity and multistate Midwest corridor, Detroit-Chicago, 
Chicago-St. Louis, Chicago-Milwaukee. Congress designated this corridor 
as a priority in the ISTEA legislation. Considering the amount of money 
currently being spent on highway and airports, this is a relatively 
small amount with which we can begin to reshape the transportation 
future of America with the development of a high-speed rail network. 
Furthermore, the development of a Midwest high-speed rail network will 
achieve complimentary environmental and economic development goals, 
create jobs, and revitalize downtown cities in the Midwest.
  Congress has shown bi-partisan support for high-speed rail and the 
public has also expressed its desire for a high-speed rail system. 
Therefore, I urge my colleagues to support S. 839 as the first step in 
making high-speed rail a reality in this country and urge the 
administration to begin to provide meaningful funding for corridor 
development, especially for the Midwest high-speed rail 
corridor.

                          ____________________